Feds review foster care

Feds review foster care
By Janet Preus By now the phrase "No Child Left Behind" has been added
to our common vocabulary. Foster Care Eligibility Review doesn't have
quite the same ring to it, but the federal government has been
scrutinizing the social service programs it funds even longer than
education.
Otter Tail County Social Services Supervisor Brad Vold said Minnesota
is next on the list in the multi-year process, right in the middle of
a budget crunch that has stressed social workers who manage local
foster care.
"We do have a good system, but the system can only be stretched as far
as the staff," Vold said.
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The county has about 35 foster homes, on average, with 19 placements
currently, but that "doesn't really reflect the picture," he said.
Some homes are licensed for certain ages, some just for a relative,
some just for short-term respite care, or emergency. And other factors
restrict placements.
Foster homes are licensed for a certain number of children -- usually
two, he said, but the state requires keeping sibling groups together.
"The state is pretty clear on this," he said.
Vold's office also looks for placements with relatives of the child --
or children -- first, and tries to keep the child in the same school
district. They also want to give foster parents a rest between
placements, especially when the foster child's family is "difficult"
and has "multiple needs."
"It's pretty stressful to be a foster parent, dealing with (foster
child's) parents, the kids, the school, social services," he said. "At
times we're not as available to foster parents to really support
them," he said.
Although the rate of foster care "ebbs and flows," Vold said, county
foster care homes are getting full, largely because of parents with
drug and alcohol problems "having difficulty changing their
behaviors."
"That really starts to put stress on the system -- especially when
you're looking at sibling groups of four," he said.
Foster child placements occur when social services, law enforcement,
or a judge determines the child's safety is at risk. Vold said a
10-year-old, for example, could be placed because of physical or
sexual abuse in the home, an unsanitary home, or parents who leave the
child alone too much and do not provide enough supervision.
If a single parent goes into residential treatment for drugs or
alcohol, or is in jail, and there is no relative available to step in,
the child will be placed in foster care.
Foster care is not for parents who think they have lost control of
their child, however. The system does not "make a kid listen, if
they're not doing anything that isn't really wrong," said Vold.
"We don't offer to take their kids. We get calls from parents every
week. 'Take my kid, I can't handle him or her.' Our first response is
always 'no.' Our second response is always 'no'. There may be a means
to work with the parent. We're not going to take any child, push a
button, take them home, and they're fixed. It takes two to fight; it
takes two to argue. We're dealing with relationships. They'll be
expectations on both the parents and the child," he said.
If, on the other hand, the school calls social services concerned
about a student, a social worker will meet with them and usually go
home with the child and talk to the parents. Then a determination is
made whether or not the child is in danger.
Vold said the public doesn't generally see much of what social
services does in child protection.
"We work with a small subset of the population. We wish we didn't have
to do it, but the reality is children deserve to be in a safe
environment. The big question is, 'what is safe?' Parents have a right
to parent," he said.
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