Miracle Makers led to adversity

New York Times photographer Ozier Muhammed captured this moment after the young lady on the right was forced to wait nine years to be adopted by her foster mom (on right), due to ineptitude by the Miracle Makers foster care agency.

New York City paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to Miracle Makers foster care agency as per their contract to provide classes in independent living.

Yet when a 16-year-old client who was preparing to age out of foster care tried to enroll in one of those classes, she found out the truth: The independent living workshops did not exist. They had not been offered for over a year.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what was uncovered in the New York Times' investigation...

New York City officials had no reason to believe that Willie Wren, founder of Miracle Makers, was qualified to lead a foster care agency in the first place. He was a church deacon with no experience working in foster care.

Yet, in 1986, city officials approached Mr. Wren, telling him that they were flooded with abandoned children, due to drugs, AIDS homelessness and teenage pregnancy, and calling on him to help.

The staff and board members of Miracle Makers were equally unqualified. The board consisted of a pastor, a homemaker and a bank employee, none of whom had social work training or experience. Board members did not evaluate Mr. Wren’s performance, approve budgets or receive copies of financial statements.

The agency was staffed by family members of its founder; his wife, his niece, his sister and his sister-in-law. Additional staff members, recruited from the general public, reported lack of training.

How did Miracle Makers end up turning into a multi-million dollar agency?

For the most part, this was because its services were not subject to regulation. In 1991, the city’s foster care oversight committee was disbanded and replaced with cursory evaluations. While this might have saved the city money in the short-term, in the long-term this decision did nothing to safeguard the safety of children.

And so Miracle Makers continued to exist – and even expand.

The warning signs were evident:

1.) A letter from the State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities in 2001, citing serious flaws in its housing program for the mentally handicapped

2.) The results of EQUIP(Evaluation and Quality Improvement Protocol system) revealed that Miracle Makers was in last place regarding foster care; the waiting time to reunify children or free them for adoption was longest and their program to prepare teenagers for the adult world rated a zero.

Miracle Makers continued to finish at or near the bottom for the next three years.

3.) An investigation of Miracle Makers uncovered: huge caseloads, lax hiring practices, poorly supervised staff, poorly trained supervisors, unqualified administrators and an ineffectual board.

4.) Miracle Makers bounced at least 280 checks, costing their agency thousands of dollars in overdraft fees (one month, the overdraft fees totaled $2,340). Apparently no one on staff was trained in basic bookkeeping principles and funds for various programs were intermingled.

5.) Miracle Makers claimed to have spent $2,399 on Palm Pilots for pre-kindergarten children. Yet, when questioned by the city’s Education Department about why these devices were considered appropriate for such young children, the agency claimed to have ‘lost’ the Palm Pilots.

My greatest concerns are for the children and teenagers being ‘served’ by this ineffectual agency, such as:

- Two children who weren’t given counseling after being sexually abused, because of staff turnover and a foster mother who kept missing appointments

- One girl who was forced to languish in the agency’s care for nine years before being adopted by her foster mother. Miracle Makers did not file the petition to terminate her abusive father’s rights. Nor did they respond when the court threatened the agency with arrest for not showing up at hearings.

- Miracle Makers lost the documents necessary to terminate parental rights for another child, and as a result, she is still in foster care. In another case, staff neglected to read the birth certificate, and wasted time and resources proceeding against a man who was not the biological father.

To read more, please visit my source:
Weiser, Benjamin. City slow to act as hope for foster children fails. New York Times, Nov. 6, 2007.

2007 Adoption Ethics and Accountability Conference

Third child dies in Michigan foster care

Photograph from myfoxdetroit.com


This is the face of a child whom foster care has failed.


Three-year-old James Bradley was placed in foster care, assumedly to keep him safe.



Instead, he became the third Michigan child to die while in foster care within the past nine months.

James Bradley's death has been ruled a homicide. Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that James died of blunt-force trauma to the head as the result of the illegal action of another person.

TIMELINE:
-August 16, 2006: Isaac Lethbridge died in foster care.

-August 17, 2006: Isaac's four-year-old sister was hospitalized. Bruises were found on her back, midsection, spine, thighs and ankles.

-September 21, 2006: Allison Newman was hospitalized, due to a traumatic brain injury. Her foster mother, Carol Poole said the child fell from a second-story loft onto the first floor while she swung the child by her feet over her head and between her legs.

-September 22, 2006: Two-year-old Allison Newman was removed from life support.

-October 2, 2006: Carol Poole, the foster mother of Allison Newman, was charged with felony murder, first-degree child abuse and involuntary manslaughter.

What's going on in Michigan?

In 2006, state investigators discovered:

- 26 out of 84 foster homes had expired licenses
- At least five investigations of abuse or neglect were never investigated
- Seven children were in dangerous or unacceptable placements

Investigators could not immediately locate or verify where 21 of the agency's 106 foster children were, though all were eventually found.

It's all about the money
This week, the Governor Jennifer Granholm proposed adding $35 million to the Michigan Department of Human Services' budget, in order to add staff members, conduct more staff training, get certification for family caregivers and subsidize permanent guardianships,

Meanwhile, the Michigan Senate subcommittee proposed cutting the department's budget by $20 million, slashing more than 800 staff members and privatizing most of the foster care and juvenile justice systems.

Elizabeth Carey, executive director of the Michigan Federation for Children and Families, which represents private nonprofit agencies, said, "It's not that Michigan doesn't know how to deliver good services to kids; it's that we're not delivering the scope of services and intensive services that we used to."

Shortcomings in resources and services hurt children. Even the efforts to reform the Michigan foster care system by suing the state only result in less money for the state to provide adequate services to children and their families.

The New York-based Children's Rights filed a lawsuit against Michigan's foster care system.

Among the allegations:
- 63,000 children available for adoption are being raised as wards of state
- 40% of children in foster care are living in unlicensed foster homes

The lawsuit listed by first name many of the children whom foster care has failed:
- Lisa, a nine-year-old sexually abused by her foster father
- Dwayne, a seven-year-old placed in eight different homes since he was a toddler

The 19.000 children in Michigan's foster care system need more money, not less. Why consider budget cuts while children are dying? And, even regarding the lawsuit, it is unfortunate that money is being spent on attorney fees, rather than on children.

Sources:
Death of child in foster care ruled homicide. Detroit: FoxTV, April 18, 2007.
From our readers losing Isaac: Blame goes all the way to the top. Detroit Free Press, Feb. 2, 2007, pg. A10.
Group Files Suit Against State Over Foster Care. WLNS, Feb. 16, 2007.
Judge to grant class-action status in Michigan foster care suit. Lansing State Journal, Feb. 15, 2007.
Kozlowski, Kim. Class-action status for foster care suit. Detroit News, Feb. 15, 2007, pg. B5.
Kozlowski, Kim. Settlement talks end in dispute over state's foster care system. Detroit News, April 12, 2007.
Kresnak, Jack and Tina Lam. Agency had lengthy list of alarming problems. Detroit Free Press, Jan. 29, 2007, pg. A11.
Kresnak, Jack. Death of foster child, 3, ruled a homicide. Detroit Free Press, April 18, 2007.
Kresnak, Jack and Tina Lam. Isaac not the 1st child center had failed. Detroit Free Press, Jan. 29, 2007, pg. A11.
Newman, Allison. Foster mother charged in death of 2-year-old. Associated Press, Oct. 14, 2006.

Human Resources at ChildNet did a poor job of screening out criminals

ChildNet has a $65 million contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families to provide Broward County's child welfare services. It is one of 20 privately run child welfare agencies across Florida.

In September 2006, $8,000 in Wal-Mart gift cards intended for use by foster kids were stolen from a locked ChildNet office. A nearly identical theft occurred in February 2007.

When ChildNet hired two private investigators to look into recent thefts at their agency, two of their 430 employees were implicated. Both suspects, Brady Grant and Steven Williams,have felony records.

Williams' convictions include burglary and battery, while Grant has served prison time for manslaughter and a cocaine addiction.

These are the men that ChildNet hires to be in charge of facilities management and security?

Grant is also suspected of stealing a Dell laptop computer, containing Social Security numbers, credit information and fingerprints on 12,000 Broward applicants to ChildNet's programs, most of them applying to be foster or adoptive parents.

No one has been charged in any of the thefts, and the laptop remains missing.

Why were Grant and Williams hired as ChildNet facilities managers despite their felony records?

During the course of this investigation, more employees have been fired upon closer examination of their backgrounds.

Just this week, a ChildNet maintenance worker was fired, after the latest background check showed he has a criminal record.

Why hasn't Florida DCF severed their contract with this agency?

The state Department of Children & Families had issued a letter terminating their contract with ChildNet - but the contract was instated after ChildNet President and CEO Peter Balitsaris was fired and Chairwoman Virginia Miller stepped down.

It is not enough to fire Balitsaris. The business dealings of ChildNet inspire no confidence in their ability to protect the interests of children or foster/adoptive parents.

According to the two investigators:

1.) ChildNet has no inventory system for ''high-value items'' like computers and furniture. Therefore, no one has inventoried ChildNet's computers and it is likely that other computer thefts have gone unreported.

2.) Childnet computers are vulnerable to security breaches. Critical data isn't regularly backed up and a number of outside vendors have access to ChildNet computer systems containing sensitive information.

3.) There is evidence of illegal kickbacks and fraudulent billing: Peter Greenhough, ChildNet's chief financial officer, has been accused of having his employees falsify invoices so that the state would reimburse the agency for work that it normally wouldn't pay for.

4.) Broward foster children were transported in potentially unsafe vehicles. The auto repair shop utilized by ChildNet paid kickbacks to the agency in order to avoid making needed repairs.

If, as aDCF Secretary Bob Butterworth has stated, the number one concern is that the children are "safe," this priority is not demonstrated by DCF's decision to continue doing business with ChildNet.

The 1,043 foster children in Broward County deserve better than this.

So do foster care/adoption applicants, who now have to worry about identity theft because their personal information was stored on ChildNet's stolen computer. These families report that they've had trouble reaching ChildNet employees to get information on how to protect themselves.

One woman reported, "I tried to call them yesterday and I tried to call them today, and it just rings and rings and rings. They have my fingerprints, they have my passport information, they have everything. It's scary, I can't even begin to tell you."

FBI involvement:
Last Friday, the FBI shut down ChildNet's main office and seized documents. The investigative report against ChildNet includes charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and an organized scheme to defraud the state, and these crimes fall under federal juridiction. Not to mention that the federal government, through the state, provides about $30 million of ChildNet's budget.

I'll keep you posted as this case unfolds...

Sources:
ChildNet agency's stolen laptop issue warrants FBI coverage. NBC-6, April 13, 2007.
FBI investigates non-profit child agency. United Press International, April 14, 2007.
Haas, Brian and Bill Hirschman. FBI seizes ChildNet records; CEO fired as more allegations mount against nonprofit. South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 14 2007.
Miller, Carol. FBI targets child care agency. Miami Herald, April 14, 2007.

Rhode Island Governor is prepared to sacrifice foster children for money

In his effort to close a $360 million budget deficit over two years, Governor Donald Carcieri is willing to sacrifice the futures of teenagers aging out of foster care.

Governor Carcieri has proposed that his state might save approximately $9 million by eliminating services to children in state care when they turn 18.

If passed, a Rhode Island proposal to cut foster kids off of care at age 18, will have serious consequences. Former foster children between the ages of 18-21 would no longer receive the aid that helps them pay for things like school, rent and health insurance.

The Governor has defended his proposal by claiming that teenagers aging out of foster care are less vulnerable than children or senior citizens, because teens will be able to accommodate these service reductions.

Statistics tell a different story.

Casey research has revealed that, four years after leaving state care:
- 25 percent of youth have become homeless
- 42 percent have become parents themselves
- Fewer than one in five is able to support him/herself

Gary Stangler, Executive Director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, reports that teens who age out of foster care are almost three times as likely as their peers to be disconnected for work or school -- and less likely to receive medical and psychological care.

Half of young adults ages 18-24 in the general population in the United States live at home with their parents, according Children's Rights. Most young adults in the general population rely upon their families for assistance with a place to live, financial support and other guidance as they transition to adulthood.

If children from stable homes and loving families are unable to leave home at age 18 and live independently of their parents, the Governor is being callous and unrealistic to expect more from foster care alumni.

One foster care alumna who has spoken out about this issue is 18-year-old Amanda Addison. She has been bounced around in various placements, including intake centers to short-term foster care homes since childhood, and is now barely scraping by on a $100 a week while preparing to attend community college.

But she worries her plans could be jeopardized if the state lowers the cutoff age for foster care services to eightteen. "It would change everything. I wouldn't be able to go to school. I wouldn't be able to follow my dreams."

Sources:
Baron, Jim. R.I. urged not to drop foster kids at 18. Pawtucket Times, April 4, 2007.
Cook, Nancy. Rhode Island considers foster care cutbacks. NPR, April 12, 2007.
Norton, Justin. R.I. ponders future of foster care. Boston National News, March 16, 2007.

California bill proposed to regulate psychiatric drugging of foster children

http://californiafostercarenews.blogspot.com/2007/03/trauma-of-foster-care-should-not-be.html

Come on, Rebecca, it's time for your "happy pills"

Photo of Rebecca Riley from msnbc.com

Does this little girl look like she needed to be on antipsychotic drugs to you?

Yes, her parents actually referred to the psychotropic meds as "happy medicine" and "sleepy medicine."

Accountabilty for overmedicating children

Photograph of Rebecca's parents, Michael and Rebecca Riley from the Boston Globe.

In Hull, Massachusetts, Rebecca Riley perished from an overdose of prescription drugs.

Was it an accident? Did she sneak into the medicine cabinet?

No, her doctor prescribed the drugs, and her parents gave them to her, just as they also doled out similar drugs to her 6-year-old sister and 11-year-old brother.

Here are the drugs that four-year-old Rebecca was prescribed:

1.) Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug
2.) Depakote, a mood stabilizing drug
3.) Clonidin, a blood pressure medication often prescribed for ADHD

These drugs are approved by the FDA for adult use only - yet doctors frequently prescribe them for children.

When parents overmedicate their four-year-old child with psychotropic drugs and kill her, we are shocked. We want them to be held accountable. Because of this, Rebecca's parents are being prosecuted for murder.

Let's not overlook the other entitities that should be held accountable for unnecessarily drugging children...

1.) If the government is "parenting" foster children, then it should be held to the same standard as Rebecca Riley's parents.

In the foster care system, 3-year-olds are given anti-schizophrenic medication. Six-year-olds are taking Prozac. Nine-year-olds are being prescribed four psychotropic medications at the same time.

Poor record-keeping masks the scope of this problem. But recent CBS research into Los Angeles group homes for foster children uncovered evidence of teenagers being medicated without court intervention, and with minimal doctor oversight. As one social worker reported to CBS, "It's just a chemical restraint. We don't know what else to do with you."

Former foster children report overmedication during their time in the system. Trayvon Walker reports, "In one day, I would say (I was given) probably 20 different medications. I was on Depakote, Wellbutrin, Triptal, Clonidin, Dispar." (Do these drugs seem familiar? Two of them were also prescribed to Rebecca, above).

What was the outcome of these drugs on Trayvon's health? It caused him to have kidney renal failure.

2.) Insurance companies contribute to this problem, because they are often more willing to pay for drugs than therapy. Phamaceutical and managed care companies benefit financially from prescribing lots of drugs to foster children. So do group homes.

3.) Shouldn't medical practioners be held accountable for overmedicating children and teenagers?

Regarding Rebecca's untimely death, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji has taken a leave of absence until the case has been resolved. The medical establishment where Rebecca was treated, Tufts-New England Medical Center has issued a statement saying that they support Dr. Kifuji and her decisions.

Doctors of conscience, however, are speaking out about this issue.

*Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, a professor of psychiatry at Boston University who runs a trauma clinic said, "Most of the patients I see who have been misdiagnosed have been told that they have bipolar disorder."

He continued, "This diagnosis is made with no understanding of the context of their life. Then they're put on these devastating medications and condemned to life as a psychiatry patient."

*Child psychiatrist Joseph Penn of Brown University Medical School expressed his dismay at the practice of "polypharmacy" with children:

When one drug causes side effects in children, they are often given another drug to deal with the side effects. If stimulants cause insomnia, the child is given sleeping pills - despite the fact that safety tests have not been done to measure the effects these drugs have on children, both alone and (especially) in conjunction with other drugs.

Sources:
Child's death raises concerns about psychiatric drugs. CNN, March 23, 2007.
Cramer, Maria and Raja Mishra. Girl fed fatal overdose, court told. Parents arraigned; lawyer questions doctor's role. Boston Globe, Feb. 7, 2007.
Elias, Marilyn. More kids get multiple psychiatric drugs. USA Today, Aug. 1, 2005.
Goldstein, David. Foster kids medicated for money? CBS, Nov. 13, 2006.
Higgins, Gary. Debate over children and psychiatric drugs. New York Times, Feb. 15, 2007.
States wrestle with medicating foster kids; Critics worry that psychiatric drugs flow too frequently to forgotten children. MSNBC, March 13, 2007.

Proposed $17 million cuts threaten Rhode Island teens aging out of foster care

Photo of Gov. Carcieri from http://www.coneg.org













While other states explore options to extend their services to young people transitioning out of foster care, Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri has proposed lowering the cut-off age for foster care services from 21 to 18 years old.

According to his spokeman, "It is the grim reality of having to reduce spending by $360 million. We have to balance the budget. We have no other option."

You have no other option? I think you do. These teenagers did not create the deficit. They did not choose to have parents who cannot or will not accept responsibility for them. Other young adults in "normal families" between the ages of 18-24 can live with their parents - and, statistically, 50% of them choose to do so.

Teens who have aged out of foster care know what it's like to have limited options. Has anyone in our lives taught us how to budget? How to cook? How to drive? We know what it's like to have limited options because there is no one in our lives to catch us if we fall.

A federal study of youth who had been in foster care found that one-fourth had experienced homelessness after leaving the foster care system. We former 'foster kids' are at risk for homelessness, incarceration, unwed pregnancy and joblessness.

Governor Carcieri, as a former foster child and someone who has done the research, I have some news for you. You will 'pay' for former foster children. Either you will be proactive and help them transition to adulthood, or you will be negligent and end up paying welfare or prison costs.

When I left foster care, I attended college. I started college when I was 16 years old. I was thankful for grants. I was thankful for loans. I was thankful for temporary guardians until I was 17 years old. And, frankly, the state where I lived was lucky that I chose to seek higher education, rather than repeating the cycle.

Would you rather pay for me to receive a welfare payment or loan me the money for college and grad school?

I agree wholeheartedly with Lisa Guillette, the executive director of the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association, "It's almost like building the bridge and not connecting the rest of the highway. When we get them to the most critical point of their young lives we're going to abandon them? It's immoral and it's bad policy. It's walking away from the investment we've made in them."

Sources:
Bayles, Fred and Sharon Cohen. "Chaos often the only parent for abused and neglected children." (AP) Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2000.
Norton, Justin M. Rhode Island ponders future of foster care. Associated Press, March 16, 2007.

No, Michael Robinson, your parenting skills are only worsening over time

Photo of Sue Hutchins and boyfriend Michael Robinson from dispatch.com

After beating his infant son into an irreversible coma, Michael Robinson said, "When can I see my kids again? I love my kids. I never said that I was the best father. Maybe I can get better with time."


Time. Let's talk about the concept of time.

Infant Dana Robinson could live up to 20 years on a feeding tube with no awareness of his own existence.

Or, let's review how many times Robinson and his girlfriend have been charged with child abuse before.

The couple has a long history of child abuse allegations, including three detailed investigations. Hutchins' two daughters have been with relatives since an abuse investigation in 2005.

Robinson actually ordered his three sons to hit Robinson's daughters in order to "toughen them up."

Dana's two-year-old brother Daven's thigh bone was broken in three places when he was one month old. The spiral fracture was "indicative of a rapid twisting of great force."

Mother, Sue Hutchins, must also carry the weight of responsibility. When two-year-old Draven was temporarily removed from her custody in 2005, a court order was issued for her not to live with Robinson.

She abided by this order throughout her pregnancy with Dana. However, three weeks before Dana was hospitalized, Children Services received an anonymous phone call that the couple were back together again, if not residing in the same household.

Before beating one-year-old Dana into a coma, Robinson also broke the baby's ribs. When he arrived at the hospital, baby Dana was covered with bruises, bite marks and indentations from pinching.

Where are Dana's six siblings?
- Robinson's other three sons (ages 8, 10 and 12) are living with an uncle.
- Hutchins' two daughters by another man (ages 9 and 11) are living with their paternal grandparents.
- Children's Services are trying to revoke custody of two-year-old Draven and place him and Dana up for adoption.

What charges are being levied against these parents?
- Both Robinson and Hutchins are currently housed in the Logan County Jail.
- Michael Robinson is being charged with felony child endangering, felonious assault and domestic violence
- Sue Hutchins is charged with a felony count of permitting child abuse

Sources:
Man wanted tough baby, police say. Columbus Dispatch, March 18, 2007.
Zachariah, Holly. Doctors: Beaten baby is brain-dead. Columbus Dispatch, March 16, 2007.

Ohio foster parents under scrutiny

In Ohio, since the death of Marcus Feisel, the state is looking more closely into the criminal records of foster parents, and figuring out how to manage the process of ongoing screening.

Marcus' foster father, David Carroll, had been arrested for domestic violence, but child welfare agencies did not know about it, because the only criminal background check for Ohio foster parents was at their initial certification.

Now, in Hamilton County, foster parents - and anyone over 18 living in their homes - will undergo continuing background checks. .

305 of Hamilton County's 750 foster children are living with parents licensed through the county. Those parents have been or are being checked.

While conducting background checks on their current Hamilton County foster parents, officials discovered that 27 licensed foster parents had been arrested on charges including welfare fraud, assault and domestic violence and child endangering.

Background checks have not yet been conducted on Hamilton County foster parents who are licensed licensed through private agencies.

The county is also working with law enforcement on an 'instant notification system' if a foster parent is arrested. All new foster parents are entered into this system. Current foster parents have 30 days to agree to register, or the county will remove the children from their homes

Another issue is that, throughout the state, communication breakdowns often occur between public and private agencies:

- Counties sometimes place children in private agency foster homes without communicating with private agencies, to make sure that this will be a "good fit" for the child.

- Counties refuse to disclose information to private agencies (e.g. counties refuse to place children with a certain foster family, but won't tell the private agency why).

- Three Ohio counties refuse to fill out dispositional letters for private agencies seeking information about foster parents.

Ohio will soon house all of their information about foster placements in S.A.C.W.I.S. (State Automated Child Welfare Information System).

Every state is "supposed" to have a statewide central registry for foster parents, but few actually have one.

Good news
Private agencies will finally be given the same information that public agencies are given. It will be kept in one place (ODJFS) to avoid having to contact all 88 Ohio counties, in order to find out if a foster parent has allegations against them in another county.

Information-sharing between counties and private agencies that provide foster homes is important because "level of care" is a huge issue.

It is not fair to the foster parents, nor to the children, to place a child with special needs with foster parents who lack the training and expertise to meet that child's needs (e.g. the Gravelles).

In SACWIS:
-Unsubstantiated allegations will be booted after 3 months.
-Indicated allegations will be booted after 5 years.
-Substantiated allegations will be booted from the system after 10 years.

Now, I realize that foster parents can be falsely accused, and that they don't want this to follow them around forever.

However, if a foster parent is accused of physical or sexual abuse of a child, and these allegations are 'substantiated,' should that foster parent have another chance to take in more children 10 years later?

According to state law, a felony conviction will preclude someone from being a foster parent. I know that assault on an adult is a felony conviction. What about assault on a child?

As a former foster child, my primary concern will always be the safety of children.

Sources:
Background checks turn up Ohio foster parent arrests: Child's death spurred closer look at system. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 5, 2007, pg. B3.
Brown, Jessica. Criminal checks get OK: Foster parents have 30 days to agree. Cincinnati Enquirer, March 8, 2007, pg. C1.
Foster parents get ultimatum
Coolidge, Sharon. Allow background checks or lose children, agency orders. Cincinnati Enquirer, March 6, 2007, pg. A1.
McCarty, Mary. Keeping track of foster parents vital. Dayton Daily News, March 8, 2007, pg. A4.

Collector families committing child abuse

Photograph of Michael and Sharen Gravelle from msnbc.com

"Collector families" is a term referring to adoptive (or foster) families who take in large numbers of hard-to-place children and receive financial subsidies.


Three questions to consider regarding large adoptive families:

1.) How large are they?
2.) How much individual attention are the children getting?
3.) Are the parents motivated by compassion, or financial gain?

How many is too many?
Licensed day cares and special education facilities have a strict staff-child ratio.

Shouldn't foster care and adoptions pay more attention to how many children are living in the household? Particularly for treatment foster care, medically fragile children or children with special needs?

-Illinois licensing rules rule out placing more than six children in a foster home.
-In Michigan, it is not uncommon for foster families to house eight children at a time.
-In Ohio, the limit was previously set at ten children, although the Gravelle case prompted recommendations for lowering that number.

I'm not knocking all large adoptive families. In fact, my friend Johanna has a large adoptive family of her own. However, I do encourage caution.

The best case scenario for adoptive placements are storylines worthy of a Hallmark movie. But, the worst case scenarios are the stuff that nightmares are made of…

1.) Michelle and Jeffery Reid have been operating an unlicensed foster care home in North Carolina for years. Officials say the couple misrepresented themselves as experts in treating specific emotional disorders and were getting large sums of money from various agencies. Despite their lack of qualifications, they have housed up to 15 special-needs children in their home at one time.

The Reids accomplished this deception by adopting out of state, in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois and Colorado. Allegations of abuse were made in June 2003, April 2004, December 2005 and June 2006.

2.) Michael and Sharen Gravelle were allowed to adopt 11 children with a host of health and behavioral problems. They couldn't handle the number and needs of the children in their care, so they made them sleep in wooden cages without pillows or mattresses.

The Gravelles were unqualified to care for special needs children. In fact, Michael Gravelle previously lost custody of his biological daughter after allegations of sexual abuse. And yet, they were entrusted with 11 children, and paid at least $500 per month in adoption subsidies for each child.

3.) Elizabeth Hazelbaker, a widow living in Butler County, Ohio, had 11 kids living in her home. Six were adopted. Five were Butler County foster children, ranging in age from 1 to 16.

A private agency in Kettering had placed five additional children with Hazelbaker after her husband died in 2003. State records show that the agency's caseworkers didn't check to see if they were more than Hazelbaker could handle alone.

Hazelbaker became abusive after her husband's death. She taped or leashed younger children into their chairs and spit into children's mouths as punishment for being too loud. Children were forced to forage into the garbage because they weren't given enough food to eat.

4.) Mercury Liggins adopted seven children and continued to collect $3,584 a month for their care during the ten months after she had abandoned them in Nigeria.

Before adopting her seven Texas children, Mercury had also adopted two other children from a man she was married to from 1979 to 1990.

5.) Thomas and Debra Schmitz, of Trenton, Tennesseee had 18 children in their house at the time of their arrest - including children whom they had adopted, foster children and children unofficially transferred to their care by other foster/adoptive parents who "needed a break."

The Schmitz proported themselves to others as experts, but their method of disciplining the children in their care was abusive and bizarre. They ordered one girl to eat her own vomit, made another girl sleep naked on the floor, forced a young boy wear soiled diapers on his head, sat on one girl and urinated on her, and pushed a wheelchair-bound girl into a swimming pool.

Police found evidence that the couple had wired a warning system to alert them when visitors came up the driveway.

Apparently, child welfare workers made visits to the house over the years and reported nothing amiss. Which really makes you wonder about the common sense factor...

Sources:
Eleven children taken from home after abuse allegations. WKYC, Oct. 5, 2005.
Garcia, Carmen. Elon couple face charges in foster care fraud. WMFR News, March 4, 2007.
Hewitt, Bill. Safe haven or house of horror? People Weekly, Feb. 13, 2006, pg. 1000.
Langford, Terri. 'Y'all are going to Nigeria.' Houston Chronicle, January 7, 2007.
McCain, Tracey. Foster Parents charged with child abuse: Alamance County deputies say an Elon couple abused 14 foster kids. WFMY, March 1, 2007.
Sheila McLaughlin. Agency overlooked foster care dangers. Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 24, 2006.
Police charge foster parents with abuse: Couple allegedly did not have license to care for the disabled children. Times-News, Feb. 28, 2007.
Warren, Jay. Five Butler Co. children involved in foster care case. WCPO, Oct. 25, 2005.

Youth Forum on Aging Out of Foster Care

Yesterday, I attended a youth forum in Stark County. Approximately 60 foster care youth were in attendence. Topics covered included: housing, college vs. working full-time, mentors and advocates, and independent living.

The video above is of a young man named Jeremy, performing a gospel rap song that he has created about his experiences in foster care. All this young man wants is a mentor -- and he hasn't found one yet.

Here are some of Jeremy's insightful comments during the forum:

-"One of our suggestions (about independent living classes) was 'timeliness of service, because it's way too late to ask us these questions after we've been in foster care for so long."

-"We're gonna go from foster care to just being flat broke."

-"Adults need to come and see us when we're doing something good, like sports or this forum, not just if we are bad or need counseling. Because everybody doesn't need counseling."

-"If I ever get a mentor, he shouldn't be lazy. I mean, I don't want to sit in an office and just talk, I want to do active things, like sports, and get to know someone that way."

Many of the older male teenagers at the forum seemed disillusioned. One young said that he had been in foster care since he was a baby and that his foster parents had flat-out told him that the odds were against his ever being adopted "because I was black, a boy and came from a bad family." They basically crushed his hopes early.

Another young man named Richard said, "We're just here to make it better for the next generation. I've been in foster care since I was three years old, and I'm 16 now. It ain't gonna happen for me."

I spent time after that session talking with Richard. He is sixteen years old, and thinks that his life is already over. I told him that I myself as a foster care alumna had lived several lifetimes since I was 16 years old. His life is not over. His cards are not all played out. Maybe he hasn't really had a chance to be a kid, but Richard is still very young and has many chances ahead of him.

Interestingly enough, there was an iPod raffle at the end of the forum, and Richard won the iPod! As he came up to collect his prize, I said to him, "The man without hope wins an iPod. There is plenty of hope for you, Richard."

Lottery of caseworkers: Two sisters with two different caseworkers attended the forum. The first caseworker was willing to take the older sister to visit five different colleges. The younger sister's caseworker refused to take her at all.

Suggestions made by the youth during the forum:

1.) Hands-on learning of independent living skills:
-Youth want the opportunity to live in an apartment for one week by themselves
-Would like to shadow a college student for a day, and see how they juggle school/work

2.) Early planning:
-Youth want to start visiting colleges during their sophomore year
-Upward Bound/Gear Up programs should serve more foster youth, not limit to high achievers
-Project Rebuild: Alternates one week of construction work, one week of education

3.) Don’t expect us to know your hidden rules:
-"In each placement, there are different rules/expectations, and we’re expected to know them"
-"In preparing for independent living, we should be making some of our own rules"

4.) Allow us more freedom:
-Foster youth go from total restriction to complete freedom, with no support
-Need opportunities to work, volunteer, participate in extra-curricular activities and spend the night at a friend’s house without having to go through so many channels

5.) Consider our need for transportation: The state should provide car insurance and allow foster care youth to get a driver’s license.

6.) If you want to connect with us, invest time:
-Would-be mentors should take teens out just to talk, or do a sports activity
-If the teen doesn’t open up right away, just be patient and consistent: invest the time

7.) One-stop shopping for our resources vs. misinformation/lack of information

8.) Let us evaluate foster parents/group home staff/caseworkers: They evaluate us.

Message to foster children: Don't wet the bed - or you die

One week before her death, six-year-old Katherine Frances was taken to a hospital by her foster mother, where police and doctors found "severe bruising to her forehead, both cheeks, neck, shoulders, arms, back and chest. There were severe bruises and abrasions to her pelvis, below her waist and on her buttocks."

What did they do? The state sent her right back to the foster home. How stupid is that?

Eight days later, Katherine was dead. The home where she had been staying was orginally licensed by Mesa Family Services, and that license was taken over by Therapeutic Family Life.

According to the state child protection services, the private foster care agency knew that the foster parents frequently left Katherine and her three siblings alone with their biological teenage son while they worked multiple jobs - and that this 14-year-old boy had been previously accused of harming foster children.

The teenager has been formally charged with murder. He will be tried as an adult. Katherine's older sister reported that he was angry at Katherine for wetting the bed, so he picked her up and body slammed her head-first repeatedly onto the floor.

Both the state and private agency should be held accountable for their lack of oversight. The private agency didn't screen the foster family suffiently, nor did they follow-up on child care issues. The state sent a six-year-old foster child back into an abusive placement that led to her death. The bruises that Katherine had suffered should have been a 'red light' to them.

So should the fact that Katherine's foster parents had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy since June 2005. The state doesn't require its child-placing contractors to check court records and obtain tax returns of prospective foster parents. New minimum standards that take effect this month require foster parents' incomes to be verified.

Police believe that foster mother Joyce Luvern Burks could have taken Katherine to the hospital hours before she actually did. That delay in medical care might have cost Katherine her life.

Meanwhile, Katherine's biological mother has filed a $15 million lawsuit. Did I mention that Katherine and her siblings entered foster care due to reports that they were frequently locked in the house alone, without food or electricity?

Where are Katherine's siblings? Staying with their grandfather. The state had considered sending them to their grandfather earlier, but ruled it out because there were people living in the home with criminal records or a history with CPS. So, what has changed? Are Katherine's siblings safe with their grandfather?

Action being taken by the state:
1.) On Dec. 7, 2006, CPS caseworkers began making face-to face visits with all children in foster homes formerly licensed by Mesa Family Services. These visits are to check the safety of the children and condition of the home.

2.) They will make a list of all standards violations and child safety experts will conduct a secondary review of the findings.

3.) Children will be immediately removed from any home where unacceptable risks are identified.

4.) Until this investigation is over, no children will be placed in foster homes overseen by Therapeutic Family Life (TFL), including homes that TFL took over after Mesa relinquished its contract and license.

5.) National criminal background checks will be conducted on all persons 14 years and older who live in former Mesa foster homes. Those checks will be ongoing, not just one-time.

6.) Interviews with adults who have regular contact with foster children, such as doctors, nurses, teachers, child care providers, will be conducted to ensure they are receiving proper care and to identify potential problems.

Sources:
DeSoto teen charged of beating foster child to death, mother charged as well. Pegasus Newswire, Jan. 13, 2007.
Fink, Jack. Girl dies in foster home, teenage boy accused. CBS 11: Dallas/Fort Worth, Dec. 6, 2006.
Fink, Jack. Girl visited hospital week before death: Group says DFPS bruising should have been red flag. CBS 11: Dallas/Fort Worth, Dec. 8, 2006.
Fink, Jack. Mother files lawsuit in foster care death case. CBS 11: Dallas/Fort Worth, Dec. 12, 2006.
Fink, Jack. State blames private agency for foster child death. CBS 11: Dallas/Fort Worth, Jan. 12, 2007.
Garrett, Robert T. State faults foster-care contractor in girl's death: Officials cite 'gross failure;' firm's lawyer denies allegations. Texas Cable News, Jan. 11, 2007.
Gillet, Bud. Bedwetting may have prompted fatal attack. CBS 11: Dallas/Fort Worth, Dec. 8, 2006.
Yan, Holly, Robert T. Garrett and Michael Grabel. Foster brother held in death: Girl 3rd to die in home selected by agency under state scrutiny. Dallas Morning News, Dec. 6, 2006.

More on KY's quick-trigger adoptions

Definition of beaurocracy: An administrative system in which the need or inclination to follow rigid or complex procedures impedes effective action; e.g. innovative ideas that get bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy.

As mentioned in previous blog entries, Kentucky social workers have alleged that the Cabinet inappropriately removes children from their homes and expedites state adoptions, motivated by federal funding, e.g. women who enter homless shelters due to domestic violence in Kentucky lose custody of their children.

Complaints have been levied by Kentucky Youth Advocates and the National Institute on Children, Youth and Families.

A 12-member adoption panel, chaired by Cabinet for Health and Family Services Commissioner Mark D. Birdwhistell... can you see a conflict of interest here? I can... has reviewed the process and practices leading to termination of parental rights and adoption in Kentucky's child welfare system.

Their goal was to identify areas of improvement and propose legislation for the 2007 General Assembly. Basically, there needs to be fairness and consistency in custody termination.

What proposals have they made?
1.) Take more efforts to locate family members (such as the biological father) before putting child up for adoption; something that is not being done now

2.) Give parents an attorney and let them know that their child's custody is at stake

3.) Give court-appointed attorneys and guardians ad litem a raise (this initiative has been unsuccessfully suggested in 10 other statewide panels over the past 30 years)

4.) Require that family judges and attorneys attend training specifically about foster care and custodial termination (I wholeheartedly agree that this training shold be mandated).

All of these improvements will need to be approved by the General Assembly. If they are not approved, they are basically 'dead in the water.'

Definition of 'dead in the water:' Not going anywhere or making any progress, e.g. The crippled ship was dead in the water. With no leadership, the project was dead in the water.

Meanwhile, Kentucky State Auditor Crit Luallen has released a performance audit of the states adoption process from foster care. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services... again, can you see the conflict of interest, it's difficult for a beaurocracy to audit itself... issued a news release saying the audit would offer "general recommendations" for improving the adoption process.

Conversely, Crit Luallen's audit indicated that "Kentucky should make adoption a higher priority." Here is a direct quote: "The Commonwealth has an interest in making adoptions a favorable choice for Kentucky families." A financial interest, yes.

I don't want children to languish in foster care. If their biological parents cannot and will not care for them, I have no problem with putting them up for adoption.

What troubles me is the financial interest that the Cabinet has in facilitating speedy custodial terminations. The state receives a bonus of $4,000 for each adopted child, and more if the child has special needs. I will link to my previous blog entry on May 7th for your convenience.

Sources
Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Auditor to report on adoption, foster care practices today - Quick-trigger adoptions alleged. Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 14, 2006, City & Region pg. C4.

Honeycutt-Spears, Valarie. Panel wants Kentucky's adoption laws changed: Focuses on parents' rights. Lexington Herald-Leader, Dec. 15, 2006, City & Region pg. C1.

Kudos to Judge Carole Clarke

In September of this year, Carole Clark, a Texas family court judge, convened a group of almost 100 child care professionals to conduct an overview of the foster care system in East Texas.

Judge Clark did this to address a myriad of concerns...
- 19,000 children are in the Texas foster care system at any given time.
- 32,500 children passed through the system last year.

- Over the past three years, the number of foster parents in East Texas has decreased by 20%.
- Meanwhile, there has been an increased number of children entering the foster care system, due to family members being hooked on methamphetamine.

- Caseloads are twice as high as they were in 1998, when former Gov. George W. Bush declared the Texas foster care system "in crisis."
- Jobless couples have been taking in as many as 6-8 emotionally disturbed foster children as their primary form of income

After reviewing the current situation in depth, several suggestions were made:

1.) Instituting a cap on foster family size. Texas has four levels of reimbursement for foster care, and payments increase according to the severity of physical or behavioral problems. Right now, foster families can take in up to six "moderately" disturbed children -- and Judge Clark wants to decrease that number to four or fewer.

2.) Stop moving children once they improve: The state's financial incentive is to move foster children who have improved their behavior to homes licensed for less troubled youth. This practice does not benefit the foster child -- rather, it actually encourages the child not to improve, because to do so means another loss of stability.

3.) Shorten the chain of command. Let local CPS workers call the shots about what happens to children. Give the people in the trenches the authority to make decisions.

4.) Stop separating siblings. Panel members realized that for children who have been separated from their parents, siblings often represent the only "family" that they have...

5.) Revisit the idea of group homes. The least popular suggestion that Judge Clark made was for the state to consider creating permanent residential facilities, which might offer more stability than frequent moves between foster homes.

Her idea is for these facilities to be staffed by both hourly shift workers and live-in foster parents.

Why was this suggestion so unpopular?
In philosophies and other schools of thought, people often adhere unquestioningly to one viewpoint, then reject it and, in a knee-jerk reaction, take the polar opposite view.

Over the years, there has been a pendulum swing regarding public opinion towards group homes is concerned.

When I was in foster care in the 1980's, I lived in group homes, due to the shortage of available foster homes and the lack of foster parents who were willing to take in older children. I lived in residential facilities from ages 12 to 16, when I started college.

Group homes weren't perfect. I just wonder at the fact that, rather than trying to fix those problems, many people have rejected group homes altogether.

I think that we have thrown out the baby with the bathwater by trading poorly screened staff at group homes for overloaded caseworkers and poorly screened foster parents.

A teenager residing in a well-run group home for several years with stable staff could build a base of emotional stability. According to the 70 Developmental Assets for youth, teens and tweens need at least one stable adult in their lives that they can rely on.

Why not try it?
I think Smith County should create some group homes for teenagers, and staff them with well-trained professionals. Group home staff should be carefully screened and supervised. Foster care alumni insights should be sought about many issues.

Sometimes considering creative solutions can constitute a risk in losing popularity. It is a worthwhile risk, and I am glad that Judge Clark is taking it.

Source:
Garrett, Robert. Judge sees crisis in foster care; Her panel suggests group homes, more control for CPS workers. Dallas Morning News, Oct. 16, 2006.

Update on Clark County

Children's Coalition: Everlyse Cabrera Disappearance

Children's Coalition: Bail Set at $250K for Foster Mother Melanie Ochs

Children's Coalition: Bail Set at $250K for Foster Mother Melanie Ochs

Strengthening the oversight of foster care

I linked to FosterAbba in a recent posting, because there are many dedicated foster parents out there, with good intentions. Foster parents whose idealism led them to pursue foster care, and who experience emotional pain when foster youth are removed from their home.

I wish every foster parent were like that... but since there are some nefarious foster parents out there, there needs to be nationwide oversight over foster placements.

1.) Each state should keep track of deaths in foster care. This is not happening.

2.) If one child dies in foster care, all other foster children should be removed immediately. Two-year-old Allison Newman was placed in foster care in November 2004, due to maternal neglect. Her Michigan foster family had expressed hopes that they might adopt her. Social workers documented that Allison appeared healthy and happy when they visited her.
Two days after a caseworker visit, Allision was dead. The foster mother claims that Allison "repeatedly hit her her on the side of the bed in the course of play." However, Allison's autopsy has led to questions and doubts about this explanation.

To their credit, Lutheran Social Services removed other foster children from the home immediately. Sadly, this does not always happen.

3.) National information sharing when it comes to sexual and/or physical abuse by foster parents. If an adult sexually abuses a foster child in one state, he/she should not be free to do the same in another state.

In my state, they are exploring the possibility of a statewide database of foster parents, so that adults who abuse the children in their care in one county or through one agency aren't free to do the same in another.

Sources
Ferretti, Christine. Questions surround tot's foster care, Detroit News, Sept. 26, 2006, Metro, pg 2B.
Miller, Carol Marbin. No list of kids on mood drugs. Miami Herald, Sept. 23, 2006, Metro pg. 1B.

Court Appointed Special Advocates

The primary purpose of CASA is to represent the best interest of the child. Court appointed special advocates visit the child's placement frequently, get to know the child, spend time ascertaining the facts -- and then come to court to share that information.

Four primary responsibilities of CASA volunteer:
1.) Investigate child's best interest
2.) Advocate (in court and with agencies) for that child and that child alone
3.) Facilitate an agreement between involved parties whenever possible
4.) Monitor the safety of the child's placement, and report back to court if that child is in need or in danger.

Benefits of CASA
Court appointed special advocates have one or two cases, whereas caseworkers and layers often have huge caseloads. So, not surprisingly, CASA volunteers visit the child's placement more frequently than social workers or lawyers.

Caseworkers represent their agency. Lawyers represent their firm. Because CASA workers are working for free, they are able to represent the child's best interest (ideally) without fear of financial reprisal.

It can be difficult for national organizations to maintain consistency on a local level. For this reason, CASA requires 30 hours of training at the onset, and then 12-15 hours of continued education each year.

You are not there to advocate for social services
Please be aware of this site: http://www.childadvocates.org/

The Houston organization, Child Advocates Inc., has a court-appointed volunteer program. However, these volunteers are encouraged to agree with and support the viewpoint of CPS.

Can you see how this is in direct violation of everything that CASA stands for?