Adoption in Child Time, Inc.

GOOD NEWS FOR INDIANA FOSTER PARENTS

WHAT I LEARNED AT THE RECENT IFCAA CONFERENCE

Change is in the air. Good changes for Indiana foster kids and those who care for them. I want to share with our friends what I learned from Indiana Director of Child Services, James Payne, and from DCS Regional Managers. Advent is the appropriate comparison, a promise of things that are about to happen, hope for a transformation.

1. PER DIEM: For almost two years now, Indiana’s foster parents have been receiving $25 per day for care of a foster child. This amounts to $760 in a month and represents a considerable increase from the previous rate. Indiana now ranks third among the states in compensation, but still falls four percent short of what it actually costs to care for a child, according to an article in the November/December issue of Fostering Families Today.
   Hopefully, the DCS will not discount its respectable per diem payments by cutting back or eliminating the clothing allowance or reimbursement for travel.
2. PERMANENT HOME: “Our goal is to have foster children in a permanent home by nine months,” said Director Payne. That would represent a significant decline from the present amount of time spent in foster care. Present law allows for the state to change the permanency plan from reunification after six months, and mandates the filing of a termination of parental rights by 12 months. In targeting his goal, Payne has split these deadlines. We are delighted with this expressed goal. ACT’s sole mission is to shorten the time in foster care and to help every child gain a permanent home.
3. EIGHT HUNDRED NEW CASE MANAGERS: Indiana has already hired 600 new case managers and expects to have 800 on staff by March 1, 2008. Payne expects this increase to lower average case loads for child care workers from over 60 foster families to under 20.
4. ESTABLISHING NETWORKS: Training has already begun to change the casework target. No longer will the case manager concentrate exclusively on the birth parents. From now on, within 24 to 48 hours after a child is removed for alleged abuse or neglect, the case manager will convene a meeting of the “extended family.” This may include blood relatives, neighbors, friends, teachers, therapists, foster parents, anyone with an interest and who can help. From consensus within that group, an early case plan must emerge.
   ACT has continuously pressed for a case plan within 24 hours of removal so that birth parents may have the opportunity to begin working toward reunification immediately. Or if the birth parents fail to show any effort, the clock can start ticking toward another permanency plan.
5. TRUSTING FOSTER PARENTS: “All children should be allowed to be children,” said Payne. “We must not limit their freedoms. They should have the opportunity for an overnight at a friend’s house or a Boy Scout sleepover without their foster parents worrying whether the temporary caretakers are licensed or not. We must trust our foster parents to make responsible decisions about safe child care.” Payne went on to say that he is sending this directive to all Indiana county directors before Thanksgiving.
   This plan clearly allows foster parents to make the same decisions about care that other parents make, and it allows foster children to visit and spend overnights as other children do.

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These changes are happening now. They are significant and are the best news for Indiana foster children in a long time. Let’s all work together to see that they are fully implemented and that they work.
Jim Kenny