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Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children
Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children
Karina Bland The Arizona Republic Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM For 25 years, regular Arizona residents have been keeping an eye on children in foster care, making sure they don't get lost in the system. The kids rarely meet their protectors, though the grown-ups know the most intimate details of their lives. As members of a Foster Care Review Board, volunteers review cases of the nearly 7,000 children in foster care statewide every six months. Ilene Dode of Tempe, a board member from the start, said their job is to ensure children find safe, permanent homes. They ask tough questions about whether kids are getting what they need - counseling, medical care, visits with their folks - and if parents, caseworkers, foster parents and others involved in the case are on track. In 1979, Arizona was the second state in the nation to start such a program, modeled after one in South Carolina. Then a freshman state senator, Jim Kolbe, pushed through a bill to have citizen oversight of kids in foster care. It was his first major piece of legislation. Now a U.S. congressman, Kolbe said creation of the board still ranks among his proudest achievements: "It assures that somebody from outside the system looks at each child's case." At the time, foster care was a mess. Foster parents were not paid regularly, said Bill Stanton, director of dependent children's services for the Arizona Supreme Court, which runs the Foster Care Review Board. Some kids weren't getting health care. The state lost track of others. One boy, placed in a foster home in Casa Grande, went 13 years without anyone from the state checking on him. In Gila County, a child removed from his home because of abuse waited seven years before a judge heard the case. Hearings take place now within five days. Now, Arizona's Foster Care Review Board is a national model, copied by Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, Montana and Utah. Arizona boasts 87 five-member boards statewide. Kentucky officials were here this month to see how it works. In a quiet Gilbert courtroom, Dode flips open the file of a girl, 17. Next to her is Bruce Brannan of Scottsdale, who also has been on the board for 25 years. The girl was deserted by her drug-addict mother and taken in by her grandmother a year ago. Board member Charlotte Wright murmurs: "Thank God for grandmothers." The state plans to return the girl to her mother, but the woman has not attended court-ordered counseling, parenting classes or drug testing. No one knows where she is. The girl is in juvenile detention for her own use of marijuana and methamphetamine. Her Child Protective Services caseworker is on the speakerphone, and board members grill him: "What kind of substance abuse treatment is she receiving? Is she getting counseling?" The caseworker wants the girl to go into a residential treatment center when she's released from jail. Brannan agrees she can't go back to her mother: "We would be sending her into an already toxic environment." The board sides with the caseworker and recommends the girl also get into an independent living skills program for kids leaving foster care. "Let's get her prepared for life on her own," Dode said. In a day, boards typically review a dozen files. Their recommendations go to the judges presiding over the cases. Court of Appeals Judge Maurice Portley, who served as presiding Juvenile Court judge from 1997 to 2001, found the reports helpful, alerting him to whether parents and caseworkers were doing what they should be and if foster parents and children were getting what they needed. In a few sheets of paper, he learned what he otherwise would have had to pack his courtroom to find out. In 25 years, Dode and Brannan agree that they've seen a dramatic increase in cases involving substance abuse. In eight out of every 10 cases, parents are hooked on street drugs - crack cocaine, methamphetamine. There's less physical abuse than a quarter of a century ago. Brannan, a construction project manager, credits education programs for that. Still, the neglect, sexual and emotional abuse is as disturbing. The worse case for both involved nine children who were sexually abused by both parents. The two older girls, just 12 and 13, were forced to work as prostitutes. Some of the saddest cases are those of older children, abandoned to the system by parents who can't or won't take care of them. They finish their growing up in group foster homes, with paid staff instead of parents, said Dode, president and CEO of Empact-SPC, a behavioral health center. The hardest part is sending children home, Dode and Brannan said, even though they might fare better in a foster home. "It's not always going to be Ozzie and Harriet, but children should return home if it's safe," Brannan said. There are successes: parents who finish drug treatment and get their kids back, children adopted by foster parents. "Those are big victories," Brannan said. Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children advertisement Karina Bland The Arizona Republic Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM For 25 years, regular Arizona residents have been keeping an eye on children in foster care, making sure they don't get lost in the system. The kids rarely meet their protectors, though the grown-ups know the most intimate details of their lives. As members of a Foster Care Review Board, volunteers review cases of the nearly 7,000 children in foster care statewide every six months. Ilene Dode of Tempe, a board member from the start, said their job is to ensure children find safe, permanent homes. They ask tough questions about whether kids are getting what they need - counseling, medical care, visits with their folks - and if parents, caseworkers, foster parents and others involved in the case are on track. In 1979, Arizona was the second state in the nation to start such a program, modeled after one in South Carolina. Then a freshman state senator, Jim Kolbe, pushed through a bill to have citizen oversight of kids in foster care. It was his first major piece of legislation. Now a U.S. congressman, Kolbe said creation of the board still ranks among his proudest achievements: "It assures that somebody from outside the system looks at each child's case." At the time, foster care was a mess. Foster parents were not paid regularly, said Bill Stanton, director of dependent children's services for the Arizona Supreme Court, which runs the Foster Care Review Board. Some kids weren't getting health care. The state lost track of others. One boy, placed in a foster home in Casa Grande, went 13 years without anyone from the state checking on him. In Gila County, a child removed from his home because of abuse waited seven years before a judge heard the case. Hearings take place now within five days. Now, Arizona's Foster Care Review Board is a national model, copied by Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, Montana and Utah. Arizona boasts 87 five-member boards statewide. Kentucky officials were here this month to see how it works. In a quiet Gilbert courtroom, Dode flips open the file of a girl, 17. Next to her is Bruce Brannan of Scottsdale, who also has been on the board for 25 years. The girl was deserted by her drug-addict mother and taken in by her grandmother a year ago. Board member Charlotte Wright murmurs: "Thank God for grandmothers." The state plans to return the girl to her mother, but the woman has not attended court-ordered counseling, parenting classes or drug testing. No one knows where she is. The girl is in juvenile detention for her own use of marijuana and methamphetamine. Her Child Protective Services caseworker is on the speakerphone, and board members grill him: "What kind of substance abuse treatment is she receiving? Is she getting counseling?" The caseworker wants the girl to go into a residential treatment center when she's released from jail. Brannan agrees she can't go back to her mother: "We would be sending her into an already toxic environment." The board sides with the caseworker and recommends the girl also get into an independent living skills program for kids leaving foster care. "Let's get her prepared for life on her own," Dode said. In a day, boards typically review a dozen files. Their recommendations go to the judges presiding over the cases. Court of Appeals Judge Maurice Portley, who served as presiding Juvenile Court judge from 1997 to 2001, found the reports helpful, alerting him to whether parents and caseworkers were doing what they should be and if foster parents and children were getting what they needed. In a few sheets of paper, he learned what he otherwise would have had to pack his courtroom to find out. In 25 years, Dode and Brannan agree that they've seen a dramatic increase in cases involving substance abuse. In eight out of every 10 cases, parents are hooked on street drugs - crack cocaine, methamphetamine. There's less physical abuse than a quarter of a century ago. Brannan, a construction project manager, credits education programs for that. Still, the neglect, sexual and emotional abuse is as disturbing. The worse case for both involved nine children who were sexually abused by both parents. The two older girls, just 12 and 13, were forced to work as prostitutes. Some of the saddest cases are those of older children, abandoned to the system by parents who can't or won't take care of them. They finish their growing up in group foster homes, with paid staff instead of parents, said Dode, president and CEO of Empact-SPC, a behavioral health center. The hardest part is sending children home, Dode and Brannan said, even though they might fare better in a foster home. "It's not always going to be Ozzie and Harriet, but children should return home if it's safe," Brannan said. There are successes: parents who finish drug treatment and get their kids back, children adopted by foster parents. "Those are big victories," Brannan said.Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children advertisement Karina Bland The Arizona Republic Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM For 25 years, regular Arizona residents have been keeping an eye on children in foster care, making sure they don't get lost in the system. The kids rarely meet their protectors, though the grown-ups know the most intimate details of their lives. As members of a Foster Care Review Board, volunteers review cases of the nearly 7,000 children in foster care statewide every six months. Ilene Dode of Tempe, a board member from the start, said their job is to ensure children find safe, permanent homes. They ask tough questions about whether kids are getting what they need - counseling, medical care, visits with their folks - and if parents, caseworkers, foster parents and others involved in the case are on track. In 1979, Arizona was the second state in the nation to start such a program, modeled after one in South Carolina. Then a freshman state senator, Jim Kolbe, pushed through a bill to have citizen oversight of kids in foster care. It was his first major piece of legislation. Now a U.S. congressman, Kolbe said creation of the board still ranks among his proudest achievements: "It assures that somebody from outside the system looks at each child's case." At the time, foster care was a mess. Foster parents were not paid regularly, said Bill Stanton, director of dependent children's services for the Arizona Supreme Court, which runs the Foster Care Review Board. Some kids weren't getting health care. The state lost track of others. One boy, placed in a foster home in Casa Grande, went 13 years without anyone from the state checking on him. In Gila County, a child removed from his home because of abuse waited seven years before a judge heard the case. Hearings take place now within five days. Now, Arizona's Foster Care Review Board is a national model, copied by Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, Montana and Utah. Arizona boasts 87 five-member boards statewide. Kentucky officials were here this month to see how it works. In a quiet Gilbert courtroom, Dode flips open the file of a girl, 17. Next to her is Bruce Brannan of Scottsdale, who also has been on the board for 25 years. The girl was deserted by her drug-addict mother and taken in by her grandmother a year ago. Board member Charlotte Wright murmurs: "Thank God for grandmothers." The state plans to return the girl to her mother, but the woman has not attended court-ordered counseling, parenting classes or drug testing. No one knows where she is. The girl is in juvenile detention for her own use of marijuana and methamphetamine. Her Child Protective Services caseworker is on the speakerphone, and board members grill him: "What kind of substance abuse treatment is she receiving? Is she getting counseling?" The caseworker wants the girl to go into a residential treatment center when she's released from jail. Brannan agrees she can't go back to her mother: "We would be sending her into an already toxic environment." The board sides with the caseworker and recommends the girl also get into an independent living skills program for kids leaving foster care. "Let's get her prepared for life on her own," Dode said. In a day, boards typically review a dozen files. Their recommendations go to the judges presiding over the cases. Court of Appeals Judge Maurice Portley, who served as presiding Juvenile Court judge from 1997 to 2001, found the reports helpful, alerting him to whether parents and caseworkers were doing what they should be and if foster parents and children were getting what they needed. In a few sheets of paper, he learned what he otherwise would have had to pack his courtroom to find out. In 25 years, Dode and Brannan agree that they've seen a dramatic increase in cases involving substance abuse. In eight out of every 10 cases, parents are hooked on street drugs - crack cocaine, methamphetamine. There's less physical abuse than a quarter of a century ago. Brannan, a construction project manager, credits education programs for that. Still, the neglect, sexual and emotional abuse is as disturbing. The worse case for both involved nine children who were sexually abused by both parents. The two older girls, just 12 and 13, were forced to work as prostitutes. Some of the saddest cases are those of older children, abandoned to the system by parents who can't or won't take care of them. They finish their growing up in group foster homes, with paid staff instead of parents, said Dode, president and CEO of Empact-SPC, a behavioral health center. The hardest part is sending children home, Dode and Brannan said, even though they might fare better in a foster home. "It's not always going to be Ozzie and Harriet, but children should return home if it's safe," Brannan said. There are successes: parents who finish drug treatment and get their kids back, children adopted by foster parents. "Those are big victories," Brannan said. Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children advertisement Karina Bland The Arizona Republic Mar. 29, 2004 12:00 AM For 25 years, regular Arizona residents have been keeping an eye on children in foster care, making sure they don't get lost in the system. The kids rarely meet their protectors, though the grown-ups know the most intimate details of their lives. As members of a Foster Care Review Board, volunteers review cases of the nearly 7,000 children in foster care statewide every six months. Ilene Dode of Tempe, a board member from the start, said their job is to ensure children find safe, permanent homes. They ask tough questions about whether kids are getting what they need - counseling, medical care, visits with their folks - and if parents, caseworkers, foster parents and others involved in the case are on track. In 1979, Arizona was the second state in the nation to start such a program, modeled after one in South Carolina. Then a freshman state senator, Jim Kolbe, pushed through a bill to have citizen oversight of kids in foster care. It was his first major piece of legislation. Now a U.S. congressman, Kolbe said creation of the board still ranks among his proudest achievements: "It assures that somebody from outside the system looks at each child's case." At the time, foster care was a mess. Foster parents were not paid regularly, said Bill Stanton, director of dependent children's services for the Arizona Supreme Court, which runs the Foster Care Review Board. Some kids weren't getting health care. The state lost track of others. One boy, placed in a foster home in Casa Grande, went 13 years without anyone from the state checking on him. In Gila County, a child removed from his home because of abuse waited seven years before a judge heard the case. Hearings take place now within five days. Now, Arizona's Foster Care Review Board is a national model, copied by Oregon, Michigan, New Mexico, Montana and Utah. Arizona boasts 87 five-member boards statewide. Kentucky officials were here this month to see how it works. In a quiet Gilbert courtroom, Dode flips open the file of a girl, 17. Next to her is Bruce Brannan of Scottsdale, who also has been on the board for 25 years. The girl was deserted by her drug-addict mother and taken in by her grandmother a year ago. Board member Charlotte Wright murmurs: "Thank God for grandmothers." The state plans to return the girl to her mother, but the woman has not attended court-ordered counseling, parenting classes or drug testing. No one knows where she is. The girl is in juvenile detention for her own use of marijuana and methamphetamine. Her Child Protective Services caseworker is on the speakerphone, and board members grill him: "What kind of substance abuse treatment is she receiving? Is she getting counseling?" The caseworker wants the girl to go into a residential treatment center when she's released from jail. Brannan agrees she can't go back to her mother: "We would be sending her into an already toxic environment." The board sides with the caseworker and recommends the girl also get into an independent living skills program for kids leaving foster care. "Let's get her prepared for life on her own," Dode said. In a day, boards typically review a dozen files. Their recommendations go to the judges presiding over the cases. Court of Appeals Judge Maurice Portley, who served as presiding Juvenile Court judge from 1997 to 2001, found the reports helpful, alerting him to whether parents and caseworkers were doing what they should be and if foster parents and children were getting what they needed. In a few sheets of paper, he learned what he otherwise would have had to pack his courtroom to find out. In 25 years, Dode and Brannan agree that they've seen a dramatic increase in cases involving substance abuse. In eight out of every 10 cases, parents are hooked on street drugs - crack cocaine, methamphetamine. There's less physical abuse than a quarter of a century ago. Brannan, a construction project manager, credits education programs for that. Still, the neglect, sexual and emotional abuse is as disturbing. The worse case for both involved nine children who were sexually abused by both parents. The two older girls, just 12 and 13, were forced to work as prostitutes. Some of the saddest cases are those of older children, abandoned to the system by parents who can't or won't take care of them. They finish their growing up in group foster homes, with paid staff instead of parents, said Dode, president and CEO of Empact-SPC, a behavioral health center. The hardest part is sending children home, Dode and Brannan said, even though they might fare better in a foster home. "It's not always going to be Ozzie and Harriet, but children should return home if it's safe," Brannan said. There are successes: parents who finish drug treatment and get their kids back, children adopted by foster parents. "Those are big victories," Brannan said. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...erboard29.html 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. |
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