Volume 9 Issue 1 February, 2007

In this Issue

• The Rights of Indiana Foster Parents
• Our Foster Parent Journal Wins National Audience
• Foster Parents and Case Managers: ACT says train them together
• Introducing the ACT Action Group: Dynamic women you should know
• Like the New Format on Our Website? Thank Patrick
• See Pat O’Brien’s DVD on the Adoption of Older Kids
• Family Reunification Plan: The first step toward early permanency
• What’s in a Word? Let’s describe what really happens in “emancipation.”

The Rights of Indiana Foster Parents

This new posting to our web site brings together and summarizes foster parent rights in relation to the agency, the state and the courts. Foster parents are also reminded that advocacy is one of their roles in assisting toward the goal of early permanency. One trainer remarked that she did not know about two of the seven rights that ACT lists.

Here is the list:

1. The right to call a case conference
2. The right to hire an attorney
3. The right to notification of all periodic case reviews
4. The right to submit a written statement directly to the court
5. The right to present oral testimony in court
6. The right to cross-examine all witnesses at the court hearing
7. The right to request intervention as a legal party

For more information see A Voice for Indiana Foster Parents.

Our Foster Parent Journal Wins National Audience

The year 2007 marks the third year that ACT and School Datebooks have offered a Foster Parent Journal. The 2005 journal was written for Indiana only. It featured articles about issues important to Indiana foster parents and provided space for an entry for each day of that year.

In 2006 School Datebooks expanded nationwide, providing a journal with information for foster parents in all states.

In the current Foster Parent Journal, School Datebooks has removed the specific month and year designations. Each journal provides space for a year’s worth of daily notes, but the foster parent enters the starting date. This generic format means that the journal can start whenever a child comes into care, and a journal never goes out of date.

While information important to all foster parents is included in the Appendices, agencies and states can customize large orders with their own information, artwork, and even covers. To learn more, see the Foster Parent Journal heading on this website.

Foster Parents and Caseworkers: Train Them Together

The following is excerpted from a letter to the Indianapolis STAR from ACT board member Jim Kenny.

“Division of Child Services (DCS) Director Jim Payne is asking legislators for more caseworker staff. The Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association (IFCCA) is working hard and with success to recruit more foster parents. Too often in the past, unfortunately, caseworkers and foster parents have had some disagreements about child care which led to confrontations and power struggles. This does not serve the child’s best interests.

“The caseworker has the legal responsibility for the child’s welfare. The foster parent, with 24/7 contact, knows best the child’s current circumstances. They need to listen to one another, state their thoughts in a constructive way, and work together cooperatively.

“Why not train them together? The rules and policies are mostly the same for both. When they have different responsibilities, it is instructive for one to know what the other is facing. Joint training might save the state money. Most importantly, by being in the same classes together, they might well come to know and appreciate one another, and a foundation would be laid for future cooperation.”

Introducing the New ACT Action Group

ACT has recently been enriched by the addition of a small action group: Bobbie Brooks is a foster mom and a TV producer for Channel 13 in Indianapolis; Melissa Richardson is a foster parent trainer and a former DCS caseworker in Bloomington; Tamala Oliveira is a law student at IUPUI with a particular interest in family law and the rights of minorities.

In their view two initiatives are particularly important: getting ACT information out to foster and adoptive parents and taking positive steps to foster early permanency. Brooks commented that she was unaware of ACT and that the information available would have been most helpful to her in her job as foster parent. Richardson said that even though she is a foster parent trainer, she has learned new things from ACT.

The compilation of foster parent rights found elsewhere on this website and the idea of training foster parents and caseworkers together have come from their input. They are particularly interested in ways to get ACT information to foster parents throughout the state. They welcome new ideas. You can e-mail them at act4adoption@hotmail.com.

Our Website Has a New Look

Check us out. We not only have a new design but our ACT website is much more user-friendly. Here are a few of the improvements:

• More first hand information to help toward our goal of early permanency.
• Accurate topical headings which allow the user to find the needed information more quickly.
• Detailed information and immediate linkage to other important and related websites
• And much more

Thanks to Patrick Kenny, our web designer and guru.

See Pat O'Brien's DVD on the Adoption of Older Kids

Pat O’Brien doesn’t buy the idea that children in care become unadoptable once they reach the age of 10. Pat, a social worker, opened an agency devoted solely to finding permanent homes for the older child. His agency, “You Gotta Believe,” located in Brooklyn, New York, is the subject of a two-part DVD airing on Brooklyn Community Access Television on February 1 and February 8 at noon and again at 8 pm Eastern time. Outside the area viewers can watch the video at the times listed above by logging on to www.bcat.tv/bcat and then click on Television #2 under the words “BCAT Live Stream.”

According to the news release: “the DVD was developed for You Gotta Believe’s adoptive and permanent parents who have made the commitment to legally or morally adopt a teen in foster care through our program. The DVD is meant to be an inspiration on why it’s so important to hang in with teens, particularly during the difficult times any placement is bound to have…It highlights how important the unconditional commitment of the adult parent is…The DVD also offers very concrete suggestions to struggling parents once the foundation of their permanent commitment is established…lots of great parenting ideas.”

Family Reunification Plan: The First Step Toward Early Permanency

Once a child has been placed in out-of-home care, the first step toward planning for the child is the case plan. Why was the child removed? What must be done for reunification? What must be done if reunification is not possible?

ACT suggests that this case plan should be produced by the agency in charge and should be available to the court, the biological parents, and the foster parents within 48 hours of removal from the home. Forty-eight hours! The plan can be revised at any point that becomes necessary. The current requirement is that the case plan must be ready in 60 days, and being human, many case workers do indeed take 60 days to produce the case plan.

Can the deadline go from 60 days to 48 hours? Of course it can. The birth parents should be given preliminary guidelines immediately on what they can and must do to get their child back.

First, a child should only be removed from the home for very serious reasons. In such cases the reason for removal is obvious: mother’s boyfriend abuses the child; drugs or alcohol render the biological parent incapable of caring for the child. If the problem is serious the caseworker should be able to describe the problem immediately upon removal.

Second, the caseworker is apt to make a better report within hours after removal when the event is fresh in mind than after 60 days.

Third, the remedy suggests itself from the description of the problem. The caseworker develops the plan for reunification by setting specific behavioral goals which correct the problem situation: removing an abuser from the home; treatment for substance abuse with documentation of progress, etc.

Fourth, the biological parent who wants the child returned is most highly motivated immediately after the child is removed. Currently the biological parent who is eager to get the child back must wait days and weeks for any information whatsoever. With no feedback, the biological parent may be angry, depressed or both. The powerful motivation to change, present in the moment of removal, is lost.

Finally, the 60-day period to produce a case plan creates the mindset of delay. So long as the child has food and shelter and attends school, says this mindset, there is no hurry about planning for permanence.

The first step in seeking early permanency for children in care is a case plan that is produced and put into effect within 48 hours of removal from the home. ACT has proposed a sample case plan which covers the obvious possible remedies of parent training, changing residence, passing a drug screen, finding employment, visitation, and similar requirements. ACT’s proposed Family Reunification Plan (PDF document).

What's in a Word

Words have connotations. Journalists, poets and politicians all know that the right word can advance their ideas with the public while the wrong word can do just the opposite. As we age, we become “seniors,” not “old people.” Milk is no longer “skim”; it is “fat free.” Hair is not “dyed”; it is “color enhanced.”

In handling children who reach adulthood within the foster care system, the state understands well the importance of words. Children are “emancipated,” a word that evokes freedom, even freedom from slavery. Emancipation is a wonderful thing. Alternately, children “age out” of the system, a phrase which connotes growth and maturity and arriving at adulthood.

What nonsense! Leaving foster care with no family and no support system is not a coming-of-age ritual. It is a failure of a system and of the entire society. Children who leave the system with no permanent support mostly end up without jobs and homes. Inviting them to a few group meetings on independent living is not going to change the cold facts.

ACT suggests that the description of this sorry practice should reflect the reality, not some Madison Avenue version of reaching maturity. Can we find more realistic words then “emancipation” and “aging out” to describe this leaving foster care without a home?

“Dumped” is vivid but lacks the specific description for leaving the system.

“Abandoned” and “terminated,” ditto.

“Kicked out” has an in-your-face quality which might appeal to the victims.

“Cast out” is a pretty accurate description.

“Castaway” has an air of the sea and a bit of romance.

What do you, our readers, suggest for words to correctly describe the termination of children from foster care without benefit of family or support? Send us your suggestions.