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My reading of this and publication 501 is totally contradictory to what you are saying.
Publication 501 states that the child can not have provided more than half their own support.
Publication 17 states: "Similarly, payments you receive for the support of a foster child from a state or county are considered support provided by the state or county".
To me this reads as clarification to publication 501 - saying the agency or state is the one paying so they are not considered the "child" paying and as such you CAN claim them with out the "support test".
Please refer to this page on publication 501
[url=http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_publink1000220886]Publication 501 (2009), Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information[/url]
They explicitly talk about the "support test" and state "To meet this test, the child cannot have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year."