Late last week, the State Auditor’s Office released its report on foster care redesign, finding some flaws in the state’s oversight of the new foster care model (now known as Community Based Care).
The report found the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) conducted site visits to ensure contractor ACH Child and Family Services was in compliance. However, the state didn’t have documentation to show whether it verified that ACH monitored all 107 foster care providers in its seven-county area, which includes Fort Worth, or whether their oversight was effective. In one instance, state auditors reported that ACH hadn’t monitored one foster care provider for more than 18 months as children continued being placed there. It did complete annual oversight for other providers in the sample, the audit found. “Without documentation of Department monitoring, there is an increased risk that issues at ACH or foster care providers may not be identified or resolved,” said the audit. “The Department’s documentation of its monitoring activities will be increasingly important in ensuring the well-being of children in foster care as foster care redesign expands to other regions of the state.”
DFPS agreed with the findings, but said it already is in compliance. For more information on the Audit, check out this article or view the report itself.