In Arizona, family preservation and reunification is the ultimate goal in cases of child removal, with the exception of cases involving sexual abuse. Every resource must be used to attempt to achieve this goal. The State of Arizona prefers that the child is placed in the least restrictive environment. The following is considered least restrictive to most restrictive environments: parents, kinship, licensed foster placements, group home, and shelter care. Kinship is always encouraged to become licensed, because more resources are available to them and they are reimbursed significantly more than if unlicensed. If kinship is unavailable, they place children based on availability anywhere in the State of Arizona. A vast shortage of foster care homes is a tremendous problem and can cause many children to be placed far away from their homes.