Child welfare costs have gone up in Florida since shift to private sector

By Sally Kestin, Sun Sentinel
4:57 p.m. EDT, May 14, 2011

Florida lawmakers ended their annual session this month with agreement to privatize government services from health care for the poor to state prisons on the assumption that the private sector not only can do it better, but cheaper.

Yet in one of the state's longest-running and largest forays into privatization so far — child welfare — costs have actually gone up, a Sun Sentinel analysis found.

Florida spends more than $1 billion a year on abused and neglected children, up from $717 million in 2000, when the state began farming out foster care and adoptions to private agencies, according to the state Department of Children & Families.

Adjusted for inflation, spending is up $105 million over 2000.

"It's not cheaper,'' said state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston. "That's what everyone says when they talk about privatization — it's cheaper. That has not been proven.''


The bottom line: Florida spends more today on child welfare despite caring for far fewer foster children. That's because of a shift in favor of preventing abuse and keeping families together.

It's also due to Florida's low spending before privatization, when the state's abysmal performance was reflected in the high number of child deaths and burgeoning foster care population.  FULL STORY