New mobile app aims to reduce foster parent, case worker turnover

Austin (KXAN) — A Central-Texas-based nonprofit has launched a mobile app aimed to reduce the volume of paperwork and documentation required for foster parents to keep up. This is in an effort to reduce the rate at which foster parents and case workers leave the system.

The Miracle Foundation officially launched its FosterShare app this month. Leslie Beasley, the CEO, said research and development on the app started two years ago but was already being used by more than 100 Texas foster-care agencies.

She said the app was a "one-stop-shop" of sorts for its users. It tracks and documents everything from daily behavior logs to medication log records.

Beasley said the app has been piloted in Texas but 5 other states have expressed interest in using it as well.

She said the overall goal was to make life easier for foster parents and reduce trauma for foster children.

"What we discovered is: the system is severely stressed and there’s a high volume of paperwork and documentation to maintain. The work is complicated with too little support and too little time. These are the challenges that we solve for, with FosterShare,” Beasley said.