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DCFS reports rising foster-care population, improved timeliness and persistent adoption/permanency gaps
Summary
Director Misha Martin told the committee that first-quarter data show 7,553 accepted hotline calls, a 31% true-finding rate, nearly 4,700 children in foster care, a 91% initiation rate for priority-one investigations, and regional variation in time from termination of parental rights to adoption (about 9 months in one region, nearly 19 in another). She flagged a shortfall in discharges to permanency and ongoing placement stability concerns.
Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services Director Misha Martin presented the agency’s first-quarter performance report, saying the department saw nearly 4,700 children in foster care and 7,553 accepted calls to the child-abuse hotline during the quarter.
Martin told committee members 6,027 accepted calls were assigned to DCFS and 1,526 were assigned to the Crimes Against Children Division (CACD) at Arkansas State Police under an MOU. She said 31% of maltreatment investigations had true findings (an increase from previous quarters), and that 10 child fatalities were adjudicated as true maltreatment during the period. On timeliness, she reported a 91% initiation rate for priority-one investigations (the most severe) and an 88% combined initiation rate.
The director said foster-care counts rose from 4,567 in the prior quarter to “almost 4,700” at the time of the meeting, and that the department discharged 594 fewer children to permanency across a three-quarter pandemic comparison. She highlighted a concern that 26% of children in care have been in foster care 12–24 months and emphasized workgroups, process mapping and tech solutions aimed at shortening time from termination of parental rights (TPR) to adoption (the statewide average reported at one point was 14.7 months). Martin said the time from TPR to adoption varies by region — citing one area finalizing adoptions in about nine months and another taking almost 19 months — and that DCFS is digitizing disclosure packets and addressing small operational barriers to speed permanency.
Martin also noted placement-stability challenges, sibling-placement goals (around 75% together), a foster-bed-to-child ratio of 0.73 and that DCFS is maximizing relative placements. She said monthly caseworker visits to children in foster care were about 84% and total contacts with DCFS workers were 91%.
Committee members asked for additional breakdowns — for example, age ranges for children with longer stays and the number of foster children adjudicated in treatment facilities — and Martin agreed to provide those figures. The director also explained county-by-county overturned-investigations reporting (a statutory requirement created after 2017 legislation) and walked members through the report layout.
The transcript contains the figures Martin cited and committee requests for follow-up; no budget votes or statutory changes were recorded in the meeting.
