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State Fails Foster Child
What do you think might have been a factor in saving this child's
life? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/...83G8ysrMW M0F Back to Story - Help Yahoo! News Ohio woman guilty in foster son's death By TERRY KINNEY, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago A jury on Wednesday convicted a woman of murder for causing the death of a 3-year-old foster son by leaving him bound in a cocoon of blankets and tape while she went away to a weekend family reunion. Liz Carroll, 30, was convicted on seven counts, including involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment by the Clermont County jury. She faces from 15 years to life in prison when sentencing begins Thursday. Carroll grimaced and dropped her head as the verdict was read. Carroll's defense attorney, Gregory Cohen, said he would appeal. "They don't even know my daughter! None of you even care!" her mother, Audrey Sims, shouted after the verdict. Prosecutors said they charged Carroll with murder because she caused the death of her developmentally disabled son, Marcus Fiesel, by binding him and leaving him in a closet. They acknowledged, however, it was unintentional. Carroll's husband, David Carroll Jr., 29, is to be tried separately in March on the same charges as his wife, along with gross abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors allege that he burned the boy's body and dumped the remains in the Ohio River. The Carrolls told authorities the child had wandered off or had been snatched from a park in suburban Cincinnati, sparking a search by thousands of volunteers that lasted several days. When authorities began to suspect the story was a ruse, the Carrolls' live-in companion, Amy Baker, told them how the boy died, prosecutors said. The defense portrayed Carroll as quiet and submissive, and married to a violent bully. Baker has not been charged, but acknowledged that she helped dispose of the child's body. Prosecutors agreed not to prosecute her in exchange for her testimony against the couple, unless evidence shows she had hands-on involvement in the boy's death. The case led to calls for reform within Ohio's foster care system. An investigation by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the Carrolls were unqualified to care for Fiesel and cited failure to check references and inadequate home study and follow-up visits. The state report recommended increased training, thorough background checks, drug testing and more data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement as solutions. Legislators expect to work on reform measures this year. Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Questions or Comments Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright/IP Policy - Ad Feedback |
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Those deadly privatized Foster Placement Agencies...AGAIN!.. State Fails Foster Child
When ARE the states going to learn that privatization of child
protection functions is both costly and deadly? On 21 Feb 2007 19:54:21 -0800, "0:-" wrote: What do you think might have been a factor in saving this child's life? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/...83G8ysrMW M0F Back to Story - Help Yahoo! News Ohio woman guilty in foster son's death .....Turns out this was, ONCE AGAIN, a private foster placement agency boondoggle.... http://www.caica.org/MARCUS%20FIESEL...2011-28-06.htm State urges more information, foster-parent training DAN SEWELL Associated Press CINCINNATI November 27, 2006 More thorough investigation and better communication among agencies could have prevented the placement of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy with the foster parents accused of killing him, according to a state report released Monday. "The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so," according to the report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children." Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape. Authorities say the boy was dead when they returned to their home in Clermont County from a family reunion in Kentucky. The couple reported the boy missing Aug. 15, triggering a massive search for the child who supposedly had wandered off in a public park. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28 and have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The report, which says the Carrolls were unqualified to care for the boy, details problems in handling his case and the private agency that recommended the Carrolls. It also makes a broad range of recommendations that include increased training and widened background checks for foster parents. "We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can create a better system," said Barbara Riley, director of the state department. State lawmakers have said the report will help in developing reform legislation. About 10,000 children are in foster care in Ohio. Richard Wexler, executive director of the Virginia-based National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said authorities should do more to keep children with their birth parents. "They want to add more requirements, when they're not following the existing requirements," Wexler said. "All this tinkering is sound and fury that ignores the elephant in the room." The Carrolls were certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles placements for a number of counties. Lifeway officials have said the Carrolls misled them about their backgrounds. The state report alleges more than a dozen failures by the agency, saying the home study and follow-up visits were inadequate, that the agency didn't check references on the Carrolls and that the agency overbilled the state for training reimbursements. The state department is reviewing Lifeway for Youth operations across the state to decide whether to re-certify the agency, and also will scrutinize the agency's billing claims, the report states. A message seeking comment was left Monday for Michael Berner, executive director of the Sharonville, Ohio-based agency, which has been certified in Ohio since 1994. The report recommends increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them, thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories, drug testing of applicants, data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement, and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight. The report found that Butler County Children Services complied with state requirements in its handling of the boy, removed from his birth mother in Middletown in April. The county has appointed an independent task force to probe the agency. The state report says Clermont County Children's Services didn't make sure Liz Carroll had completed training in the time required and didn't check all her references. Tim McCartney, director of the county's department of Job and Family Services, said Monday that additional references were checked when two original references couldn't be reached. McCartney said Clermont County took action in September that include checking a court information system for any offenses involving foster-home adults and doubling the number of annual home inspections from two to four, three of them unannounced. Authorities have said the Carrolls had had financial problems and also failed to report a domestic violence charge in June against David Carroll that was dropped later but could have led to more investigation of the family. ON THE NET Fiesel Case Review: http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_review_report_20061127 .pdf ........and again...... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...394/1077/COL02 http://www.wlwt.com/news/9762075/detail.html http://www.co.clermont.oh.us/news.as...el+Case+Review [[[ probably the most revealing, while the more terse, of the reports. ]]] The State Report on the case. http://www.jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_r...t_20061127.pdf Fiesel Case Review -- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families November 27, 2006 .... Recommendations ... [[[ While I'll once again be accused by the mindless twits of being a "CPS lobbyist" the first item in the list from Ohio jfs IS of course, to seek funding. All across the US, in state after state, both foster certification workers (those that do the homestudy, certification, and supervision of STATE RUN foster homes) and adoption workers have been reduced in personnel. They are called, by the agencies, "non-case carrying" staff, so their positions are NOT protected or supported by any reporting system that recommends case carrying limits...as client case carrying positions are. Hence, when the cuts come they are the first to be cut and the fewer remaining workers loaded up with yet more cases. Foster family 'workers' can and do have over a hundred families to certify, recertify, and supervise. And we wonder why there is a system failure!! The recommendations listed below are just a fraction of those in the total document....try reading them. In fact, many are probably in place but there is a failure to follow through. Follow through is done by PEOPLE, people, and if there are not enough staff to do the follow through it will not get done. ]]] RECOMMENDATIONS Suggested recommendations identified through this administrative review fall into seven categories: Applicant Approval Processes, Foster Caregiver Training Requirements, Assessor Training Requirements, Placement Procedures, Service Provision, Information Sharing, and Administrative Oversight. Additional systemic and administrative recommendations designed to further advance needed reform are contained at the end of this section. A. APPLICANT APPROVAL PROCESSES: Current Practice OAC 5101:2-5-20 and OAC 5101:2-5-21 require that any public or private agency certified by ODJFS to recommend applicants for certification as foster caregivers must, prior to making a recommendation: Complete a Foster Care Homestudy which includes: o Face to face interviews with all members of the household over the age of four years; o An on-site inspection to the prospective foster home; and o A determination of the specific number, age, and sex of children to be placed in a foster home (a joint responsibility of the foster caregiver and the recommending agency based on the assessor's evaluation of the foster caregiver's capabilities). Complete criminal background checks through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Information and, for applicants who have resided outside the State at any time during the previous five years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless the foster caregiver applicant and all members of the household meet specified rehabilitation standards, an applicant may not be recommended for certification if they have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes specified in ORC 2151.86 and OAC 5101:2-7-02. Obtain a Medical Statement for Foster Care/Adoptive Applicant and All Household Members indicating that the applicant and all household members are free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition that would endanger children or impair the ability of the household to care for a foster child and any additional examination deemed necessary by the agency to ensure the safety, health and care of a child. Obtain three personal references from non-relatives. Require the completion of a home inspection by a certified fire inspector or a safety audit. 10 Require the applicant to complete pre-certification training as required by ORC 5103.039 and OAC 5101:2-5-33. In addition to these requirements OAC 5101:2-7-02 requires that applicants: Be at least 18 years of age; Have sufficient income to meet the basic needs of the household; Be free of any physical, emotional or mental condition that could impair their ability to care for a child; and Not operate as a boarding house or home-based business, including babysitting, without the prior approval of the recommending agency. Key Issues Foster caregiver applicants must be thoroughly interviewed, screened, and described in the homestudy prepared by the assessor in order to complete a reliable evaluation. A detailed and comprehensive report is needed to fully describe the prospective caregivers family circumstances and determine their ability to provide adequate foster care. OAC 5101:2-5-20 requirements for background checks of prospective foster caregivers are not sufficiently comprehensive to provide assurance that applicants meet the requirements of OAC 5101:2-7-02 in regard to their financial circumstances, mental/emotional condition, and relevant criminal history. OAC 5101:2-7-16 and 5101:2-7-17 provide recommending agencies that operate specialized foster care programs with the ability to establish their own equivalency standards for experience, education, and training for caregivers that do not possess the required two years of professional child care experience. The lack of clarity in this rule does not allow for uniform qualifications among specialized foster caregivers. Recommendations 1. Amend ORC 5103.03 and OAC 5101: 2-5-23 (B) to establish requirements for completion of annual homestudy updates by recommending agencies; concurrently amend statute and administrative rules to extend the ODJFS foster caregiver certification periods to three years given the increased frequency of updates and reviews. 2. Amend ORC 2151.86, ORC 109.572, OAC 5101: 2-5-20 and OAC 2151:2-5-21 to expand the following required background checks for foster caregivers (Note: Shaded areas indicate those currently required.): ... [[[ much more in the document ]]] .....and so much for privatizing foster placement...STILL not being addressed by Ohio or other states. If you are looking for a scapegoat for what is wrong with CPS look to the buddy system out of various state legislatures. SOMEONE IS GETTING THOSE CONTRACTS. Who do you suppose those people are? |
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Those deadly privatized Foster Placement Agencies...AGAIN!.. State Fails Foster Child
What part of this disaster would have been avoided if foster care
had NOT been partly privatized? This same kind of stupid crap happens at the hands of state EMPLOYEES, not to mention people they fail to properly supervise. "murder for causing the death of a 3-year-old foster son by leaving him bound in a cocoon of blankets and tape while she went away to a weekend family reunion" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/...parent_trial;_... Back to Story - Help Yahoo! News Ohio woman guilty in foster son's death ....Turns out this was, ONCE AGAIN, a private foster placement agency boondoggle.... http://www.caica.org/MARCUS%20FIESEL...more%20informa... State urges more information, foster-parent training DAN SEWELL Associated Press CINCINNATI November 27, 2006 More thorough investigation and better communication among agencies could have prevented the placement of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy with the foster parents accused of killing him, according to a state report released Monday. "The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so," according to the report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children." Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape. Authorities say the boy was dead when they returned to their home in Clermont County from a family reunion in Kentucky. The couple reported the boy missing Aug. 15, triggering a massive search for the child who supposedly had wandered off in a public park. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28 and have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The report, which says the Carrolls were unqualified to care for the boy, details problems in handling his case and the private agency that recommended the Carrolls. It also makes a broad range of recommendations that include increased training and widened background checks for foster parents. "We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can create a better system," said Barbara Riley, director of the state department. State lawmakers have said the report will help in developing reform legislation. About 10,000 children are in foster care in Ohio. Richard Wexler, executive director of the Virginia-based National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said authorities should do more to keep children with their birth parents. "They want to add more requirements, when they're not following the existing requirements," Wexler said. "All this tinkering is sound and fury that ignores the elephant in the room." The Carrolls were certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles placements for a number of counties. Lifeway officials have said the Carrolls misled them about their backgrounds. The state report alleges more than a dozen failures by the agency, saying the home study and follow-up visits were inadequate, that the agency didn't check references on the Carrolls and that the agency overbilled the state for training reimbursements. The state department is reviewing Lifeway for Youth operations across the state to decide whether to re-certify the agency, and also will scrutinize the agency's billing claims, the report states. A message seeking comment was left Monday for Michael Berner, executive director of the Sharonville, Ohio-based agency, which has been certified in Ohio since 1994. The report recommends increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them, thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories, drug testing of applicants, data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement, and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight. The report found that Butler County Children Services complied with state requirements in its handling of the boy, removed from his birth mother in Middletown in April. The county has appointed an independent task force to probe the agency. The state report says Clermont County Children's Services didn't make sure Liz Carroll had completed training in the time required and didn't check all her references. Tim McCartney, director of the county's department of Job and Family Services, said Monday that additional references were checked when two original references couldn't be reached. McCartney said Clermont County took action in September that include checking a court information system for any offenses involving foster-home adults and doubling the number of annual home inspections from two to four, three of them unannounced. Authorities have said the Carrolls had had financial problems and also failed to report a domestic violence charge in June against David Carroll that was dropped later but could have led to more investigation of the family. ON THE NET Fiesel Case Review:http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_revie...t_20061127.pdf .......and again...... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...61128/NEWS01/6... http://www.wlwt.com/news/9762075/detail.html http://www.co.clermont.oh.us/news.as...lcasereview&Ti... [[[ probably the most revealing, while the more terse, of the reports. ]]] The State Report on the case.http://www.jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_r...t_20061127.pdf Fiesel Case Review -- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families November 27, 2006 ... Recommendations ... [[[ While I'll once again be accused by the mindless twits of being a "CPS lobbyist" the first item in the list from Ohio jfs IS of course, to seek funding. All across the US, in state after state, both foster certification workers (those that do the homestudy, certification, and supervision of STATE RUN foster homes) and adoption workers have been reduced in personnel. They are called, by the agencies, "non-case carrying" staff, so their positions are NOT protected or supported by any reporting system that recommends case carrying limits...as client case carrying positions are. Hence, when the cuts come they are the first to be cut and the fewer remaining workers loaded up with yet more cases. Foster family 'workers' can and do have over a hundred families to certify, recertify, and supervise. And we wonder why there is a system failure!! The recommendations listed below are just a fraction of those in the total document....try reading them. In fact, many are probably in place but there is a failure to follow through. Follow through is done by PEOPLE, people, and if there are not enough staff to do the follow through it will not get done. ]]] RECOMMENDATIONS Suggested recommendations identified through this administrative review fall into seven categories: Applicant Approval Processes, Foster Caregiver Training Requirements, Assessor Training Requirements, Placement Procedures, Service Provision, Information Sharing, and Administrative Oversight. Additional systemic and administrative recommendations designed to further advance needed reform are contained at the end of this section. A. APPLICANT APPROVAL PROCESSES: Current Practice OAC 5101:2-5-20 and OAC 5101:2-5-21 require that any public or private agency certified by ODJFS to recommend applicants for certification as foster caregivers must, prior to making a recommendation: · Complete a Foster Care Homestudy which includes: o Face to face interviews with all members of the household over the age of four years; o An on-site inspection to the prospective foster home; and o A determination of the specific number, age, and sex of children to be placed in a foster home (a joint responsibility of the foster caregiver and the recommending agency based on the assessor's evaluation of the foster caregiver's capabilities). · Complete criminal background checks through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Information and, for applicants who have resided outside the State at any time during the previous five years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless the foster caregiver applicant and all members of the household meet specified rehabilitation standards, an applicant may not be recommended for certification if they have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes specified in ORC 2151.86 and OAC 5101:2-7-02. · Obtain a Medical Statement for Foster Care/Adoptive Applicant and All Household Members indicating that the applicant and all household members are free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition that would endanger children or impair the ability of the household to care for a foster child and any additional examination deemed necessary by the agency to ensure the safety, health and care of a child. · Obtain three personal references from non-relatives. · Require the completion of a home inspection by a certified fire inspector or a safety audit. 10 · Require the applicant to complete pre-certification training as required by ORC 5103.039 and OAC 5101:2-5-33. In addition to these requirements OAC 5101:2-7-02 requires that applicants: · Be at least 18 years of age; · Have sufficient income to meet the basic needs of the household; · Be free of any physical, emotional or mental condition that could impair their ability to care for a child; and · Not operate as a boarding house or home-based business, including babysitting, without the prior approval of the recommending agency. Key Issues · Foster caregiver applicants must be thoroughly interviewed, screened, and described in the homestudy prepared by the assessor in order to complete a reliable evaluation. A detailed and comprehensive report is needed to fully describe the prospective caregiver's family circumstances and determine their ability to provide adequate foster care. · OAC 5101:2-5-20 requirements for background checks of prospective foster caregivers are not sufficiently comprehensive to provide assurance ... read more » |
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Those deadly privatized Foster Placement Agencies...AGAIN!.. State Fails Foster Child
On 22 Feb 2007 15:00:34 -0800, "Greegor" wrote:
What part of this disaster would have been avoided if foster care had NOT been partly privatized? It wasn't "partly." That's like claiming being a little bit pregnant. This same kind of stupid crap happens at the hands of state EMPLOYEES, not to mention people they fail to properly supervise. Your cure? Mine is to adequate fund so that such phony 'cost cutting' measures as privatization are NOT brought into the picture. That there be enough workers to properly supervise foster and adoptive placements (the latter during the supervisory period). There simply are not enough to do the job, Greg. Tell you what. YOU go and get a job with CPS. You get back to us after a year or so and tell us how "easy" the job was for you, sucker. In 1979 I thought that CPS was a suck ass useless and money wasting agency. I had to pick a series of practicums when I went to college. I thought I get the "worst" one out of the way first....so I chose CPS. My attitude changed with I had knowledge, Greg the Stupid. YOU have to, as you have done, avoid knowledge to keep believing and saying the stupid things you do. Rather like the other assholes I've encountered here that have confined themselves to "knowledge" from propaganda sources. **** off, sucker. I wish there was a death penalty for these people, Greg. But CPS is not to blame for this. YOU ARE. And others just like you. You are as complicit in this child's death as surely as if you had applied some of the tape yourself. YOU study ignorance of the subject of child protection and YOU and people like you keep CPS crippled so you can whine. Have a nice life, you little ****ant. "murder for causing the death of a 3-year-old foster son by leaving him bound in a cocoon of blankets and tape while she went away to a weekend family reunion" http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/...parent_trial;_... Back to Story - Help Yahoo! News Ohio woman guilty in foster son's death ....Turns out this was, ONCE AGAIN, a private foster placement agency boondoggle.... http://www.caica.org/MARCUS%20FIESEL...more%20informa... State urges more information, foster-parent training DAN SEWELL Associated Press CINCINNATI November 27, 2006 More thorough investigation and better communication among agencies could have prevented the placement of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy with the foster parents accused of killing him, according to a state report released Monday. "The death of any child is tragic; to die under circumstances alleged in this case is only more so," according to the report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. "This case beckons reform of Ohio's system to better serve all foster children." Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel alone in a closet for two days, wrapped in a blanket and packing tape. Authorities say the boy was dead when they returned to their home in Clermont County from a family reunion in Kentucky. The couple reported the boy missing Aug. 15, triggering a massive search for the child who supposedly had wandered off in a public park. The Carrolls were arrested Aug. 28 and have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The report, which says the Carrolls were unqualified to care for the boy, details problems in handling his case and the private agency that recommended the Carrolls. It also makes a broad range of recommendations that include increased training and widened background checks for foster parents. "We cannot create a fail-safe system, but I believe we can create a better system," said Barbara Riley, director of the state department. State lawmakers have said the report will help in developing reform legislation. About 10,000 children are in foster care in Ohio. Richard Wexler, executive director of the Virginia-based National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, said authorities should do more to keep children with their birth parents. "They want to add more requirements, when they're not following the existing requirements," Wexler said. "All this tinkering is sound and fury that ignores the elephant in the room." The Carrolls were certified to be foster parents through Lifeway for Youth, a private agency that handles placements for a number of counties. Lifeway officials have said the Carrolls misled them about their backgrounds. The state report alleges more than a dozen failures by the agency, saying the home study and follow-up visits were inadequate, that the agency didn't check references on the Carrolls and that the agency overbilled the state for training reimbursements. The state department is reviewing Lifeway for Youth operations across the state to decide whether to re-certify the agency, and also will scrutinize the agency's billing claims, the report states. A message seeking comment was left Monday for Michael Berner, executive director of the Sharonville, Ohio-based agency, which has been certified in Ohio since 1994. The report recommends increased training of foster parent applicants and those who assess them, thorough background checks that would include credit and residence histories, drug testing of applicants, data-sharing among agencies, courts and law enforcement, and increased state staffing for foster-care oversight. The report found that Butler County Children Services complied with state requirements in its handling of the boy, removed from his birth mother in Middletown in April. The county has appointed an independent task force to probe the agency. The state report says Clermont County Children's Services didn't make sure Liz Carroll had completed training in the time required and didn't check all her references. Tim McCartney, director of the county's department of Job and Family Services, said Monday that additional references were checked when two original references couldn't be reached. McCartney said Clermont County took action in September that include checking a court information system for any offenses involving foster-home adults and doubling the number of annual home inspections from two to four, three of them unannounced. Authorities have said the Carrolls had had financial problems and also failed to report a domestic violence charge in June against David Carroll that was dropped later but could have led to more investigation of the family. ON THE NET Fiesel Case Review:http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_revie...t_20061127.pdf .......and again...... http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...61128/NEWS01/6... http://www.wlwt.com/news/9762075/detail.html http://www.co.clermont.oh.us/news.as...lcasereview&Ti... [[[ probably the most revealing, while the more terse, of the reports. ]]] The State Report on the case.http://www.jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/Fiesel_r...t_20061127.pdf Fiesel Case Review -- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office for Children and Families November 27, 2006 ... Recommendations ... [[[ While I'll once again be accused by the mindless twits of being a "CPS lobbyist" the first item in the list from Ohio jfs IS of course, to seek funding. All across the US, in state after state, both foster certification workers (those that do the homestudy, certification, and supervision of STATE RUN foster homes) and adoption workers have been reduced in personnel. They are called, by the agencies, "non-case carrying" staff, so their positions are NOT protected or supported by any reporting system that recommends case carrying limits...as client case carrying positions are. Hence, when the cuts come they are the first to be cut and the fewer remaining workers loaded up with yet more cases. Foster family 'workers' can and do have over a hundred families to certify, recertify, and supervise. And we wonder why there is a system failure!! The recommendations listed below are just a fraction of those in the total document....try reading them. In fact, many are probably in place but there is a failure to follow through. Follow through is done by PEOPLE, people, and if there are not enough staff to do the follow through it will not get done. ]]] RECOMMENDATIONS Suggested recommendations identified through this administrative review fall into seven categories: Applicant Approval Processes, Foster Caregiver Training Requirements, Assessor Training Requirements, Placement Procedures, Service Provision, Information Sharing, and Administrative Oversight. Additional systemic and administrative recommendations designed to further advance needed reform are contained at the end of this section. A. APPLICANT APPROVAL PROCESSES: Current Practice OAC 5101:2-5-20 and OAC 5101:2-5-21 require that any public or private agency certified by ODJFS to recommend applicants for certification as foster caregivers must, prior to making a recommendation: · Complete a Foster Care Homestudy which includes: o Face to face interviews with all members of the household over the age of four years; o An on-site inspection to the prospective foster home; and o A determination of the specific number, age, and sex of children to be placed in a foster home (a joint responsibility of the foster caregiver and the recommending agency based on the assessor's evaluation of the foster caregiver's capabilities). · Complete criminal background checks through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Information and, for applicants who have resided outside the State at any time during the previous five years, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unless the foster caregiver applicant and all members of the household meet specified rehabilitation standards, an applicant may not be recommended for certification if they have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes specified in ORC 2151.86 and OAC 5101:2-7-02. · Obtain a Medical Statement for Foster Care/Adoptive Applicant and All Household Members indicating that the applicant and all household members are free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition that would endanger children or impair the ability of the household to care for a foster child and any additional examination deemed necessary by the agency to ensure the safety, health and care of a child. · Obtain three personal references from non-relatives. · Require the completion of a home inspection by a certified fire inspector or a safety audit. 10 · Require the applicant to complete pre-certification training as required by ORC 5103.039 and OAC 5101:2-5-33. In addition to these requirements OAC 5101:2-7-02 requires that applicants: · Be at least 18 years of age; · Have sufficient income to meet the basic needs of the household; · Be free of any physical, emotional or mental condition that could impair their ability to care for a child; and · Not operate as a boarding house or home-based business, including babysitting, without the prior approval of the recommending agency. Key Issues · Foster caregiver applicants must be thoroughly interviewed, screened, and described in the homestudy prepared by the assessor in order to complete a reliable evaluation. A detailed and comprehensive report is needed to fully describe the prospective caregiver's family circumstances and determine their ability to provide adequate foster care. · OAC 5101:2-5-20 requirements for background checks of prospective foster caregivers are not sufficiently comprehensive to provide assurance ... read more » |
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