Foster Care Foundation 'to remain open' thanks to legislative help, CEO says


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SALT LAKE CITY — It appears the Utah Foster Care Foundation will live on.

The Utah Legislature's Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee approved Friday a recommendation of $400,000 in ongoing funds to the nonprofit organization that recruits, trains and supports foster parents.

Earlier this week, former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt warned that the organization was in danger of closing on June 30 unless it received a state contract adequate to meet its costs. The foundation's funding has been flat since 2004, he said.

Its annual contract with the Division of Child of Family Services is about $2.7 million a year, according to director Brent Platt.

Kelly Peterson, the foundation's CEO, said the organization has not been able to cover operational costs under the contract, so its board has been backfilling the budget with reserves. The reserves have been depleted, she said.

Friday's vote was welcome news, she said.

"I am thrilled, along with many foster parents, that Utah Foster Care's doors will remain open. DCFS has made great strides in their efforts to protect children and strengthen families. We are pleased to continue our partnership to assist them in meeting these critical obligations," Peterson said.

"The true beneficiaries of this morning's decision are Utah's vulnerable children, who sadly end up in state custody through no fault of their own."

Leavitt said failing to adequately fund the foundation would set back the state's foster care system, which is considered a national model after comprehensive reforms followed a class-action lawsuit filed in 1993 that alleged the system violated federal law and children's constitutional rights.

Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said he brought the request to the committee because the foster care system is a solemn state responsibility. Like Leavitt, he was serving in the Legislature while the state child welfare system was under federal court oversight for more than a decade under a settlement agreement of the class-action lawsuit.

Seventeen children, ages 3 to 17, represented the plaintiff class in the lawsuit. According to the filings, the lead plaintiff, David C., then 3 years old, and his two brothers were placed in foster care because of severe physical and sexual abuse. One of his brothers died from abuse he received while in foster care. David was abused as well. Despite repeated requests by his new foster home for psychological counseling for David, the boy did not receive therapy and was severely emotionally disturbed.

"No child should ever have to go through that. That was key for me," said Ray, co-chairman of the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee.

The subcommittee's recommendations now go before the Utah Legislature's Executive Appropriations Committee for its approval. That committee, made up of legislative leaders, prepares the final budget bills voted on by the House and Senate. Email: marjorie@deseretnews.com

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