FOSTER CARE IN NEW YORK

1. FOSTER CARE IN NEW YORK BY SOPHIA STEWART

2. Foster Care in the Beginning • The government developed foster care with the intent of providing a safe environment for children who cannot reside with their parents or immediate family. • The underlying reasons why children entered foster care at that time was due to negligence on the part of the parents or guardians, the loss of parent/s or the child's inability to behave in or outside the home. The initial plan for foster care was to provide temporary assistance to children. • Children were encouraged to maintain contact with their families. • Caseworkers were assigned to children as they enter the system. These agents became the liaison between the courts and the families to prepare for the child/children’s re-entry back in the home with their parents.

3. Foster Care Now • Foster Care is still currently being used to provide a safe environment for children whose parents cannot take care of them. However, the institution of foster care has become a threat to most of the children it is intended to serve. Children currently runaway from where they are placed, due to unsafe conditions, maltreatment , sexual and physical abuse, along with other underlying conditions. • The general reasons why children now enter foster care is due to an increase in both physical and sexual abuse in the home, uninhabitable living conditions, and an increase in excessive drug use by parents or guardians. • Foster care is no longer considered temporary it has now become a long-term institution. • Seventy-five percent of children in the system are continually placed in various group homes or institutions throughout each year. Adoptions or re-entry into the homes has been steadily declining over the years. • Maintaining strong bonds with parents is still currently being encouraged conversely it is not enforced is most cases. • Caseworkers are still assigned to each child however due to an excessive increase in children entering the system they tend to fail more children than they help. This is due to an extreme shortage of caseworkers, resources and time.

4. The Role of Foster Parents • Family members and other persons close to the child/children are contacted by the case workers to see if they can provide a permanent home. • If not, then individuals and families that are not related are sought to foster the child/children. These individuals are referred to by the term “foster parents” • Foster parents are used by the child protective services to help children grow up in a more nurturing and stable environment. • In the event the child cannot be reunited with their birth parents or with their extended family, the foster families are asked to or may choose to provide permanent care or adopt the child/ children.

5. Trends in Foster Care 2002-2008 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends02-08.pdf

6. Current Status of the NYFoster Care: In 2009, there were 24,605 children in foster care in New York State. • 55% of the children were discharged • 45% were left in the system • 75% were placed into various institutions and group homes At this time, there is a significant decline in adoption rates and a continual increase in institutional care.

7. NY State Statistics, 2009 http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/fostercare/stats2009.asp

8. The Reality • A majority of the children that enter the foster care system typically move around to different homes, facilities and schools on an average of 2- 8 times a year. • Some are broken up from their family and may never see them again. Many siblings are placed in separated homes. There are: • High incidences of mistreatment and abuse • Increase rates in homelessness among children and adolescents • High drop out rates from Middle and High schools In the past, the worst case scenario would be that a child may spend more than 2 to 5 years in the system. Now the reality is that most children spend their entire childhood in the system.

9. Development Concerns of Pediatricians According to the, American Academy of Pediatrics: • Most of the children in foster care have been the victims of repeated abuseand prolonged neglect and have not experienced a nurturing, stableenvironment during the early years of life. • Such experiences arecritical in the short- and long-term development of a child'sbrain and the ability to subsequently participate fully in society. • Children in foster care have disproportionately high rates ofphysical, developmental, and mental health problem and often have many unmet medical and mental health care needs.10 Pediatricians, as advocates for children and their families,have a special responsibility to evaluate and help address theseneeds. • Pediatriciansand other professionals with expertise in child development shouldbe proactive advisors to child protection workers and judges regardingthe child's needs and best interests, particularly regarding issuesof placement, permanency planning, and medical, developmental,and mental health treatment plans. (Developmental Issues for Young Children in Foster Care)

10. What is the problem? According to the, New York Office of Children and Family Services: •  New York did not meet the national standards for the safety-related data indicators pertaining to the absence of maltreatment recurrence and the absence of maltreatment of children in foster care by their foster parents or facility staff members. • New York did not meet the national standards for the data indicators pertaining to the timeliness and permanency of reunification, the timeliness of adoptions, and achieving permanency for children in foster care for extended periods of time. (Reports/Newsletter: New York State Office of Children and Family Services/ program improvement plan)

11. The New York Office of Children and Family Services, Improvement Initiatives Program Improvement Plan : • OCFS has structured this PIP around two key outcomes: safety, and permanency/well-being. • Within OCFS, the Division of Child Welfare and Community Services (OCFS/CWCS) is the statewide oversight entity for the locally administered child welfare system. OCFS/CWCS provides direct oversight of local districts and licensed voluntary agencies through a regional office structure. • OCFS/CWCS provides oversight and support through each of the six regions in the state – Albany, Buffalo, NYC, Rochester, Spring Valley, and Syracuse. • Districts will now be required to complete a local self-assessment using performance data and input from local stakeholders to assess strengths in their practice and service delivery system and areas needing improvement. (Reports/Newsletter: New York State Office of Children and Family Services/ program improvement plan)

12. The New York Office of Children and Family Services, Improvement Initiatives- Part 2 The key theme- • As indicated by ACF/Children’s Bureau at NY’s exit conference, NY needs to focus their efforts on making sure practice initiatives are implemented statewide and drilled down the caseworker level. NY will focus on one primary practice principle- Family Engagement. • Family engagement is both a principle of practice and a set of specific methods by which families are involved in assessing their needs, charting the pathway for meeting those needs and assessing their progress. • Starting at the first point of contact and continuing throughout the life of the case, family engagement will be the guiding principle for improving or establishing practices that include involving the parents and youth (and extended family if appropriate) in the assessment of safety, risk, needs and strengths, and in the case planning process through effective use of interpersonal skills, family-friendly local polices, and family meetings. • Also included as part of family engagement is concurrent planning, fostering family connections through visiting and the identification and location of all parents. This one key practice principle is the foundation upon which OCFS will base our practice improvement agenda. • Please refer to the NYS, OCFS website for this report in its entirety: http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/cfsr/program_improvement_plan.shtm (Reports/Newsletter: New York State Office of Children and Family Services/ program improvement plan)

13. What type of development is needed? • The screening process of foster parents needs to be more in depth. More penalties should be applicable to persons who misrepresents themselves or their ability to provide care for the child or children in their care. • Additional case workers are needed to do more in-home evaluations and to over see institutions that house foster children . • More open dialogue is needed between the caseworkers and the children placed in homes or in facilities. • There needs to be further initiatives implemented to decrease the number of multiple placements per child. This will increase stability for children within the foster system. • Accountability from the state and OCFS is needed concerning children that get lost in the system, unreported abuse cases and failure to conduct inspections of group home and institutions. • Further in depth research is needed of the children that re-entering the system each year.

14. Truth about the System A perfect example of how the institution of foster care fails children. Please watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKKKcPJPvY

15. Works Cited • Policy Statement: Developmental Issues for Young Children in Foster Care, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care Pediatrics 106.No. 5 (2000): 1145-150. American Academy of Pediatrics. 5 Nov. 2000, . A. f. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2010, from http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;106/5/1145. • Program Improvement Plan. New York State Office of Children and Family Services, (n.d.). Retrieved August 2010, from http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/cfsr/program_improvement_plan.shtm. • Rep. Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) FY 2008 Data (October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, . A. f. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2010, from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report16.pdf. • "Trends in Foster Care and Adoption- FY 2002-FY 2008 (Based on Data Submitted by States as of October 9, 2009) Source: AFCARS Data, U.S. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families." Chart. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, . A. f. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2010 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends02-08.pdf.

16. CHANGE IS NEEDED