In Sacramento County, California, children have been placed in a former juvenile detention center being used as a temporary shelter. Greg Gianforte signed legislation in May that provides $7,500 in state income tax credit to parents who adopt foster children. In Montana, which also experienced a 23% decline in licensed foster homes, Republican Gov. State lawmakers there are working on a bill to give more funding to the child welfare system. In North Carolina, where the number of licensed foster homes dropped 23% from 2021 to 2022, children are sleeping in jails and emergency rooms. Leecia Welch, deputy litigation director for the advocacy group Children's Rights, says there's no question many states have been relying on inappropriate placements for children because of a lack of foster homes. The number of licensed foster homes declined by nearly 18% in Nevada, while South Carolina had a 61% decline, the largest of any state. states saw a decline in licensed foster homes from 2021 to 2022, according to a report on national trends by The Imprint, a nonprofit publication that reports on child welfare and family issues. The emergency in Elko County is not unique. Jails and emergency rooms for foster kids, too 'Literally no kids in this county could stay in their community.' 'For this whole county, it's a total of 12 beds, and there's zero open,' Holbrook told KFF Health News in April.

Holbrook, a state social services manager based in Elko, said it's normal to see fluctuations in need but that early 2023 was the worst she has witnessed during her 20 years working for Nevada's Division of Child and Family Services. Brandy Holbrook spent April driving hundreds of miles across four counties in northeastern Nevada to deliver a plea to local leaders about a smoldering crisis in the regional foster care system.Ī shortage of homes for children and teens in need of care in this sprawling rural corner of the state pushed officials to temporarily house kids in casino hotel rooms, where state workers watched over them while seeking foster homes. In South Carolina, it was a 61% decline, the largest of any state.ĮLKO, Nev.

states saw a decline in licensed foster homes from 2021 to 2022.

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