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Commissioners press for more foster capacity as county reports about 500 children in care
Summary
Wake County officials told the Health and Human Services Committee that roughly 500 children are in the foster system and the county currently licenses about 87 foster homes; commissioners urged more recruitment of level-3+ homes to serve adolescents with complex needs.
Commissioners used the presentation from Toni Pedrosa to press for faster expansion of high-acuity foster placements, citing the county's chronic placement-capacity gap. Pedrosa said the county averages about 500 children in foster care and licenses around 87 foster homes, but that most licensed homes are level 1 and 2 and cannot serve older youth with complex mental-health or behavioral needs.
"We can only license level 1 and 2 foster care homes... So when we talk about children who are in our building, they are not children who can go into a home that we license," Pedrosa said, calling for more level-3 and higher placements and additional training that qualifies providers to receive Medicaid-funded services for higher-level care.
Commissioners asked whether the county's managed-care partner, Blue Cross Blue Shield, will help move children out of congregate settings. Pedrosa said the county meets weekly with Blue Cross Blue Shield to press for expanded capacity but added that statewide staffing shortages at state mental-health hospitals also constrain placement availability. Commissioner questions also sought clarity about temporary transitions during a building renovation and how the county will maintain wraparound mental-health services while youth are in county custody.
