The House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, announced hearings on youth who age out of foster care. The hearing will take place on Thursday, July 12, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, and will feature the testimony of many youth who left foster care with no family to call their own.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott (D-WA) stated, “When most children reach the age of 18, their parents continue to support and help them during their transition into adulthood. As the de-facto parents of foster children, we should do no less. We need to evaluate whether we are meeting that obligation, or whether we are simply showing these kids the door without sufficient support, resources and skills to succeed.”
NACAC is pleased to see this hearing take place and delighted that youth will be heard from directly. We encourage anyone who is interested in submitting written testimony to do so, by the deadline of August 2.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Key Foster Care Reform Legislation Announced
Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act (S. 1488) on May 24. This legislation would enable foster youth adopted after their 13th birthday to remain eligible for the same federal financial aid they would have received if they had remained in foster care. As Senator Coleman explained when he first sponsored the legislation in 2005, “Right now, if a teenager is adopted, he or she can lose out on some or all college financial aid depending on his or her adopted parents' financial situation, but if the teen stays in the system and 'ages-out' to 18 without being adopted, he or she is probably eligible for all available loans and grants given their personal financial situation…. The benefits of family and education should go hand in hand, not stand in opposition to each other. This bill would ensure that foster children don’t have to make an impossible choice between a family or an education.”
NACAC has met many former foster youth who had to make the terrible choice between having a permanent family and pursuing a college education. As a teenager, Sheila lived in foster care with her aunt. She knew that if she remained in foster care, she would receive financial assistance that would enable her to go to college. “I’m smart and very good with money,” Sheila explains. “If my aunt adopted me, I would lose my benefits. I mean adoption is great and everything, but you sacrifice a lot. It is crazy the way the system works.”
Passage of the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act would ensure that youth like Sheila do not have to make these heart-wrenching decisions.
NACAC has met many former foster youth who had to make the terrible choice between having a permanent family and pursuing a college education. As a teenager, Sheila lived in foster care with her aunt. She knew that if she remained in foster care, she would receive financial assistance that would enable her to go to college. “I’m smart and very good with money,” Sheila explains. “If my aunt adopted me, I would lose my benefits. I mean adoption is great and everything, but you sacrifice a lot. It is crazy the way the system works.”
Passage of the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act would ensure that youth like Sheila do not have to make these heart-wrenching decisions.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Senator Rockefeller Introduces Important Adoption Legislation
by Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
NACAC was delighted to see that Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) recently re-introduced the Adoption Equality Act, which would make all children with special needs eligible for federal adoption assistance. By removing the link between a child's eligibility for adoption assistance from the child's biological parent's income, the legislation makes it easier for children to receive the support they need after they leave foster care to a permanent, loving adoptive family.
The legislation would also allow states flexibility in developing criteria for determining whether a child's continuation in the home would be contrary to the safety or welfare of the child. States would also be required to re-invest the money saved as a result of this bill into their state child abuse and neglect programs. NACAC hopes to see the legislation move forward this year to provide needed support to vulnerable children and their new families.
NACAC was delighted to see that Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) recently re-introduced the Adoption Equality Act, which would make all children with special needs eligible for federal adoption assistance. By removing the link between a child's eligibility for adoption assistance from the child's biological parent's income, the legislation makes it easier for children to receive the support they need after they leave foster care to a permanent, loving adoptive family.
The legislation would also allow states flexibility in developing criteria for determining whether a child's continuation in the home would be contrary to the safety or welfare of the child. States would also be required to re-invest the money saved as a result of this bill into their state child abuse and neglect programs. NACAC hopes to see the legislation move forward this year to provide needed support to vulnerable children and their new families.
Movement to Reform Federal Finanacing Grows
Last month, a coalition of child welfare organizations issued a call for the 110th Congress to reform federal child welfare financing to better serve children and families. In its announcement, the Partnership to Protect Children and Strengthen Families highlighted the need for a system that protects children by:
• supporting the full range of services necessary to prevent child abuse and neglect;
• ensuring that all children who have been abused and neglected have the services and supports they need to heal; and
• guaranteeing that the half a million children in foster care get the help they need to thrive and to return to their families or to live permanently with adoptive families or legal guardians.
The partnership is a coalition of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the American Public Human Services Association, Catholic Charities USA, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Child Welfare League of America, the Children's Defense Fund, the National Child Abuse Coalition, and Voices for America's Children. The recommendations call for investing in the entire continuum of services for children and families, supporting all children (not just poor children) who have been abused and neglected, providing post-permanency support, and much more.
• supporting the full range of services necessary to prevent child abuse and neglect;
• ensuring that all children who have been abused and neglected have the services and supports they need to heal; and
• guaranteeing that the half a million children in foster care get the help they need to thrive and to return to their families or to live permanently with adoptive families or legal guardians.
The partnership is a coalition of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the American Public Human Services Association, Catholic Charities USA, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Child Welfare League of America, the Children's Defense Fund, the National Child Abuse Coalition, and Voices for America's Children. The recommendations call for investing in the entire continuum of services for children and families, supporting all children (not just poor children) who have been abused and neglected, providing post-permanency support, and much more.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Youth Voices Can and Should Be Heard
The Public Children Services Association of Ohio (PCSAO) recently launched the My Story Project, an opportunity for foster youth to create photo and video expressions of what foster care reform would mean in their lives.
Why should youth participate? Because too many kids are spending too many years in foster care, and changes need to be made. Many are waiting to go home; others are waiting for a permanent family. Current or former foster youth know this better than anyone.
PCSAO will be creating a Web site to showcase the resulting projects, and will feature them in a film festival in September.
All youth who participate by submitting their stories by July 1, 2007, will receive a My Story Project T-Shirt, be entered into a drawing to win an iPod Nano, and have a chance to advocate on behalf of other youth. We encourage you to tell any current or former foster youth you know about this exciting opportunity to raise their voices in a call for reform.
Why should youth participate? Because too many kids are spending too many years in foster care, and changes need to be made. Many are waiting to go home; others are waiting for a permanent family. Current or former foster youth know this better than anyone.
PCSAO will be creating a Web site to showcase the resulting projects, and will feature them in a film festival in September.
All youth who participate by submitting their stories by July 1, 2007, will receive a My Story Project T-Shirt, be entered into a drawing to win an iPod Nano, and have a chance to advocate on behalf of other youth. We encourage you to tell any current or former foster youth you know about this exciting opportunity to raise their voices in a call for reform.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Subsidized Guardianship Legislation Introduced in House
By Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
On May 10, 2007, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) and Congressman Tim Johnson (R-IL) introduced H.R. 2188, the Kinship Caregiver Support Act to mark the 10th anniversary of Illinois’ highly successful subsidized guardianship program. As Davis explained, this bill would provide kinship caregivers with the necessary resources to meet their children’s needs.
Currently federal financial assistance is available only to foster and adoptive families, with only a few states having a waiver that enables them to receive federal support for guardianship families. In his statement, Davis noted:
“Adoption is not a viable option for many children to exit foster care. For example, courts explicitly rule out this permanency option for approximately 20,000 children in relative care each year. Moreover, adoption is not equally availed by families of all races and ethnicities, especially those in African-American and Native-American communities. Thus, subsidized guardianship is an important path to permanency for many abused and neglected children."
In addition to federally funding subsidized guardianship, the bill would:
• implement additional supports for kinship caregivers, such as establishing informational navigator programs to assist grandparents and relatives in accessing appropriate services and supports
• allow states to establish separate licensing standards for relative foster parents and non-relative foster parents and require state agencies to provide prompt notice to all adult relatives when children are removed from parental custody
• expand eligibility for the Foster Care Independence Program so that education and training vouchers as well as independent living services are available to young people who exit foster care after age 14 to guardianship or adoption
Congressman Johnson, in a press statement, explained that the Kinship Caregiver Support Act serves not only meets the aims of family cohesiveness but long-range savings in tax dollars as well: “We are now in effect penalizing grandparents who have the heart and compassion to raise their own but not always adequate means,” Rep. Johnson said. “We can achieve family unity and all the blessings that confers along with saving resources over the long-term. This is a common-sense, bipartisan proposal that deserves to become law.”
This bill is a companion to Senate bill 661 of the same name, introduced by Senators Clinton (D-NY) and Snowe (R-ME).
On May 10, 2007, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) and Congressman Tim Johnson (R-IL) introduced H.R. 2188, the Kinship Caregiver Support Act to mark the 10th anniversary of Illinois’ highly successful subsidized guardianship program. As Davis explained, this bill would provide kinship caregivers with the necessary resources to meet their children’s needs.
Currently federal financial assistance is available only to foster and adoptive families, with only a few states having a waiver that enables them to receive federal support for guardianship families. In his statement, Davis noted:
“Adoption is not a viable option for many children to exit foster care. For example, courts explicitly rule out this permanency option for approximately 20,000 children in relative care each year. Moreover, adoption is not equally availed by families of all races and ethnicities, especially those in African-American and Native-American communities. Thus, subsidized guardianship is an important path to permanency for many abused and neglected children."
In addition to federally funding subsidized guardianship, the bill would:
• implement additional supports for kinship caregivers, such as establishing informational navigator programs to assist grandparents and relatives in accessing appropriate services and supports
• allow states to establish separate licensing standards for relative foster parents and non-relative foster parents and require state agencies to provide prompt notice to all adult relatives when children are removed from parental custody
• expand eligibility for the Foster Care Independence Program so that education and training vouchers as well as independent living services are available to young people who exit foster care after age 14 to guardianship or adoption
Congressman Johnson, in a press statement, explained that the Kinship Caregiver Support Act serves not only meets the aims of family cohesiveness but long-range savings in tax dollars as well: “We are now in effect penalizing grandparents who have the heart and compassion to raise their own but not always adequate means,” Rep. Johnson said. “We can achieve family unity and all the blessings that confers along with saving resources over the long-term. This is a common-sense, bipartisan proposal that deserves to become law.”
This bill is a companion to Senate bill 661 of the same name, introduced by Senators Clinton (D-NY) and Snowe (R-ME).
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Bans on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Parents Are Bad for Kids and the Nation
By Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
The Urban Institute recently released Adoption and Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents in the United States, which includes the following key findings:
• An estimated 2 million GLB individuals are interested in adopting.
• An estimated 65,000 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent.
• An estimated 14,000 foster children are living with lesbian or gay parents.
The report also notes that a national ban on GLB foster care would cost the country at least $87 million to $130 million, with costs to individual states ranging from $100,000 to $27 million.
More importantly, the report notes that if a national ban were implemented from 9,000 to 14,000 children would be displaced, severing critical bonds with approved, caring parents and harming the children. Moves in foster care have been shown to be particularly damaging to children, affecting their education, mental health, behavior, and more.
NACAC opposes bans on gay and lesbian foster and adoptive parenting, and this report makes clear that such bans are bad for children and youth. Children and youth in foster care need families to help them grow and thrive. We should not exclude an entire group of parents who can offer them a safe, stable, loving home.
The Urban Institute recently released Adoption and Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents in the United States, which includes the following key findings:
• An estimated 2 million GLB individuals are interested in adopting.
• An estimated 65,000 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent.
• An estimated 14,000 foster children are living with lesbian or gay parents.
The report also notes that a national ban on GLB foster care would cost the country at least $87 million to $130 million, with costs to individual states ranging from $100,000 to $27 million.
More importantly, the report notes that if a national ban were implemented from 9,000 to 14,000 children would be displaced, severing critical bonds with approved, caring parents and harming the children. Moves in foster care have been shown to be particularly damaging to children, affecting their education, mental health, behavior, and more.
NACAC opposes bans on gay and lesbian foster and adoptive parenting, and this report makes clear that such bans are bad for children and youth. Children and youth in foster care need families to help them grow and thrive. We should not exclude an entire group of parents who can offer them a safe, stable, loving home.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
We Must Do More for Foster Children
By William A. Thorne, Jr., Judge, Utah Court of Appeals; Member, Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care
There are half a million kids in this country in foster care today. There are 800,000 kids who will be in foster care this year. That is about the population that was evacuated from New Orleans before Katrina. And we were ready to move mountains to help those people—justifiably—they needed help. And yet people don’t seem to be getting upset that we have half a million kids who also need help.
I issue a challenge to all of you: If these kids were your children, would we be satisfied with what we do for them and on their behalf?
I can’t tell you how angry I am when I hear or read stories like Jessica’s below. When we take kids away from their families, we ought to do better for them. Nobody should have to live the life that Jessica went through. That’s why I joined the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care hoping to make a difference.
Enough is enough. More than 20,000 kids are going to age out of the system this year. 20,000 Jessicas. One expert came to us at the Commission and told us that of the 20,000 who age out, 60 percent will be homeless, in jail, or dead in two years. Jessica is a remarkable success and she has my admiration for having gotten where she is today.
I wouldn’t have been able to get where Jessica has without a family behind me. I listen to youth like Jessica, and they ask, “Where do I have to go for Thanksgiving?” “Where in the world is there a Christmas present for me under a tree?” “Who will be a grandparent to my children?”
We send more than 20,000 of these youth out into the world every year, and we have half a million whom we subject to this kind of risk. In spite of these failures, successes are possible. One of the things the Pew Commission talked about was how to reorient the resources so that we achieve better outcomes. We need to spend money smarter so that we do better by children. The Pew Commission recommendations suggest ways to do just that.
These aren’t your kids over here, or your kids over there—these are our kids. And we owe them the same thing we owe our own children.
There are half a million kids in this country in foster care today. There are 800,000 kids who will be in foster care this year. That is about the population that was evacuated from New Orleans before Katrina. And we were ready to move mountains to help those people—justifiably—they needed help. And yet people don’t seem to be getting upset that we have half a million kids who also need help.
I issue a challenge to all of you: If these kids were your children, would we be satisfied with what we do for them and on their behalf?
I can’t tell you how angry I am when I hear or read stories like Jessica’s below. When we take kids away from their families, we ought to do better for them. Nobody should have to live the life that Jessica went through. That’s why I joined the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care hoping to make a difference.
Enough is enough. More than 20,000 kids are going to age out of the system this year. 20,000 Jessicas. One expert came to us at the Commission and told us that of the 20,000 who age out, 60 percent will be homeless, in jail, or dead in two years. Jessica is a remarkable success and she has my admiration for having gotten where she is today.
I wouldn’t have been able to get where Jessica has without a family behind me. I listen to youth like Jessica, and they ask, “Where do I have to go for Thanksgiving?” “Where in the world is there a Christmas present for me under a tree?” “Who will be a grandparent to my children?”
We send more than 20,000 of these youth out into the world every year, and we have half a million whom we subject to this kind of risk. In spite of these failures, successes are possible. One of the things the Pew Commission talked about was how to reorient the resources so that we achieve better outcomes. We need to spend money smarter so that we do better by children. The Pew Commission recommendations suggest ways to do just that.
These aren’t your kids over here, or your kids over there—these are our kids. And we owe them the same thing we owe our own children.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Permanent Families Matter
By Jessica Delgado, former foster youth, Pennsylvania
My early life was filled with chaos and abuse due to my mother’s drug abuse. We never had clothes. We had holes in our shoes and lice in our hair. We went to school and people would make fun of us. Caseworkers would come and check on my brothers and sisters and me and we would lie. Kids get scared when they think they might be taken away from their mom. At least we know what it is like with our mom.
At 13, I thought "I can’t live like this" and I ran away. Eventually I had to call social services about my family’s situation and we all entered foster care when I was 15. I spent some time with a foster family but ended up in a group home. When I turned 18 I was released from the group home with no permanent place to go.
Immediately after being released from the system my therapy was discontinued. I was left to get a job and take care of myself. I had not been prepared to deal with the outside world alone. I had no one to rely upon. I was afraid of what path my life was about to take. Wondering how was I going to make it on my own led me into a depression. Let me give credit to a counselor that I had in the group—she did temporarily provide me with a place in her home. Do to my emotional problems, I managed to disrupt that relationship.
One of lowest point in my life was when I turned 19. My depression had taken its toll on me, which then led me to alcohol. As far as a family, it was the local pub. Every day and every single chance I got I went there and drank. Holidays, I was at the pub. Along with drinking, tattoos and piercings were the out for my unhappiness. I was going downhill really fast. Eventually I got pregnant. What in the world was I going to do with a child? Barely knowing the father of my child just added more stress to my life.
After having my daughter Angelina and struggling for a few years, I’ve finally found a family in Angelina’s paternal grandparents. Phyllis and Derrick are like parents to me. They have accepted me as family. They provided Nina and I with so much support. Derrick helped me with my finances, and Phyllis still listens to me, encourages me to move on in a better direction of my life. I've learned a lot about living a more balanced life from Phyllis and a few other strong women. I have expressed to them that without their love, support, and encouragement, my life would have been a bitter story.
Thankfully, even with all of the struggles and abuse, my life has managed to turn around for the better. And now instead of alcohol being my out, speaking out about it gives me a more fulfilling and satisfying perception on life.
Through all of this, I realize that permanency is so important, and is probably one of the main factors of what makes someone feel secure and loved. I still can't understand why providing me with a family or support system was not a priority with social services during my time with them. Why do we seem to think that these children or teenagers who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned are ready for the real world just because of they are 18? Whether it's 5, 10,or 18 years of age, love, family, consistency, security, and patience are all an important part in shaping the type of people we will grow up to be.
My early life was filled with chaos and abuse due to my mother’s drug abuse. We never had clothes. We had holes in our shoes and lice in our hair. We went to school and people would make fun of us. Caseworkers would come and check on my brothers and sisters and me and we would lie. Kids get scared when they think they might be taken away from their mom. At least we know what it is like with our mom.
At 13, I thought "I can’t live like this" and I ran away. Eventually I had to call social services about my family’s situation and we all entered foster care when I was 15. I spent some time with a foster family but ended up in a group home. When I turned 18 I was released from the group home with no permanent place to go.
Immediately after being released from the system my therapy was discontinued. I was left to get a job and take care of myself. I had not been prepared to deal with the outside world alone. I had no one to rely upon. I was afraid of what path my life was about to take. Wondering how was I going to make it on my own led me into a depression. Let me give credit to a counselor that I had in the group—she did temporarily provide me with a place in her home. Do to my emotional problems, I managed to disrupt that relationship.
One of lowest point in my life was when I turned 19. My depression had taken its toll on me, which then led me to alcohol. As far as a family, it was the local pub. Every day and every single chance I got I went there and drank. Holidays, I was at the pub. Along with drinking, tattoos and piercings were the out for my unhappiness. I was going downhill really fast. Eventually I got pregnant. What in the world was I going to do with a child? Barely knowing the father of my child just added more stress to my life.
After having my daughter Angelina and struggling for a few years, I’ve finally found a family in Angelina’s paternal grandparents. Phyllis and Derrick are like parents to me. They have accepted me as family. They provided Nina and I with so much support. Derrick helped me with my finances, and Phyllis still listens to me, encourages me to move on in a better direction of my life. I've learned a lot about living a more balanced life from Phyllis and a few other strong women. I have expressed to them that without their love, support, and encouragement, my life would have been a bitter story.
Thankfully, even with all of the struggles and abuse, my life has managed to turn around for the better. And now instead of alcohol being my out, speaking out about it gives me a more fulfilling and satisfying perception on life.
Through all of this, I realize that permanency is so important, and is probably one of the main factors of what makes someone feel secure and loved. I still can't understand why providing me with a family or support system was not a priority with social services during my time with them. Why do we seem to think that these children or teenagers who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned are ready for the real world just because of they are 18? Whether it's 5, 10,or 18 years of age, love, family, consistency, security, and patience are all an important part in shaping the type of people we will grow up to be.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Children and Youth Like Me and My Siblings Need Families and Stability
By Michael Drake, former foster youth, West Virginia
In 1998, when I was 12, the state decided that my sister and brothers and I couldn’t safely stay with our mother. After a short stay at a shelter, we were placed together in a foster family. When they decided to stop doing foster care, we were sent to another shelter.
I asked my workers to find my aunt, uncle, or other relatives, but no one did. I was so frustrated and upset, that I ran away. They wanted to do a psychological evaluation on me due to the fact that I had been running away and showing behavior that they deemed was abnormal. So I was placed in a mental health facility in Ohio. In the three months that I was there, they said that I really didn’t have any mental health issues.
After I left there, my siblings and I were placed with a foster family. About a week later our mother gave up her rights to me and my siblings. We stayed with that foster family for about a year, which was the most permanent placement I ever had in foster care.
Between 14 and 18, I moved more than 15 times, bouncing between shelters, group care facilities, and foster families. I did not live with my brothers and sister and rarely got to spend time with them. I tried to remind them that we were still a family, but it was hard.
I wish the state had done more to help our mom keep the family together. If the state had invested the same money they spent putting us in all those placements into weekly visits with our mother and had given her skill lessons, it might not have escalated to us needing to go into permanent foster care.
At 18, I “aged out” of foster care without any family at all. So did my brother Randy. My sister was adopted and my youngest brother remains in foster care. In my opinion, foster care destroyed our whole sense of family in the end. We can’t sit down together and feel like we are siblings. It becomes more like, “Oh, I know that person” but it’s not like, “Oh, he’s my brother.”
In 1998, when I was 12, the state decided that my sister and brothers and I couldn’t safely stay with our mother. After a short stay at a shelter, we were placed together in a foster family. When they decided to stop doing foster care, we were sent to another shelter.
I asked my workers to find my aunt, uncle, or other relatives, but no one did. I was so frustrated and upset, that I ran away. They wanted to do a psychological evaluation on me due to the fact that I had been running away and showing behavior that they deemed was abnormal. So I was placed in a mental health facility in Ohio. In the three months that I was there, they said that I really didn’t have any mental health issues.
After I left there, my siblings and I were placed with a foster family. About a week later our mother gave up her rights to me and my siblings. We stayed with that foster family for about a year, which was the most permanent placement I ever had in foster care.
Between 14 and 18, I moved more than 15 times, bouncing between shelters, group care facilities, and foster families. I did not live with my brothers and sister and rarely got to spend time with them. I tried to remind them that we were still a family, but it was hard.
I wish the state had done more to help our mom keep the family together. If the state had invested the same money they spent putting us in all those placements into weekly visits with our mother and had given her skill lessons, it might not have escalated to us needing to go into permanent foster care.
At 18, I “aged out” of foster care without any family at all. So did my brother Randy. My sister was adopted and my youngest brother remains in foster care. In my opinion, foster care destroyed our whole sense of family in the end. We can’t sit down together and feel like we are siblings. It becomes more like, “Oh, I know that person” but it’s not like, “Oh, he’s my brother.”
Monday, May 7, 2007
Facilitated Openness Can Benefit Children Adopted from Care
By Diane Riggs, NACAC communications specialist
When my parents adopted in the early ’60s, adoption was not something we shared openly. Today, most adoptive parents don’t keep such secrets and realize how important past ties are to their children. Given the proven value of openness, we must consider how safe contact with birth family members can benefit children adopted from care.
Facilitated contact, though difficult at times, can help children:
• The promise of birth family contact can help some youth accept adoption. A recent study found that before agreeing to an adoption plan, “adolescents needed to be told early that adoption would not preclude contact with their birth families.”
• Contact with past caregivers can ease the adoption transition and keep children from worrying about whether they are okay.
• By promoting contact with important figures from children’s past, adoptive parents show respect for their children.
• Helping children face family realities is better than allowing them to invent nightmares.
• Keeping in touch can ease worries and promote information exchange.
• Contact can help youth reconcile disparate pieces of their identity.
When pondering contact, parents must put their children’s well-being first, and never force contact if the children are unwilling. Barb Fischer, an adoptive, foster, and kinship parent in Minnesota, encourages contact only after she confirms that it is in her child’s best interest.
After agreeing on contact, families must set rules about the amount/kind of contact, supervision needed, and how to avoid bad situations. Parents must also guide children through feelings and behaviors that may arise, and limit or stop contact that proves harmful.
Parents may find it hard to reach out to their child’s first family. Contact can, however, help children and teens gain a better sense of who they are and how they fit in their adoptive family.
When my parents adopted in the early ’60s, adoption was not something we shared openly. Today, most adoptive parents don’t keep such secrets and realize how important past ties are to their children. Given the proven value of openness, we must consider how safe contact with birth family members can benefit children adopted from care.
Facilitated contact, though difficult at times, can help children:
• The promise of birth family contact can help some youth accept adoption. A recent study found that before agreeing to an adoption plan, “adolescents needed to be told early that adoption would not preclude contact with their birth families.”
• Contact with past caregivers can ease the adoption transition and keep children from worrying about whether they are okay.
• By promoting contact with important figures from children’s past, adoptive parents show respect for their children.
• Helping children face family realities is better than allowing them to invent nightmares.
• Keeping in touch can ease worries and promote information exchange.
• Contact can help youth reconcile disparate pieces of their identity.
When pondering contact, parents must put their children’s well-being first, and never force contact if the children are unwilling. Barb Fischer, an adoptive, foster, and kinship parent in Minnesota, encourages contact only after she confirms that it is in her child’s best interest.
After agreeing on contact, families must set rules about the amount/kind of contact, supervision needed, and how to avoid bad situations. Parents must also guide children through feelings and behaviors that may arise, and limit or stop contact that proves harmful.
Parents may find it hard to reach out to their child’s first family. Contact can, however, help children and teens gain a better sense of who they are and how they fit in their adoptive family.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
African American Foster Youth Are Being Adopted
By Mary Ford, NACAC research associate
It is often assumed that African American children are less likely to be adopted. Although this is not true, African American children are adopted at a slower pace than other children. If one looks at longitudinal data carefully, African American children are more likely to be adopted than other children, and this increased likelihood coincides with the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA).
According to a 2006 article by Fred Wulczyn and colleagues, of almost 400,000 children who first entered foster care in six states between 1990 and 2002, 24 percent of African American children were eventually adopted, compared to 16 percent of white or Latino children. However, it took longer for these adoptions to occur. Further, the data show that children from urban areas who were placed with relatives were adopted at a higher rate (26 percent) than those placed in other forms of care. (See previous posts for more information on relatives as permanency resources for foster children. Learn more about NACAC's position on relative care.)
Wulczyn, in a 2003 article, suggests that “the adoption cycle for a given cohort may take up to 10 years to complete, and that African American children are in fact more likely to be adopted.”
ASFA provides states with incentives to find adoptive families for foster children and prioritizes child safety in all decisions concerning family preservation and reunification. Wulczyn and colleagues note that state policies implemented after ASFA (though they vary a lot) appear to have given inducement to pursuing adoption for more foster children.
However, the data also reveal that the growth in the rate of adoption for African American children may be connected to the decline in family reunification during the decade between 1990 and 2000. Wulczyn and colleagues plan to study the effects of ASFA on the process of family reunification in upcoming research.
To increase public child welfare accountability and accuracy—and to reveal important outcomes for children like those studied by Wulczyn and his colleagues—NACAC believes the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) process and AFCARS (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System) should be changed to use longitudinal data, In addition, the federal government should continue to help states build their accountability systems by maintaining the federal match for State Automated Child welfare Systems.
It is often assumed that African American children are less likely to be adopted. Although this is not true, African American children are adopted at a slower pace than other children. If one looks at longitudinal data carefully, African American children are more likely to be adopted than other children, and this increased likelihood coincides with the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA).
According to a 2006 article by Fred Wulczyn and colleagues, of almost 400,000 children who first entered foster care in six states between 1990 and 2002, 24 percent of African American children were eventually adopted, compared to 16 percent of white or Latino children. However, it took longer for these adoptions to occur. Further, the data show that children from urban areas who were placed with relatives were adopted at a higher rate (26 percent) than those placed in other forms of care. (See previous posts for more information on relatives as permanency resources for foster children. Learn more about NACAC's position on relative care.)
Wulczyn, in a 2003 article, suggests that “the adoption cycle for a given cohort may take up to 10 years to complete, and that African American children are in fact more likely to be adopted.”
ASFA provides states with incentives to find adoptive families for foster children and prioritizes child safety in all decisions concerning family preservation and reunification. Wulczyn and colleagues note that state policies implemented after ASFA (though they vary a lot) appear to have given inducement to pursuing adoption for more foster children.
However, the data also reveal that the growth in the rate of adoption for African American children may be connected to the decline in family reunification during the decade between 1990 and 2000. Wulczyn and colleagues plan to study the effects of ASFA on the process of family reunification in upcoming research.
To increase public child welfare accountability and accuracy—and to reveal important outcomes for children like those studied by Wulczyn and his colleagues—NACAC believes the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) process and AFCARS (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System) should be changed to use longitudinal data, In addition, the federal government should continue to help states build their accountability systems by maintaining the federal match for State Automated Child welfare Systems.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
All Kinds of Families Need Supportive Services
By Bevanjae Kelley, a grandmother raising her two granddaughters and a board member of the Child Welfare Organizing Project in New York
We were experiencing an empty nest, and I was going back to school to get my degree before my granddaughters, 4-year-old Cyré and 14-month-old Ayanna, came to live with me. Their mother, my daughter, was struggling, unable to recover from a traumatic childhood incident.
My daughter didn’t get the help she needed, and the law said she had only 15 months to comply. She wasn’t ready after 15 months. She told me her lawyer never returned her calls and that everyone she talked to said she would never get her kids back. I didn’t know anything about the system and neither did she.
When the 15 months was up, I was pressured to adopt. I would have preferred to be the girls’ guardian and not have to adopt them. Then my daughter wouldn’t have needed to terminate her parental rights.
I love and care for those girls and do all I can to meet their special needs. Cyré has now been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and everything has been a roller coaster ride these past few years. Both girls have also been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. I got help from a local program that serves families with children who have a mental illness. They help the family work through problems instead of calling ACS. They provide 24-hour access to a psychiatrist, a case manager who coordinated services with school, a respite provider who took the girls out three times a week, and a therapist who provided in-home family therapy once a week. We were part of that program for about two years and it was very helpful. We all have more coping strategies and things are so much better.
I really wish these same services could have been available to my daughter when the girls were young. Everything would have been different then.
We were experiencing an empty nest, and I was going back to school to get my degree before my granddaughters, 4-year-old Cyré and 14-month-old Ayanna, came to live with me. Their mother, my daughter, was struggling, unable to recover from a traumatic childhood incident.
My daughter didn’t get the help she needed, and the law said she had only 15 months to comply. She wasn’t ready after 15 months. She told me her lawyer never returned her calls and that everyone she talked to said she would never get her kids back. I didn’t know anything about the system and neither did she.
When the 15 months was up, I was pressured to adopt. I would have preferred to be the girls’ guardian and not have to adopt them. Then my daughter wouldn’t have needed to terminate her parental rights.
I love and care for those girls and do all I can to meet their special needs. Cyré has now been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and everything has been a roller coaster ride these past few years. Both girls have also been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder. I got help from a local program that serves families with children who have a mental illness. They help the family work through problems instead of calling ACS. They provide 24-hour access to a psychiatrist, a case manager who coordinated services with school, a respite provider who took the girls out three times a week, and a therapist who provided in-home family therapy once a week. We were part of that program for about two years and it was very helpful. We all have more coping strategies and things are so much better.
I really wish these same services could have been available to my daughter when the girls were young. Everything would have been different then.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Kin Can and Do Provide Permanent Families for Foster Children
By Jennifer Miller, ChildFocus
Federal and state policies promote relative placements as the priority when children enter state custody. Recently, relatives have played an expanded role as resources for safety and permanency in the child welfare system. Relatives can help children preserve family relationships and help minimize the impact of separation from birth parent homes. (See CLASP's resource on kinship care.) They can provide support to birth parents working toward reunification. They are critical links for children in need.
When children cannot return home, relatives often provide permanence through adoption or guardianship. Adoptions by relatives increased from 15 to 21 percent between 1998 and 2000. By 2003, of the 50,000 children adopted from foster care, 23 percent were adopted by relatives. When adoption is not an option, guardianship is an increasingly viable permanency option. (Visit www.kidsarewaiting.com or www.cornerstone.to for more on guardianship.)
Relative adoption is particularly beneficial to African American children, who are vastly overrepresented in foster care. According to Penelope Maza of the Children’s Bureau, the percentage of African American children adopted by relatives increased each year since 2000, reaching a high of 25 percent in 2004. (Read full report.)
Relatives are often heroic—putting their lives on hold, delaying retirement, or using retirement years to parent again. Unfortunately, these same relatives are often marginalized. On the whole, children living with relatives receive fewer services, less oversight, and less funding than those living with unrelated caregivers. (Learn more: Children Cared for by Relatives: Who Are They and How Are They Faring? and Identifying and Addressing the Needs of Children in Grandparent Care.)
Reforms are needed to ensure that children living with relatives receive the help they need, including:
• Federal support for subsidized guardianship
• More flexible resources to prevent the need for children living with relatives to enter foster care
• More flexible funding to support relative adoptions; and
• Allowing states to set licensing and training standards for relatives that are different than those for unrelated caregivers
Kinship care is no longer a discrete program that sits off to the side of the child welfare system. Instead, it has become the face of child welfare and helps children achieve the safety, permanency and well-being they deserve. But relatives cannot do it alone. It is time to recognize and support this role for what it is: creating the next generation of healthy and productive citizens.
Federal and state policies promote relative placements as the priority when children enter state custody. Recently, relatives have played an expanded role as resources for safety and permanency in the child welfare system. Relatives can help children preserve family relationships and help minimize the impact of separation from birth parent homes. (See CLASP's resource on kinship care.) They can provide support to birth parents working toward reunification. They are critical links for children in need.
When children cannot return home, relatives often provide permanence through adoption or guardianship. Adoptions by relatives increased from 15 to 21 percent between 1998 and 2000. By 2003, of the 50,000 children adopted from foster care, 23 percent were adopted by relatives. When adoption is not an option, guardianship is an increasingly viable permanency option. (Visit www.kidsarewaiting.com or www.cornerstone.to for more on guardianship.)
Relative adoption is particularly beneficial to African American children, who are vastly overrepresented in foster care. According to Penelope Maza of the Children’s Bureau, the percentage of African American children adopted by relatives increased each year since 2000, reaching a high of 25 percent in 2004. (Read full report.)
Relatives are often heroic—putting their lives on hold, delaying retirement, or using retirement years to parent again. Unfortunately, these same relatives are often marginalized. On the whole, children living with relatives receive fewer services, less oversight, and less funding than those living with unrelated caregivers. (Learn more: Children Cared for by Relatives: Who Are They and How Are They Faring? and Identifying and Addressing the Needs of Children in Grandparent Care.)
Reforms are needed to ensure that children living with relatives receive the help they need, including:
• Federal support for subsidized guardianship
• More flexible resources to prevent the need for children living with relatives to enter foster care
• More flexible funding to support relative adoptions; and
• Allowing states to set licensing and training standards for relatives that are different than those for unrelated caregivers
Kinship care is no longer a discrete program that sits off to the side of the child welfare system. Instead, it has become the face of child welfare and helps children achieve the safety, permanency and well-being they deserve. But relatives cannot do it alone. It is time to recognize and support this role for what it is: creating the next generation of healthy and productive citizens.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
We Must Meet the Needs of Foster Children and Youth
by Joe Kroll, NACAC executive director
In March, the NACAC board approved a position statement (link) that states that the public child welfare system has primary responsibility to assess and address the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, developmental, and educational needs of children and youth who are or have been in the foster care system. To achieve this goal, NACAC seeks:
• Comprehensive assessments, conducted by a community-based, multi-disciplinary team, of a child’s or youth’s strengths and needs within 30 days of entering care, plus follow-up assessments
• Training of social workers, teachers, doctors, nurses, and others on the effects of abuse, neglect, and foster care placement
• A plan for provision of needed services, including continuing those services into adoption, guardianship, or reunification
To help achieve these goals, NACAC calls for legislation and rule changes that:
1. Require private and public medical insurance entities to cover mental health services at the same level as physical health services
2. Review Medicaid reimbursement rules and increase reimbursements and streamline the reimbursement process so that more providers accept Medicaid
3. Require HMOs to hire and retain qualified service providers, and when those providers are not available, to fully fund treatment received out of network
4. Fully support the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) program
To ensure educational continuity and success for foster children and youth, NACAC recommends (among other things):
1. Allowing foster children to remain in their school for a school year, in spite of placement moves, when it is in their best interests
2. Requiring agencies to consider school stability during placement decisions
3. Allowing a foster child to be immediately enrolled in school even if all typical requirements (records, immunizations, etc.) are not met
When a public agency takes custody of a child or youth, it must assume responsibility for providing the necessary services and support to achieve the best possible outcomes for that child or youth.
In March, the NACAC board approved a position statement (link) that states that the public child welfare system has primary responsibility to assess and address the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, developmental, and educational needs of children and youth who are or have been in the foster care system. To achieve this goal, NACAC seeks:
• Comprehensive assessments, conducted by a community-based, multi-disciplinary team, of a child’s or youth’s strengths and needs within 30 days of entering care, plus follow-up assessments
• Training of social workers, teachers, doctors, nurses, and others on the effects of abuse, neglect, and foster care placement
• A plan for provision of needed services, including continuing those services into adoption, guardianship, or reunification
To help achieve these goals, NACAC calls for legislation and rule changes that:
1. Require private and public medical insurance entities to cover mental health services at the same level as physical health services
2. Review Medicaid reimbursement rules and increase reimbursements and streamline the reimbursement process so that more providers accept Medicaid
3. Require HMOs to hire and retain qualified service providers, and when those providers are not available, to fully fund treatment received out of network
4. Fully support the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) program
To ensure educational continuity and success for foster children and youth, NACAC recommends (among other things):
1. Allowing foster children to remain in their school for a school year, in spite of placement moves, when it is in their best interests
2. Requiring agencies to consider school stability during placement decisions
3. Allowing a foster child to be immediately enrolled in school even if all typical requirements (records, immunizations, etc.) are not met
When a public agency takes custody of a child or youth, it must assume responsibility for providing the necessary services and support to achieve the best possible outcomes for that child or youth.
Monday, April 9, 2007
The Value of Adoption
By Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
In December 2006, Mary Eschelbach Hansen—assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies at American Unversity’s Department of Economics—published The Value of Adoption. Hansen found that every dollar spent on adoption from foster care—including money spent by the government, plus money spent by adoptive parents to help their children heal—yields between $2.45 and $3.26 in benefits to society:
“An adoption from foster care costs state and federal government about $115,000, but saves the government about $258,000 in child welfare and human service costs, netting a savings of $143,000 (Barth et al. 2006, adjusted for inflation to 2000 dollars). I show that each adoption nets between $88,000 and $150,000 in private benefits and $190,000 to $235,000 in total public benefits (in constant 2000 dollars). Thus each dollar spent on the adoption of a child from foster care yields between $2.45 and $3.26 in benefits to society.”
These societal benefits are largely due to the fact that adopted children, when compared to those who languish in long-term foster care, do better. As Hansen cites, adopted children are:
• 32 percent less likely to be incarcerated
• 15 percent more likely to be employed
• more likely to have higher incomes (after adjusting for time spent in school) and
• less likely to participate in welfare programs
These advances result in higher wages over the adopted individual’s lifetime. Other savings are due to lower crime rates for children who have been adopted.
It is time for the government to increase its investment in supporting adoption from foster care—it’s certainly good for children and youth who cannot return to their birth families, and it’s good economic sense.
In December 2006, Mary Eschelbach Hansen—assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies at American Unversity’s Department of Economics—published The Value of Adoption. Hansen found that every dollar spent on adoption from foster care—including money spent by the government, plus money spent by adoptive parents to help their children heal—yields between $2.45 and $3.26 in benefits to society:
“An adoption from foster care costs state and federal government about $115,000, but saves the government about $258,000 in child welfare and human service costs, netting a savings of $143,000 (Barth et al. 2006, adjusted for inflation to 2000 dollars). I show that each adoption nets between $88,000 and $150,000 in private benefits and $190,000 to $235,000 in total public benefits (in constant 2000 dollars). Thus each dollar spent on the adoption of a child from foster care yields between $2.45 and $3.26 in benefits to society.”
These societal benefits are largely due to the fact that adopted children, when compared to those who languish in long-term foster care, do better. As Hansen cites, adopted children are:
• 32 percent less likely to be incarcerated
• 15 percent more likely to be employed
• more likely to have higher incomes (after adjusting for time spent in school) and
• less likely to participate in welfare programs
These advances result in higher wages over the adopted individual’s lifetime. Other savings are due to lower crime rates for children who have been adopted.
It is time for the government to increase its investment in supporting adoption from foster care—it’s certainly good for children and youth who cannot return to their birth families, and it’s good economic sense.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Adoption Works!
by Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
Lamarr’s story (below) shows that adoption works and that children and youth—even teenagers—can find a permanent, loving family. Unfortunately not all young people find a family as Lamarr did. More than 3,000 children and youth in New York City are waiting for a family right now. Each year more than 700 youth age out of the city’s foster care system without legal family connections—more than 20,000 age out in each year in the U.S. Many of these young people have limited education and poor employment prospects. Too many leave care and end up homeless, incarcerated, and physically or mentally ill. A large number wish they had been adopted or lived permanently with a family under guardianship. Finding permanent families for all children must become a national priority.
Lamarr’s story (below) shows that adoption works and that children and youth—even teenagers—can find a permanent, loving family. Unfortunately not all young people find a family as Lamarr did. More than 3,000 children and youth in New York City are waiting for a family right now. Each year more than 700 youth age out of the city’s foster care system without legal family connections—more than 20,000 age out in each year in the U.S. Many of these young people have limited education and poor employment prospects. Too many leave care and end up homeless, incarcerated, and physically or mentally ill. A large number wish they had been adopted or lived permanently with a family under guardianship. Finding permanent families for all children must become a national priority.
Monday, April 2, 2007
My Adoption Story
By Lamarr Stapleton, former foster youth, New York
I was four when my brother and sisters moved in with our first foster family. It was decent. I was an A+ student. After a while, you’d forget you were in foster care. Then the agency says you have to move and the harsh reality that you’re in foster care hits you.
After we’d with the family for three years, the foster mother moved to Florida. My brother went to live with his dad, and my sisters and I were placed with a new family. My problem at the time was that I connected with people too quick. I got close to people and that was a problem when I had to leave.
Finally, my sisters and I moved in with Ms. Shirley Williams. Moving there went okay, but by then I was eight years old and I broke my habit of bonding with people quickly. Instead, I stayed close with my two sisters, the two people I knew I could count on. Things went well until my older sister went to live with her father. When we were all together, we had this chain that we were never going to break. My oldest brother was looking after my oldest sister, my oldest sister was looking after me, and I was looking after my youngest sister. After my brother and sister left, I was alone looking after my sister.
One day I just snapped and I wanted to see what it was like living on the other side of the education chain, I guess. I started skipping classes. I wasn’t smoking or drinking or anything, just school-wise, I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Ms. Williams helped me turn things around. She kind of pushed me on the right path, and eventually adopted me and my sister. I thank her for opening up her family to me. I guess about two years before we got adopted, that’s when I really started opening up to her and her family. It was like I thought, ‘Okay, we’re going to get adopted. I can feel it. I might as well let them in as family now.’
I know I gave my mother a hard time, because I am a hardheaded kid. Whenever she said ‘no,’ I said ‘yes.’ But over time, I learned that when she was telling me these things, it’s to help me learn from her. Now she’s not only my parent, she is my best friend and I can talk to her. I can talk to her sons too. It’s just a cool family.
I was four when my brother and sisters moved in with our first foster family. It was decent. I was an A+ student. After a while, you’d forget you were in foster care. Then the agency says you have to move and the harsh reality that you’re in foster care hits you.
After we’d with the family for three years, the foster mother moved to Florida. My brother went to live with his dad, and my sisters and I were placed with a new family. My problem at the time was that I connected with people too quick. I got close to people and that was a problem when I had to leave.
Finally, my sisters and I moved in with Ms. Shirley Williams. Moving there went okay, but by then I was eight years old and I broke my habit of bonding with people quickly. Instead, I stayed close with my two sisters, the two people I knew I could count on. Things went well until my older sister went to live with her father. When we were all together, we had this chain that we were never going to break. My oldest brother was looking after my oldest sister, my oldest sister was looking after me, and I was looking after my youngest sister. After my brother and sister left, I was alone looking after my sister.
One day I just snapped and I wanted to see what it was like living on the other side of the education chain, I guess. I started skipping classes. I wasn’t smoking or drinking or anything, just school-wise, I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing.
Ms. Williams helped me turn things around. She kind of pushed me on the right path, and eventually adopted me and my sister. I thank her for opening up her family to me. I guess about two years before we got adopted, that’s when I really started opening up to her and her family. It was like I thought, ‘Okay, we’re going to get adopted. I can feel it. I might as well let them in as family now.’
I know I gave my mother a hard time, because I am a hardheaded kid. Whenever she said ‘no,’ I said ‘yes.’ But over time, I learned that when she was telling me these things, it’s to help me learn from her. Now she’s not only my parent, she is my best friend and I can talk to her. I can talk to her sons too. It’s just a cool family.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Fiscal Concerns Shouldn't Lead to Privatization
By Joe Kroll, NACAC executive director
In Michigan, the state Senate has proposed to contract out all licensed foster care services to private agencies to save funds. As one supporter of the move, Subcommittee Chairman Bill Hardiman (R-Kentwood), explained "We can no longer afford to simply make small cuts, slowly whittling away state services," he said in a statement. "I realize change is difficult, but it is necessary."
On the child welfare continuum, contracting represents the midpoit between public responsibility and full privatization. The private contracting of foster care services needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully and should be done only to improve outcomes for kids, not to save money. NACAC believes that private agencies should only be brought in to complement state efforts, not replace the state's fundamental responsibility to child welfare. The public agency must be properly funded to assiduously monitor and evaluate the success or failure of contracting. States, and the federal government, need to invest in protecting children and providing them with permanence.
States like Michigan may be driven to save money because they have been receiving less federal child welfare funding over the last 10 years. Michigan is one of the many states that has lost federal funding between 1998 and 2004, due in part to an outdated federal funding formula. Currently, federal foster care funding is tied to a child's birth family's income—at levels not updated since 1996.
As detailed in the report Time for Reform: Fix the Foster Care Lookback, between 1998 and 2004, 35,000 fewer foster children have been eligible for federal foster care assistance, which translates into an $1.9 billion loss to the states during this time. States are required by law to protect these children, so must tap into state funds to make up the difference. In 2006, the National Governors Association issued a statement that noted, "Congress, in consultation with states, should explore options to eliminate the outdated 'look back' provision... While recognizing that this could be a costly endeavor, Governors believe that ideally all children in care, regardless of family income or jurisdiction, should be treated equally."
It's time to eliminate the lookback to 1996, and for the federal government to support all children and youth in need for protection and permanency.
In Michigan, the state Senate has proposed to contract out all licensed foster care services to private agencies to save funds. As one supporter of the move, Subcommittee Chairman Bill Hardiman (R-Kentwood), explained "We can no longer afford to simply make small cuts, slowly whittling away state services," he said in a statement. "I realize change is difficult, but it is necessary."
On the child welfare continuum, contracting represents the midpoit between public responsibility and full privatization. The private contracting of foster care services needs to be done carefully and thoughtfully and should be done only to improve outcomes for kids, not to save money. NACAC believes that private agencies should only be brought in to complement state efforts, not replace the state's fundamental responsibility to child welfare. The public agency must be properly funded to assiduously monitor and evaluate the success or failure of contracting. States, and the federal government, need to invest in protecting children and providing them with permanence.
States like Michigan may be driven to save money because they have been receiving less federal child welfare funding over the last 10 years. Michigan is one of the many states that has lost federal funding between 1998 and 2004, due in part to an outdated federal funding formula. Currently, federal foster care funding is tied to a child's birth family's income—at levels not updated since 1996.
As detailed in the report Time for Reform: Fix the Foster Care Lookback, between 1998 and 2004, 35,000 fewer foster children have been eligible for federal foster care assistance, which translates into an $1.9 billion loss to the states during this time. States are required by law to protect these children, so must tap into state funds to make up the difference. In 2006, the National Governors Association issued a statement that noted, "Congress, in consultation with states, should explore options to eliminate the outdated 'look back' provision... While recognizing that this could be a costly endeavor, Governors believe that ideally all children in care, regardless of family income or jurisdiction, should be treated equally."
It's time to eliminate the lookback to 1996, and for the federal government to support all children and youth in need for protection and permanency.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
New Report Highlights Need for Subsidized Guardianship
By Mary Boo, NACAC assistant director
Last week, Kids Are Waiting and Generations United released Time for Reform: Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children. This valuable report details research that identifies the value of relative care and highlights the need for reform to better support relative caregivers. Key findings include:
• Children in relative foster care are as safe or safer than children placed with non-relative foster families.
• Relative foster placements tend to be more stable than placements with unrelated families.
• Brothers and sisters are more likely to be able to stay together when placed with relative foster parents.
• Relatives are often willing to adopt or become permanent guardians when reunification isn’t possible.
In spite of these positives, federal policy does not encourage relative care as it should. Many of relative caregivers are older and on fixed incomes, and they need help to care for their kin. Federal funds can be used to support these caregivers while the children remain in foster care, but not when they are ready and willing to help these children leave care to a permanent, loving family. Almost 20,000 foster children could leave care today if their caregivers could become legal guardians and receive the financial support available to adoptive families. It’s time for federally supported subsidized guardianship.
Last week, Kids Are Waiting and Generations United released Time for Reform: Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children. This valuable report details research that identifies the value of relative care and highlights the need for reform to better support relative caregivers. Key findings include:
• Children in relative foster care are as safe or safer than children placed with non-relative foster families.
• Relative foster placements tend to be more stable than placements with unrelated families.
• Brothers and sisters are more likely to be able to stay together when placed with relative foster parents.
• Relatives are often willing to adopt or become permanent guardians when reunification isn’t possible.
In spite of these positives, federal policy does not encourage relative care as it should. Many of relative caregivers are older and on fixed incomes, and they need help to care for their kin. Federal funds can be used to support these caregivers while the children remain in foster care, but not when they are ready and willing to help these children leave care to a permanent, loving family. Almost 20,000 foster children could leave care today if their caregivers could become legal guardians and receive the financial support available to adoptive families. It’s time for federally supported subsidized guardianship.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Subsidized Guardianship Was a Miracle for Me
By Rob Johnson, former foster youth, Illinois/Iowa
When I was 6, I went into foster care. No one told me why I had to leave home. But I am one of the fortunate ones. My story has a happy ending.
Three years after I entered foster care, my aunt was granted one of the first subsidized guardianships in Illinois. She could never have provided for me and my sisters without support to help defray the costs of raising three more children. With that support, I was able to leave foster care for good.
Finding safety, stability, and love had a wonderful effect on me. Once labeled a slow learner, I was told I wouldn't graduate eighth grade. After I had a permanent, loving home with my aunt, I did so well that I eventually earned a full academic scholarship to Drake University in Iowa, where I am studying business and have my own radio show.
I was able to find my miracle through subsidized guardianship, but other foster children are not so lucky.
The federal government should provide funds to states for children who leave foster care to live permanently with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other guardians. In many cases, if relatives choose to become legal guardians rather than foster parents, they lose federal foster care assistance, which pays for things like food and clothing. That just isn't right.
To take a child away from his family is one of the most heartbreaking things you can do. To put him back with his relatives is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Other foster children deserve such an opportunity.
When I was 6, I went into foster care. No one told me why I had to leave home. But I am one of the fortunate ones. My story has a happy ending.
Three years after I entered foster care, my aunt was granted one of the first subsidized guardianships in Illinois. She could never have provided for me and my sisters without support to help defray the costs of raising three more children. With that support, I was able to leave foster care for good.
Finding safety, stability, and love had a wonderful effect on me. Once labeled a slow learner, I was told I wouldn't graduate eighth grade. After I had a permanent, loving home with my aunt, I did so well that I eventually earned a full academic scholarship to Drake University in Iowa, where I am studying business and have my own radio show.
I was able to find my miracle through subsidized guardianship, but other foster children are not so lucky.
The federal government should provide funds to states for children who leave foster care to live permanently with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other guardians. In many cases, if relatives choose to become legal guardians rather than foster parents, they lose federal foster care assistance, which pays for things like food and clothing. That just isn't right.
To take a child away from his family is one of the most heartbreaking things you can do. To put him back with his relatives is one of the greatest gifts you can give. Other foster children deserve such an opportunity.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Senators Support Needed Foster Care Reform
by Joe Kroll, NACAC executive director
NACAC and many other child advocates were delighted to see the following language in a March 2, 2007 memo from Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, to the leaders of the Senate Committee on the Budget:
"Child Welfare
Since the passage of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act, 392,500 children from the child welfare system have been adopted into safe, permanent homes, and we should continue investments to promote adoption and post-adoption support. Still, 513,000 vulnerable children remain in foster care needing care and support. There are several innovative programs across the country that seek to better engage relative caregivers in the lives of children needing loving safe homes. We wish to explore legislative opportunities for assisting more children to find safe and loving placements with willing relatives when appropriate. There is also an ever increasing need for appropriate and effective child welfare services in Indian country including authorization for direct funding to Tribal governments from the Title IV-E program. … We also plan to explore the issue of child welfare financing and will consider multiple financing reform ideas as well as the ability of the child welfare system to respond to changing levels of need in the future."
We were thrilled to see emphasis on the need for post-adoption support, along with a new interest in helping children and youth achieve permanence through subsidized guardianship. NACAC also strongly supports direct Title IV-E funding for tribes, which would give the tribes financial resources to support the responsibility they already have for native children and youth in their care.
The Senators’ interest in exploring child welfare financing reform is also welcome news. Currently almost 90 percent of federal child welfare funding flows to states only after a child is removed from her family and placed in foster care. It’s time to align federal financing with the goal of achieving a permanent family for every child in care.
NACAC and many other child advocates were delighted to see the following language in a March 2, 2007 memo from Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, to the leaders of the Senate Committee on the Budget:
"Child Welfare
Since the passage of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act, 392,500 children from the child welfare system have been adopted into safe, permanent homes, and we should continue investments to promote adoption and post-adoption support. Still, 513,000 vulnerable children remain in foster care needing care and support. There are several innovative programs across the country that seek to better engage relative caregivers in the lives of children needing loving safe homes. We wish to explore legislative opportunities for assisting more children to find safe and loving placements with willing relatives when appropriate. There is also an ever increasing need for appropriate and effective child welfare services in Indian country including authorization for direct funding to Tribal governments from the Title IV-E program. … We also plan to explore the issue of child welfare financing and will consider multiple financing reform ideas as well as the ability of the child welfare system to respond to changing levels of need in the future."
We were thrilled to see emphasis on the need for post-adoption support, along with a new interest in helping children and youth achieve permanence through subsidized guardianship. NACAC also strongly supports direct Title IV-E funding for tribes, which would give the tribes financial resources to support the responsibility they already have for native children and youth in their care.
The Senators’ interest in exploring child welfare financing reform is also welcome news. Currently almost 90 percent of federal child welfare funding flows to states only after a child is removed from her family and placed in foster care. It’s time to align federal financing with the goal of achieving a permanent family for every child in care.
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