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

"The level of therapeutic needs for some kids is pretty high," said Joe Kroll of the North American Council on Adoptable Children. "As we go into economic downturns, we start to lose some of those supports."

Foster parent Susan Bell is wrestling with that very issue.

She and her husband already have two teenage foster sons in their home in Portland, and case workers are pleading with them to take more — including one youth who sexually molested a sibling and another who stabbed his mother.

"Are we wanting to tackle that with the amount of reimbursement we're getting? It's a heavy subject," said Bell. "We realize the amount of supervision these kids require. ... Generally, what's foremost on our minds is, 'Can we financially continue to do this?"'

Bell, 58, said the state pays $512 a month for each of the boys now in their home — not enough to cover the surging costs of providing for them. Like other teens, the boys take long showers, leave windows open in the winter — jacking up utility bills — and eat heartily.

"Teenage boys don't eat a little bowl of cereal — they eat a mixing-bowl size," Bell said.

For now, she and her husband are wary of taking on more children, despite the state's entreaties.

"If you take in a 14-year-old, you're looking at a four-year commitment, even if things worsen economically," Bell said. "It's a 24/7 job that definitely has its rewards, but there is an emotional and financial cost."

Nationally, the situation varies from state to state.

The president of the Texas Foster Family Association, Irene Clements, said her state's reimbursement rates — well above the national average — aren't a problem. But she said many potential foster parents are deterred by the rules they'd be subject to — "The system's gotten so punitive that they don't want to do it any more."

In Georgia, the foster-care community is waiting to learn what the impact will be of across-the-board budget cuts ordered by Gov. Sonny Perdue — at least 6 percent for every agency.

David Elliott, head of Georgia's Foster Parent Association, said cutbacks in foster-parent training are viewed as likely.

"I'm not seeing mass panic — I'm seeing people taking studied approach," Elliott said. "We are feverishly working and looking for out-of-the box solutions so we can take care of our children."

Back in Oregon, Penny Esser also is seeking new solutions. She works for the state's Child Welfare Division in Jackson County, where there are about 325 children in foster care — up from roughly 200 five years ago.

"We're crowding foster homes," she said. "People are willing, but we don't want to burn out our foster parents.

"We're just finding beds. What we're not doing is matching. We're not keeping kids in their neighborhoods or with their siblings."

Groping for new recruitment tactics, Esser recently went through a local directory, found the names of 134 places of worship in Jackson County, and issued an appeal to them.

"My challenge was, 'Every church, one foster family,"' she said. "If we got every church to recruit one family out of their congregation, we'd be in really good shape."