Auditor asks public for input on foster care

JACKSON, Mo. -- State Auditor Claire McCaskill wants Missourians to speak out about the state's foster care program.

McCaskill said the audit will begin in the next 30 days and could take a year to complete.

The audit will look at the recruitment and retention of foster parents, what they are paid and how they are licensed, McCaskill said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau County Administration Building in Jackson. The audit also will look at the foster-parent background checks and the assessment of children's needs.

McCaskill said one central question needs to be answered about foster care -- does it foster adoption or does it get in the way of adoption?

The auditor said the public is encouraged to provide confidential information to her office. She said her office can be reached at 1 (800) 347-8597, by e-mail at moaudit@ mail.auditor.state.mo.us or by fax at (573) 751-7984.

McCaskill said her goal is to improve the efficiency of foster care services. That, she said, could help children get adopted sooner and save tax dollars.

The audit, she said, is a follow-up to a December 2000 audit on Missouri's child-abuse and neglect hotline.

That audit found that of 95,000 calls received in 1999, call takers determined that a fourth couldn't be investigated. However, the audit concluded that some of those calls should have been.