wexwimpy
December 16th 04, 09:33 PM
Cautious optimism prevails as foster care system improves
By Shana Gruskin Staff WRiter Posted December 16 2004
After years of bad news about child welfare in Palm Beach County,
recent statistics make the newly designed foster care system look
tantalizingly promising.
The number of abused and neglected children under state care has
dipped 23 percent; workers, on average, are down to a manageable 19
children per caseload; and foster homes are no longer bursting at the
seams.
But nobody -- not the state, the private agency now running the
system, foster parents or community leaders -- is ready to pop open
the Dom Perignon.
"A fragile egg balanced on the tip of a pen," is how one local leader
described the revamped system, which began its transformation a year
ago this month.
"It could just take a little tip of a lot of kids coming into the
system and the whole thing could unravel," said Tana Ebbole, executive
director of Palm Beach County's Children's Services Council and a
member of the Community Alliance, a group of local leaders who oversee
child welfare and social service issues in the county.
In November 2003, Ebbole and others on the alliance -- including the
county's chief judge and state attorney -- sent an open letter to the
public denouncing the state Department of Children & Families' plan to
hand off foster care and related services to the privately run Child
and Family Connections.
The contract gave the nonprofit agency a fixed amount of money, about
$32 million, to provide therapy and other services to about
2,600 abused and neglected children, as well as to recruit and retain
emergency shelters, foster homes and adoptive families.
The letter charged that the state was abdicating its responsibility
and leaving children in "imminent danger."
Some of the Community Alliance's initial concerns hold true today. If
more children come into the child-welfare system than expected, or the
children in the system need more intense care than anticipated, the
nonprofit agency could find itself bankrupt. Yet the way the deal was
set up, there is not much flexibility.
Even more precarious, Child and Family Connections, the private agency
now in charge, has no control over how many children enter foster care
-- that's up to the state's investigators and local judges.
And the agency has shared decision-making in how many children leave
the system, either by returning to their birth families or getting
adopted. That, too, is dependent upon state attorneys and local
judges.
"Without control over those two functions it's an incredibly delicate
position to be in," said John Walsh, a lead attorney with the Foster
Children's Project funded by Legal Aid of Palm Beach County, which
provides lawyers for children 12 and younger who have been removed
from their homes because of abuse or neglect.
MORE ADOPTIONS
Both the local administrator for the state and the director of the
private agency acknowledge they've got a long haul ahead of them. But
they say they've also got a few things in their favor.
About 600 fewer children are under the state's watch than when the
private agency began taking over a year ago. That's thanks, at least
in part, to increased adoptions and a new diversion program that stops
troubled families from tumbling into the system.
Turnover among case managers had dropped to 13.5 percent, which it is
hoped means a formerly transient workforce will stabilize.
Historically, Children & Families has struggled statewide with a 20
percent turnover among child welfare workers.
Case manager Brian Murphy, who worked for the state for about five
months before joining one of the private agencies, said that since the
transition, he's noticed the system is more responsive to families who
need immediate help such as counseling, homemaking or parenting
training.
"We're able to get services in right away, get to know the family
....," said Murphy, who manages about 20 children's cases. "It helps
resolve permanency quicker."
That means children at risk of abuse or neglect don't linger in care.
Most notably, said Children & Families District Administrator Ted
Simpkins, the parties now sharing the responsibility of keeping
children safe have developed a solid trust -- something long missing
from the state's relationship with its private providers and the
public.
"From the very beginning we were very candid with each other,"
Simpkins said.
That honesty has continued, and is fostered by weekly meetings and
constant communication between the state, Child and Family Connections
and the other agencies it subcontracts with.
Walsh of the Foster Children's Project also has noticed a change.
"Child and Family Connections has been very open to suggestions, very
ready and willing to come to the table and talk things out," he said
"DCF, prior to privatization coming on board, they were a little more
reluctant to talk."
Others credit Child and Family Connections Executive Director Bob
Barker with cultivating an atmosphere of accessibility and
responsiveness.
Gwendolyn Johnson, 55, a Wellington foster mother for the past three
years, said she is impressed with Barker's hands-on approach.
"I spoke to him about a few things I had concerns about. He addressed
them right away," she said.
Recently Johnson referred another foster mother to Barker after a
crisis arose in that woman's home. Barker didn't just call the woman
back, he showed up at her house to see for himself what was going on.
"How can you get any better than that?" Johnson said. "... He's
definitely listening and he's trying to solve the problems."
LITTLE EXPERIENCE
But plenty of potential pitfalls loom.
Almost half the case managers now keeping an eye out for children are
new to this kind of in-the-trenches social work, which means
experience is lacking, Walsh said. And there are many more agencies
now working for Child and Family Connections, which hires other
agencies to manage cases as well as recruit foster and adoptive
parents.
"It's a little overwhelming," Walsh said. "There's a lot of different
players now. All these agencies are supposed to create a seamless
landscape, but whenever there are seams, there's also the potential
for cracks. I think we all need to be on our toes to make sure nobody
falls through these different cracks."
Barker said he has a list of at least 10 issues he plans to address
over the next few months. At the top, finding permanent homes for more
than 250 teenagers who've been in foster care on average 31/2 years.
Also on that list: providing more services for children who turn 18
while in state care who are no longer eligible for traditional foster
care services; training new case managers on how to promptly finish
paperwork and confidently testify in court; and taking back previously
outsourced administrative duties, such as determining which children
may be eligible for additional federal funding.
And there's always money.
For now, Barker said he can manage on the budget he's got. He added,
however: "There are danger signs. Long-term funding is clearly not
assured."
But Simpkins promises if the needs in his county outweigh the funding,
he'll do something about it.
The state, he said, "can delegate authority, but it cannot delegate
responsibility. If we were in a situation where we exceeded resources,
I'm going to go back to the state [and ask for more money]."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pprivatize16dec16,0,2148088.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.
By Shana Gruskin Staff WRiter Posted December 16 2004
After years of bad news about child welfare in Palm Beach County,
recent statistics make the newly designed foster care system look
tantalizingly promising.
The number of abused and neglected children under state care has
dipped 23 percent; workers, on average, are down to a manageable 19
children per caseload; and foster homes are no longer bursting at the
seams.
But nobody -- not the state, the private agency now running the
system, foster parents or community leaders -- is ready to pop open
the Dom Perignon.
"A fragile egg balanced on the tip of a pen," is how one local leader
described the revamped system, which began its transformation a year
ago this month.
"It could just take a little tip of a lot of kids coming into the
system and the whole thing could unravel," said Tana Ebbole, executive
director of Palm Beach County's Children's Services Council and a
member of the Community Alliance, a group of local leaders who oversee
child welfare and social service issues in the county.
In November 2003, Ebbole and others on the alliance -- including the
county's chief judge and state attorney -- sent an open letter to the
public denouncing the state Department of Children & Families' plan to
hand off foster care and related services to the privately run Child
and Family Connections.
The contract gave the nonprofit agency a fixed amount of money, about
$32 million, to provide therapy and other services to about
2,600 abused and neglected children, as well as to recruit and retain
emergency shelters, foster homes and adoptive families.
The letter charged that the state was abdicating its responsibility
and leaving children in "imminent danger."
Some of the Community Alliance's initial concerns hold true today. If
more children come into the child-welfare system than expected, or the
children in the system need more intense care than anticipated, the
nonprofit agency could find itself bankrupt. Yet the way the deal was
set up, there is not much flexibility.
Even more precarious, Child and Family Connections, the private agency
now in charge, has no control over how many children enter foster care
-- that's up to the state's investigators and local judges.
And the agency has shared decision-making in how many children leave
the system, either by returning to their birth families or getting
adopted. That, too, is dependent upon state attorneys and local
judges.
"Without control over those two functions it's an incredibly delicate
position to be in," said John Walsh, a lead attorney with the Foster
Children's Project funded by Legal Aid of Palm Beach County, which
provides lawyers for children 12 and younger who have been removed
from their homes because of abuse or neglect.
MORE ADOPTIONS
Both the local administrator for the state and the director of the
private agency acknowledge they've got a long haul ahead of them. But
they say they've also got a few things in their favor.
About 600 fewer children are under the state's watch than when the
private agency began taking over a year ago. That's thanks, at least
in part, to increased adoptions and a new diversion program that stops
troubled families from tumbling into the system.
Turnover among case managers had dropped to 13.5 percent, which it is
hoped means a formerly transient workforce will stabilize.
Historically, Children & Families has struggled statewide with a 20
percent turnover among child welfare workers.
Case manager Brian Murphy, who worked for the state for about five
months before joining one of the private agencies, said that since the
transition, he's noticed the system is more responsive to families who
need immediate help such as counseling, homemaking or parenting
training.
"We're able to get services in right away, get to know the family
....," said Murphy, who manages about 20 children's cases. "It helps
resolve permanency quicker."
That means children at risk of abuse or neglect don't linger in care.
Most notably, said Children & Families District Administrator Ted
Simpkins, the parties now sharing the responsibility of keeping
children safe have developed a solid trust -- something long missing
from the state's relationship with its private providers and the
public.
"From the very beginning we were very candid with each other,"
Simpkins said.
That honesty has continued, and is fostered by weekly meetings and
constant communication between the state, Child and Family Connections
and the other agencies it subcontracts with.
Walsh of the Foster Children's Project also has noticed a change.
"Child and Family Connections has been very open to suggestions, very
ready and willing to come to the table and talk things out," he said
"DCF, prior to privatization coming on board, they were a little more
reluctant to talk."
Others credit Child and Family Connections Executive Director Bob
Barker with cultivating an atmosphere of accessibility and
responsiveness.
Gwendolyn Johnson, 55, a Wellington foster mother for the past three
years, said she is impressed with Barker's hands-on approach.
"I spoke to him about a few things I had concerns about. He addressed
them right away," she said.
Recently Johnson referred another foster mother to Barker after a
crisis arose in that woman's home. Barker didn't just call the woman
back, he showed up at her house to see for himself what was going on.
"How can you get any better than that?" Johnson said. "... He's
definitely listening and he's trying to solve the problems."
LITTLE EXPERIENCE
But plenty of potential pitfalls loom.
Almost half the case managers now keeping an eye out for children are
new to this kind of in-the-trenches social work, which means
experience is lacking, Walsh said. And there are many more agencies
now working for Child and Family Connections, which hires other
agencies to manage cases as well as recruit foster and adoptive
parents.
"It's a little overwhelming," Walsh said. "There's a lot of different
players now. All these agencies are supposed to create a seamless
landscape, but whenever there are seams, there's also the potential
for cracks. I think we all need to be on our toes to make sure nobody
falls through these different cracks."
Barker said he has a list of at least 10 issues he plans to address
over the next few months. At the top, finding permanent homes for more
than 250 teenagers who've been in foster care on average 31/2 years.
Also on that list: providing more services for children who turn 18
while in state care who are no longer eligible for traditional foster
care services; training new case managers on how to promptly finish
paperwork and confidently testify in court; and taking back previously
outsourced administrative duties, such as determining which children
may be eligible for additional federal funding.
And there's always money.
For now, Barker said he can manage on the budget he's got. He added,
however: "There are danger signs. Long-term funding is clearly not
assured."
But Simpkins promises if the needs in his county outweigh the funding,
he'll do something about it.
The state, he said, "can delegate authority, but it cannot delegate
responsibility. If we were in a situation where we exceeded resources,
I'm going to go back to the state [and ask for more money]."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pprivatize16dec16,0,2148088.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action.