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Funding Out-of-Home Care Services

Resources address ways to locate and manage funding for out-of-home care services.

Child Welfare: Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits for Children in Foster Care (PDF - 277 KB)
Fernandes, Szymendera, & Stoltzfus (2007)
Presents data on Social Security benefits and discusses its use to fund foster care, considers proposals to change this practice, and describes State initiatives to screen foster children for Social Security in order to extend benefits to eligible children.

Foster Children Paying for Foster Care (PDF - 345 KB)
Hatcher
Cardozo Law Review, 27(4), 2007
Examines the legality and policy concerns of State foster care agencies that use children's Social Security benefits as a State funding stream, including a discussion of agency practices and suggestions for reform.

Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care (PDF - 264 KB)
Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care (2004)
Makes recommendations for reforming the foster care system in two key areas: the Federal financing structure and the court system.

Guarding Adoption While Subsidizing Guardianship (PDF - 192 KB)
Atwood & Zappala
Adoption Advocate, 5, 2008
Discusses how federally subsidized guardianship can be a positive reform to the foster care financing system and how it can be achieved without undermining children's interests in adoption.

Hitting the MARC: Establishing Foster Care Minimum Adequate Rates for Children
Children's Rights, National Foster Parent Association, & University of Maryland School of Social Work (2007)
Presents a State-by-State calculation of the cost of supporting children in foster care, and proposes a new standard rate to use in fulfilling the Federal requirement to provide foster parents with payments that cover the basic needs of children in foster care.

Time for Reform: Fix the Foster Care Lookback (PDF - 265 KB)
Kids Are Waiting (2007)
Examines trends affected by the lookback provision determining a foster child's eligibility for Federal funds and describes a variety of proposals to address the provision.

Updated on February 24, 2010