Foster Care: Implementation of the Multiethnic Placement Act Poses Difficult Challenges

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the implementation of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994, as amended, at the federal level and in states with large and ethnically diverse foster care caseloads, focusing on: (1) efforts by federal, state, and local agencies to implement the 1994 act in the areas of assistance; (2) efforts by federal, state, and local agencies in these same areas to implement the 1996 amendment to the act; and (3) the challenges all levels of government face to change placement practices.