State of Maryland 
Department of Human Resources 
December 21, 2007 
The Honorable Martin O'Malley Governor of Maryland 
100 State Circle 
Annapolis, Maryland 21401 
Dear Governor O'Malley: 

Maryland's Human Services Agency Martin O'Malley Governor 
Anthony Brown Lt. Governor 
Brenda Donald Secretary 

The Department of Human Resources is pleased to present this Interim Report as required by HB 397 Eastern Shore Task Force on Foster Care passed during the 2007 legislative session. House Bill 397 requires the task force to: 
1.) Consider incentives that will enhance recruitment and retention of foster care parents on the Eastern Shore including tax incentives, benefit packages such as health care, and the criteria for eligibility for these incentives. 
2.) Consider hiring a permanent staff person in each local department of social services whose role shall be recruitment, retention, and support for foster care parents and consider potential funding sources for the positions. 
3.) Make recommendations and a final report on improving the recruitment and retention of foster care parents on the Eastern Shore. 
The legislation further requires submittal of an interim report of the findings and recommendations of the Task Force to the Governor and to the General Assembly on or before December 31,2007. A final report will be due on or before December 31,2008. This interim report will discuss membership of the task force, scheduled meetings, information gathered at the meetings and the focus of the upcoming meetings. 
The initial meeting of this group was held at Talbot County Department of Social Services on September 28,2007. Please see the attached list of task force members and affiliates. The discussion at this meeting focused on the issues identified by the Maryland Foster Parent Association, a group formed by the Department of Human Resources in order to facilitate cooperation and sharing of resources among all of the Maryland foster care jurisdictions. The discussion issues included: 
•	Inadequate information regarding children placed in their care, 
•	foster parents who work outside the home, 
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The Honorable Martin O'Malley December 21, 2007 
Page Two 
•	insufficient foster parent support, and the 
•	desire of foster parents to be more involved in pern1anency planning 
Systemic supports for foster parents such as childcare, health care and tax incentives were identified as focal points for the task force. Additionally, data on the 452 children from the Eastern Shore that are currently in out-of-home placements was reviewed. This data indicates that additional family foster homes are needed across the Eastern Shore to ensure children are placed in the least restrictive environment as close to home as possible. 
A meeting was cancelled on November 151 due to the special legislative session. The second meeting was held on December 6,2007. Steve McCulloch and Suzanne Potts of the Department of Legislative Services presented their research on foster parent services and supports. Their research found that money is an important factor when recruiting foster parents, however support services are what will make the difference. Mr. McCulloch and Ms. Potts will be reporting back to the task force regarding other states that provide health insurance for foster parents. In addition, they will provide information on the Honorable Louis L. Goldstein Volunteer Police, Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Personnel Subtraction Modification Program. Dr. Memo Diriker of the Business Economic and Community Outreach Network, of the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University and Dr. Mike Scott of the Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative at Salisbury University presented the Eastern Shore Assessment Project. The project is based on the development of a database that will provide placement information to local departments of social services who are placing a child in foster care on the Eastern Shore. The database will help to ensure children are placed in the least restrictive placement in clQse proximity to their home and community. The program contains a GIS mapping aspect which includes all the treatment and regular foster homes on the Eastern Shore. 
At this time, the Task Force has held two meetings for which the focus has been obtaining needed information to facilitate future discussion. The Task Force has determined that child care for foster children, health care and tax incentives for foster parents and the hiring of permanent resource development and support staff in local departments will be the primary focus of upcoming meetings. They will review these issues at the next meeting on January 14, 2007 to determine if the department requires any legislation in the 2008 Session to implement recommendations it develops. 
If you wish to discuss this interim report further, I may be reached at 410-767-7109. We look forward to reporting our findings and recommendations, in accordance with 
§ 2-1246 of the State Government Article, on or before December 31,2008. 
Sincerely,