Privatization would only worsen Kentucky's ailing foster care system, report finds

Kentucky should focus on strengthening its foster care system, which was brimming last year with a record number of children and teens, instead of seeking to outsource the job to private companies, according to a study commissioned under a 2018 law aimed at overhauling child welfare services.

The “more urgent priority” should be ironing out the system’s current kinks, namely leveling the dramatic discrepancy between services available and the number of children in need of those resources.

In a 26-page report published Friday, a group formed as part of House Bill 1 in 2018 to study the feasibility of privatizing the state’s vast foster care network said such a transition would be more expensive and isn’t currently feasible. This is partly due to needed investments in infrastructure that don’t currently exist, such as a data monitoring system compatible across public and private agencies, and a legal services department devoted to child welfare.

The study group members — a mix of state officials, child welfare workers and private providers — concluded that Kentucky lacks the necessary money and coordination among public and private agencies to fully privatize. Expanding privatization piecemeal in areas of abuse prevention and foster family recruitment and training, however, “might make sense,” according to the study.

Read more: https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article232209882.html