State foster-child secretary pushes for 50% increase in living-expense rates

Published: March 23, 2026

By: Gracie Thomas and Kylah Babin, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE – Department of Children and Family Services officials are working to improve Louisiana’s foster care system by advocating for a 50% increase in largely unchanged living-expense rates to help foster families cover basic necessities, DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris said in a Senate committee meeting Monday.

The agency is hoping to increase the foster parent board rates, which have been adjusted for inflation only once in 19 years, to encourage families to foster. Currently, foster parents receive $19.47 per day, a total of about $600 per month. The goal is to raise that rate to $900 per month. 

“Increasing board rates helps solve an imbalance,” DCFS Undersecretary Christopher Bahm said during the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 16. “Competitive, sustainable foster care board rates help us retain foster families and signal that Louisiana values the families who open up their homes for our children in need.”

National board rates vary from state to state, ranging from $450 to $1,200 per month per child. 

Read more at WBRZ.