LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas foster care officials say a proposed $26 million budget increase will allow them to hire hundreds more staff members over the next two years as they try to cut down caseloads and increase the number of homes available for children in the state's custody.
State Human Services officials Monday detailed steps they're taking to curb growth in the state's foster care system, which currently has about 5,200 children in it and has grown 30 percent over the past year.
Officials said Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposal to increase funding by $26.7 million in the coming fiscal year will allow the department to hire 228 additional staff members over the next two years and create a new mobile unit that will deploy to areas with high turnover among workers.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.