Most states, including Hawai'i, pay foster parents far less than what middle-income families spend to raise their children, says a report out today by University of Maryland researchers.

"Foster parents should receive the funds they need," said co-author Julie Farber, director of policy at Children's Rights, a New York-based advocacy group. Too often, she said, they either stop taking in foster kids or dig into their own pockets to pay for prom dresses and Boy Scout uniforms.

Hawai'i Human Services Director Lillian Koller said the state would like to offer higher payments for foster children.

"While Hawai'i does have higher foster-care payments than many other states, we would like to do more," Koller said in a written statement. "Our current rates were set in 1990, so we are taking a serious look at increasing payments to address our greatest needs. We are especially interested in providing extra money for foster parents who care for siblings, teenagers and teenage moms with babies."

The report comes as more states report a shortage of families to care for the 500,000 children in foster care nationwide.

The report estimates monthly costs for healthy foster kids at $629 for a 2-year-old, $721 for a 9-year-old and $790 for a 16-year-old.

Only Arizona and Washington, D.C., paid more for each age group, and most states paid far less, according to the report.

LESS THAN SUGGESTED

According to the report, Hawai'i paid less than the recommended monthly rates, forking out $529 for 2-, 9- and 16-year-olds.

That's $100 less than the recommended rate for a 2-year-old, $192 less for a 9-year-old and $261 less for a 16-year-old.

Nebraska had the lowest monthly rate: $226 for a 2-year-old. The recommended rate for Nebraska is $636 for a 2-year-old.

California paid $425 for a 2-year-old, $265 less than recommended. Florida's rate for a 2-year-old was $429 while Washington's was $374.

Families taking kids with disabilities receive higher "therapeutic" rates.

The report, citing the wide range of state payments, recommends a uniform rate that can be adjusted to account for varying costs of living. Its proposed rate is based on expenses reported by middle-income families in a Labor Department survey, plus a 22 percent increase for extra food and other things needed by foster kids who may have been malnourished or abused.

Most state rates fall far short of real costs, said Diane DePanfilis, co-author of the report and director of the Ruth Young Center for Families and Children at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.

Farber said the low rates make it difficult to sign up foster parents.

"That's not what we're hearing," said Susan Orr, associate commissioner of the U.S. Children's Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services. She said foster parents tell the bureau they are more concerned about how much they must do, such as attend court hearings, than what they are paid.

"Mandating formulas has not been an effective tool," Orr said. She said states ought to decide rates and get greater flexibility in how they spend federal funds.

The report opens a national "conversation" about what foster parents are paid, said Fred Wulczyn, research fellow at Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

BIG ROLE IN RECRUITING

If states can pay foster parents more, they should, Wulczyn said. But he added, "Part of the foster-care system has always been about altruism."

"Money is not the singular issue," but it is a "major" factor in recruiting and retaining middle- and low-income foster parents, said Linda Davis, who serves on an advisory board to the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare. In Milwaukee, she said, there are 650 foster families for 2,700 foster kids, so some children end up in group homes or institutional settings.

In California, the County Welfare Directors Association reported in May that there is a "serious statewide shortage" of foster families and that a key barrier is foster-care rates that have been frozen for more than six years.

In a separate report out today, the National Council for Adoption calls for more money to recruit and train foster and adoptive parents. It says 22 percent of children in foster care are eligible for adoption, but states spent only 1.3 percent of federal child-welfare funds to recruit and train parents for them.