What Are State Legislatures Doing to Support Foster Parents?
States and localities are experimenting with a variety of approaches to support foster parents and improve retention rates. Although some of these approaches have shown promise, most have not been rigorously evaluated, and the few studies that have been published are too small to yield results that can be generalized to all foster parents.4 Nevertheless, state lawmakers are beginning to pay more attention to the challenge of foster parent retention and to enact laws designed to address the problems underlying high caregiver turnover. Although legislation is unlikely to improve retention unless it is accompanied by changes in agency values, culture and practice, it can be an important step in the right direction. What Foster Parents Need: • Respect • Training • Information • Support • Services Foster Parents’ Rights Six states-Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Washington-have enacted statements of foster parents’ rights. Other states have incorporated a list of fo
