HARTFORD — A state report says Connecticut has saved about $50 million in the last five years by placing children in foster care and finding adoptive families rather than group homes.
The Journal Inquirer reports that the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis says expenses for adoption and foster care by the Department of Children and Families was up $20.4 million since 2009, to $205.8 million.
But costs associated with residential placements were down $70.6 million, to $125.6 million last year. As a result, net savings were $50.1 million.
The budget for the Department of Children and Families last year was $775.2 million, or $77.3 million less than the 2009 budget year.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pointed to the reduction in placements when he cut the agency’s budget by $9 million.