A shocking lapse by a local group home has raised serious questions about accountability—and the staggering cost to local agencies—after it failed to report a missing 15-year-old girl in its care.
The teen, who had been placed in the facility by Children’s Protective Services (CPS) in August 2023, ran away in December, but no police report was ever filed. CPS only contacted Portsmouth Police recently to retroactively document the disappearance for their records—more than three months after the fact.
This is not the first time the teen has gone missing. Portsmouth Police posted about her on Facebook after an October incident and previously listed her as missing in June 2023. Group homes and foster facilities frequently deal with runaway reports, and the standard protocol is to immediately notify law enforcement. This time, that vital step was skipped.
Why does it matter? Because every day that child was in care, Scioto County taxpayers were billed up to $500. That’s the going rate for group home placements, and it adds up fast. In 2023, Scioto County spent $7.7 million on foster placements. Although the total dropped slightly in 2024 to $6.5 million, the county still shells out around $550,000 per month—sometimes spiking to over $750,000.
“Extortion,” is what County Commissioner Bryan Davis calls it. “The facilities saw we were desperate, and they took advantage of it. The state budget doesn’t provide nearly enough funding to cover these costs.”
JFS Director Tammy Moore Morton echoed the frustration: “They told us wealthier counties were paying more, and if we didn’t match those prices, our kids would lose their placements.”
With over 2,000 abuse and neglect reports flooding the system each year, CPS is overwhelmed, and local leaders say the situation is becoming unsustainable.
The Bottom Line: When group homes fail to follow procedure, not only is a vulnerable child put at risk—so is the public’s trust and the county’s budget. As foster care costs skyrocket, so too does the need for transparency, oversight, and reform in how agencies manage and report these critical incidents.
