October 14th 03, 04:14 PM
Broward keeps children in foster care longest, officials say
By Megan O'Matz Staff Writer Posted October 13 2003
Broward County has the unwelcome distinction of keeping children in
the foster care system longer than any other county in the state,
according to a study by child welfare officials.
A review by Florida's Department of Children & Families found that the
median length of stay in foster homes and shelters in Broward County
is about 30 months, higher than any other DCF district. That's less
than it was a year ago, when the figure was 34 months.
"The numbers have been dropping, ... but not fast enough for my
satisfaction," said Jack Moss, DCF district administrator in Broward
County.
The reasons Broward has failed to return children home more quickly or
free them for adoption are numerous. They include problems with
completing background checks on families on time, locating absent
birth parents to determine whether they can be suitable caregivers,
persuading judges to refrain from granting repeated case plan
extensions, and tolerating years of efforts by parents to kick drug
and alcohol addictions.
Agency officials say they are doing a better job of moving children
out of the system in the first 12 months of care but not so well at
finding permanent homes for those who have been under state custody
for two years or more.
To address the problem, judges, attorneys, children's advocates and
others in the system have vowed to work with DCF and ChildNet, the
nonprofit organization taking over foster care services in Broward.
In that spirit, the Children's Services Council of Broward County
recently allocated $120,000 to the local Legal Aid Services office to
pay for two attorneys to look into about 130 cases of children who
have been in the system longer than two years. The hope is the
attorneys will be able to straighten out whatever issues have
prevented the children from leaving foster care.
"This is something everyone wants to see happen," said David Bazerman,
Legal Aid's project director. "The department wants to get this done.
We want to get it done. The court wants to get it done."
Historically, Broward has been slower than other counties to resolve
whatever problems parents have in caring for their children and return
them to their homes. Officials can't explain exactly why.
"Nobody knows yet," said Peter Balitsaris, CEO of ChildNet.
The hypotheses involve large numbers of teens who refuse to be
adopted, teens who are thrown out by their parents because of their
bad behavior and orphans who grew up at SOS Children's Village in
Coconut Creek, a group home designed to keep siblings together in the
system until adulthood.
DCF's study, conducted in July of cases involving 1,720 Broward
children in all forms of "out-of-home care," including group homes and
placements with relatives, found the median length of stay was 17.2
months. The median is the point at which half the cases were in the
system longer and half were shorter.
When looking at only those children in foster homes or shelters, the
median length of stay was even greater, 30.3 months. By comparison, in
Miami-Dade County those children stay in the system 20 months. In Palm
Beach County the figure is about 21 months. Statewide, the number is
18.5.
Federal law requires that the courts conduct a "permanency hearing"
for children within 12 months from the time they're removed from home.
If children are not returned to their parents then, the state must
start the process of freeing them legally for adoption unless the
children are living with relatives or the parents haven't been given
enough help to make their homes safe. Courts can extend the timeframe
in extraordinary circumstances.
The department's study showed judges granted repeated extensions in
some cases and refused to accept the case plans in others. At times
the court discovered the department had not made sufficient efforts to
find the second parent until late in the process.
"There's blame to go around for everybody," Bazerman said.
To reduce the numbers, ChildNet has promised to provide monthly
internal case reviews to identify cases that are stuck in the system,
to pester other states that are slow to approve the homes of relatives
or foster parents outside Florida's jurisdiction, to search hard for
absent but "nonoffending" parents who may be able to take the child
in, and to push more parents into drug court for help.
The Attorney General's Office, which represents DCF in dependency
cases, has agreed to meet more often on the cases, to provide more
training to lawyers and caseworkers, and to refrain from asking the
court for postponements and extensions of cases unless absolutely
necessary.
The Broward Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, has agreed to help conduct
background checks and home studies for DCF and ChildNet.
Moss said, "We're trying to fix the system, but it's not like turning
on a light switch. It takes time."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/yahoo/sfl-clength11oct13,0,3097514.story?coll=sfla-newsaol-headlines
By Megan O'Matz Staff Writer Posted October 13 2003
Broward County has the unwelcome distinction of keeping children in
the foster care system longer than any other county in the state,
according to a study by child welfare officials.
A review by Florida's Department of Children & Families found that the
median length of stay in foster homes and shelters in Broward County
is about 30 months, higher than any other DCF district. That's less
than it was a year ago, when the figure was 34 months.
"The numbers have been dropping, ... but not fast enough for my
satisfaction," said Jack Moss, DCF district administrator in Broward
County.
The reasons Broward has failed to return children home more quickly or
free them for adoption are numerous. They include problems with
completing background checks on families on time, locating absent
birth parents to determine whether they can be suitable caregivers,
persuading judges to refrain from granting repeated case plan
extensions, and tolerating years of efforts by parents to kick drug
and alcohol addictions.
Agency officials say they are doing a better job of moving children
out of the system in the first 12 months of care but not so well at
finding permanent homes for those who have been under state custody
for two years or more.
To address the problem, judges, attorneys, children's advocates and
others in the system have vowed to work with DCF and ChildNet, the
nonprofit organization taking over foster care services in Broward.
In that spirit, the Children's Services Council of Broward County
recently allocated $120,000 to the local Legal Aid Services office to
pay for two attorneys to look into about 130 cases of children who
have been in the system longer than two years. The hope is the
attorneys will be able to straighten out whatever issues have
prevented the children from leaving foster care.
"This is something everyone wants to see happen," said David Bazerman,
Legal Aid's project director. "The department wants to get this done.
We want to get it done. The court wants to get it done."
Historically, Broward has been slower than other counties to resolve
whatever problems parents have in caring for their children and return
them to their homes. Officials can't explain exactly why.
"Nobody knows yet," said Peter Balitsaris, CEO of ChildNet.
The hypotheses involve large numbers of teens who refuse to be
adopted, teens who are thrown out by their parents because of their
bad behavior and orphans who grew up at SOS Children's Village in
Coconut Creek, a group home designed to keep siblings together in the
system until adulthood.
DCF's study, conducted in July of cases involving 1,720 Broward
children in all forms of "out-of-home care," including group homes and
placements with relatives, found the median length of stay was 17.2
months. The median is the point at which half the cases were in the
system longer and half were shorter.
When looking at only those children in foster homes or shelters, the
median length of stay was even greater, 30.3 months. By comparison, in
Miami-Dade County those children stay in the system 20 months. In Palm
Beach County the figure is about 21 months. Statewide, the number is
18.5.
Federal law requires that the courts conduct a "permanency hearing"
for children within 12 months from the time they're removed from home.
If children are not returned to their parents then, the state must
start the process of freeing them legally for adoption unless the
children are living with relatives or the parents haven't been given
enough help to make their homes safe. Courts can extend the timeframe
in extraordinary circumstances.
The department's study showed judges granted repeated extensions in
some cases and refused to accept the case plans in others. At times
the court discovered the department had not made sufficient efforts to
find the second parent until late in the process.
"There's blame to go around for everybody," Bazerman said.
To reduce the numbers, ChildNet has promised to provide monthly
internal case reviews to identify cases that are stuck in the system,
to pester other states that are slow to approve the homes of relatives
or foster parents outside Florida's jurisdiction, to search hard for
absent but "nonoffending" parents who may be able to take the child
in, and to push more parents into drug court for help.
The Attorney General's Office, which represents DCF in dependency
cases, has agreed to meet more often on the cases, to provide more
training to lawyers and caseworkers, and to refrain from asking the
court for postponements and extensions of cases unless absolutely
necessary.
The Broward Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, has agreed to help conduct
background checks and home studies for DCF and ChildNet.
Moss said, "We're trying to fix the system, but it's not like turning
on a light switch. It takes time."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/yahoo/sfl-clength11oct13,0,3097514.story?coll=sfla-newsaol-headlines