CLARK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM
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Petitioner: |
Stacie Dastrup, Director Clark County Family Services |
Recommendation:
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Clark County Family Services to present Foster Care Recruitment data, strategies, and request for County funding. (For possible action)
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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Fund #: |
N/A |
Fund Name: |
N/A |
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Fund Center: |
N/A |
Funded PGM/Grant: |
N/A |
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Amount: |
$625,000 |
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Description: |
N/A |
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Additional Comments: |
N/A |
BACKGROUND:
Following the COVID‑19 pandemic, Clark County experienced a steep decline in available foster homes.
By late 2022, only 282 licensed non‑relative homes and 518 beds remained. In response, Clark County implemented a multi‑layered, data‑driven recruitment and retention strategy with an increasingly growing budget from 2022 to 2025. Recruitment strategies included story‑driven podcasts, targeted digital marketing, demographic analytics, and geofenced campaigns, and location‑analytics tools guided ad placement in high‑traffic malls, grocery stores, and community hubs.
These paid recruitment efforts assisted Family Services in rebuilding capacity to 420 homes and 920 beds by mid‑2026.
However, as funding sources expired at the end of August 2025, and with minimal funding to sustain proven recruitment strategies, Clark County Family Services is at risk of losing the public momentum in foster care awareness and interest. There is growing concern that the lack of recruitment funding will result in a decrease of licensed foster caregivers within the next 12 months.
As the State of Nevada has signed onto the Administration of Children and Families Home for Every Child initiative, there has never been a greater focus on foster care recruitment. A Home for Every Child sets an ambitious goal of achieving a foster home-to-child ratio greater than 1:1 in every state.
Clark County Family Services is seeking support from the Clark County Board of County Commissioners in developing a renewable and stable annual recruitment budget so that every child in Clark County has a safe home with a supportive caregiver.