A veteran of 15 years in child welfare, Penny Esser has never weathered a tougher climate for the work to which she's so devoted — recruiting foster parents.

"It's as bad as I've seen," said Esser, who's based in Medford, Ore. "We are really at a critical shortage — we're crowding the foster homes that we have."

Even in good times, recruitment is often challenging because of concern about inadequate reimbursement rates, burdensome oversight or simply a perception that foster parents get a bad rap due to periodic horror stories in the news.

Now, amid epic economic turmoil, the challenge is aggravated — especially in the majority of states, Oregon among them, whose payment rates to foster parents fall well below estimates of what's needed to raise the children.

"It's the fear factor that's keeping some people from even applying," said Don Darland, who heads the Oregon Foster Parent Association. "People are saying, 'I don't even want to try. I don't know what's going to happen. ... Maybe we have enough income, but we're not sure what's going to be there in the future."'

Darland, a quadriplegic, is a retired Marine officer. He said he and his wife have been foster parents for 18 years, caring over that span for about 60 children, many with physical or emotional problems.

The catch is that there are not more folks like him: Retention is a problem in Oregon, with a need to replace at least 60 percent of the foster parents every two years, Darland said.

"It's always been a problem even in the best of times — and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better," said Lauri Stewart, a spokeswoman for Oregon's Department of Human Services.

One factor common to many states, she said, is that reimbursement doesn't cover child-care costs — meaning foster parents who work outside their home often must pay hundreds of dollars a month from their own pocket for day care.

Stewart said the number of foster homes in Oregon has remained relatively steady in recent years, but at too low a level to provide optimal care for foster children. The consequences, she said, include having to assign multiple children to each home and settling for less-than-desirable matches for special-needs and minority children. From the national perspective, foster care advocates are deeply concerned by the budget woes besetting many states. Even if reimbursement rates aren't reduced, there may be other damaging cutbacks in training and support programs, said Carl Jones, interim executive director of the National Foster Parent Association.

There's particular concern about the financial struggles of foster parents caring for special-needs children with serious emotional problems.