Foster parents in the natural state aren't being fully reimbursed for the expenses and care they provide. A report, compiled by Children's Rights, the National Foster Parent Association and the University of Maryland School of Social Work, serves as the first state-by-state effort to calculate actual expenses of providing for foster children. The report says Arkansas should reimburse foster parents 39 to 50 percent more than it does, depending on the age of the child. While federal law requires child welfare agencies to reimburse foster parents for the cost of raising foster children, most states set their own rates because there's not a national minimum. Reimbursement rates in Arkansas have remained unchanged since the mid-1990's.
