Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper Using Efficiency Audits to Improve Child Welfare.
“Efficiency audits provide a much-needed reality check, allowing policymakers and taxpayers to clearly see how well an agency is doing at achieving its objectives,” said Andrew Brown, distinguished senior fellow of child and family policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Requiring the Department of Family and Protective Services to undergo regular efficiency audits will help answer the fundamental question of whether the $2 billion in taxpayer dollars the state spends each year on child welfare are actually generating the best possible outcomes for children.”
Key Points:
- Despite a 70% increase in child welfare spending over the last decade, significant issues continue to plague the Texas foster care system, placing children at an unreasonable risk of harm.
- The 87th Legislature faces critical decisions related to a federal lawsuit over the Texas foster care system, the ongoing rollout of community-based care, and upcoming federally mandated changes to child welfare funding.
- A regular efficiency audit of the Department of Family and Protective Services can aid in achieving system-wide transformation and improving outcomes for children while saving taxpayer dollars.
- A regular efficiency audit of the Department of Family and Protective Services can aid in achieving system-wide transformation and improving outcomes for children while saving taxpayer dollars.
- A recent efficiency audit of the Oregon foster care system is helping the state successfully navigate its child welfare crisis.
To read the paper in full, please visit:
https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Brown-Efficiency-Audits-Child-Welfare.pdf