Campaign is targeting foster kids

Campaign is targeting foster kids
State grant will help encourage people to become foster parents
By Eunice Trotter

March 3, 2004

Indiana officials today will announce a comprehensive, statewide
campaign to recruit foster and adoptive parents to care for abused and
neglected children.

Christina Morrison, executive director of the Indiana Foster Care and
Adoption Association, said there has been sporadic foster parent
recruitment in the past. "But there has been no coordinated efforts
comparable to this," Morrison said.

With the help of a $1.75 million state grant, the association of
foster and adoptive parents and the Indiana Family and Social Services
Administration hope to fill the vacuum left by foster parents who have
adopted children and left the foster care system.

Foster parents eventually adopt more than 60 percent of the children
made state wards, Morrison said.

More than 10,800 children were wards of the state in Indiana at the
end of 2003, an 8 percent increase over the number in 2002, according
to state statistics.

Since changes in federal laws in 1996, Indiana has attempted to shift
more children from more expensive and restrictive residential and
group homes to foster homes in the same communities where the children
live.

Institutional, group and foster care now costs about $40 million a
year in the state.

"Foster parents save our community from being socially and financially
bankrupt," Morrison said.

"Children victimized without deliberate parenting to help them heal
and move on eventually may end up in institutions or the penal system.
It's pay now or pay later."

State officials don't have a goal for the drive and didn't release
specifics on the campaign they will launch. The foster parent drive
follows a federal review of Indiana's $60 million child welfare
system, which found a number of shortcomings, including with foster
care.

The review released last year found several facets of the state's
foster care system did not meet federal standards when reviewers
visited Indiana in 2001.

The review is ongoing, and a team is expected to return to measure
progress next year. The state was criticized for:

• How long it took for foster children to be adopted. Children now
typically remain in foster care about 18 months. In 1996, it was more
than four years.

• The instability of many foster home placements. Children were
frequently in multiple foster homes before returning to their
families, getting adopted or becoming a legal adult at 18, the report
said.

• The length of time it took for foster children to be reunified with
their natural parents. The report said the reunifications reviewed
exceeded the goal of 15 months. Reunification planning also was
criticized.

Federal reviewers said completing arrangements on where a child will
live was delayed by several factors, including caseworker turnover,
caseworker inexperience and the failure to effectively engage families
in case planning.

The length of time to complete adoptions was due to delays in adoptive
family recruiting, securing home studies and filing court petitions,
the federal report states.

Jane Bisbee, of the state Bureau of Family Protection and
Preservation, said the state's foster parent drive will focus on
recruiting people who are willing to work with biological parents to
reunify families.

A second component will focus on recruiting foster parents who may
want to ultimately adopt a foster child.

Foster parent reimbursements average about $23 a day but can be much
higher for children with developmental disabilities or mental or
emotional illnesses.

Foster parents may be single or married couples. People interested in
becoming foster parents can call (800) 468-4228.
Payments to foster parents
These are examples of basic monthly payments for a 9-year-old child in
foster care as reported during a federal nationwide survey in 1998 and
updated in 2003. The payment covers room and board, supervision and
clothing. Some states provide additional stipends.
• Ohio: $603
• Indiana: $536
• Michigan: $398
• Illinois: $382
• Kentucky: $350
Source: Administration for Children and Families

The costs of foster care
Foster care population
The number of children in foster care in selected Midwest states as of
Dec. 31, 2002.
• Illinois: 23,707
• Michigan: 21,251
• Ohio: 21,012
• Indiana: 8,640*
• Kentucky: 6,720
*State records show that 10,000 children were in foster care in 2002 —
almost 1,400 more than what federal data shows.
Statewide costs
Using property taxes and federal grants as revenue sources, these .are
the total amounts in millions of dollars paid by all Indiana counties
in 2002 to support these types of foster care options.
• Residential facilities: $101.6
• Therapeutic foster homes: $42.5
• Foster homes with non-relatives: $24.8
• Foster homes with relatives: $4.2
Sources: Administration for Children and Families, Family Protection
and Preservation Bureau
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/125959-7743-102.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.

Most states have been encouraged to CUT down the # of children in Stranger
Foster Care.

As usual, a wrong slanted approach.

Just like most of what CPS, FSSA encourages.


Subject: Campaign is targeting foster kids
From: wexwimpy
Date: 3/4/2004 2:54 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Campaign is targeting foster kids
State grant will help encourage people to become foster parents
By Eunice Trotter

March 3, 2004

Indiana officials today will announce a comprehensive, statewide
campaign to recruit foster and adoptive parents to care for abused and
neglected children.

Christina Morrison, executive director of the Indiana Foster Care and
Adoption Association, said there has been sporadic foster parent
recruitment in the past. "But there has been no coordinated efforts
comparable to this," Morrison said.

With the help of a $1.75 million state grant, the association of
foster and adoptive parents and the Indiana Family and Social Services
Administration hope to fill the vacuum left by foster parents who have
adopted children and left the foster care system.

Foster parents eventually adopt more than 60 percent of the children
made state wards, Morrison said.

More than 10,800 children were wards of the state in Indiana at the
end of 2003, an 8 percent increase over the number in 2002, according
to state statistics.

Since changes in federal laws in 1996, Indiana has attempted to shift
more children from more expensive and restrictive residential and
group homes to foster homes in the same communities where the children
live.

Institutional, group and foster care now costs about $40 million a
year in the state.

"Foster parents save our community from being socially and financially
bankrupt," Morrison said.

"Children victimized without deliberate parenting to help them heal
and move on eventually may end up in institutions or the penal system.
It's pay now or pay later."

State officials don't have a goal for the drive and didn't release
specifics on the campaign they will launch. The foster parent drive
follows a federal review of Indiana's $60 million child welfare
system, which found a number of shortcomings, including with foster
care.

The review released last year found several facets of the state's
foster care system did not meet federal standards when reviewers
visited Indiana in 2001.

The review is ongoing, and a team is expected to return to measure
progress next year. The state was criticized for:

• How long it took for foster children to be adopted. Children now
typically remain in foster care about 18 months. In 1996, it was more
than four years.

• The instability of many foster home placements. Children were
frequently in multiple foster homes before returning to their
families, getting adopted or becoming a legal adult at 18, the report
said.

• The length of time it took for foster children to be reunified with
their natural parents. The report said the reunifications reviewed
exceeded the goal of 15 months. Reunification planning also was
criticized.

Federal reviewers said completing arrangements on where a child will
live was delayed by several factors, including caseworker turnover,
caseworker inexperience and the failure to effectively engage families
in case planning.

The length of time to complete adoptions was due to delays in adoptive
family recruiting, securing home studies and filing court petitions,
the federal report states.

Jane Bisbee, of the state Bureau of Family Protection and
Preservation, said the state's foster parent drive will focus on
recruiting people who are willing to work with biological parents to
reunify families.

A second component will focus on recruiting foster parents who may
want to ultimately adopt a foster child.

Foster parent reimbursements average about $23 a day but can be much
higher for children with developmental disabilities or mental or
emotional illnesses.

Foster parents may be single or married couples. People interested in
becoming foster parents can call (800) 468-4228.
Payments to foster parents
These are examples of basic monthly payments for a 9-year-old child in
foster care as reported during a federal nationwide survey in 1998 and
updated in 2003. The payment covers room and board, supervision and
clothing. Some states provide additional stipends.
• Ohio: $603
• Indiana: $536
• Michigan: $398
• Illinois: $382
• Kentucky: $350
Source: Administration for Children and Families

The costs of foster care
Foster care population
The number of children in foster care in selected Midwest states as of
Dec. 31, 2002.
• Illinois: 23,707
• Michigan: 21,251
• Ohio: 21,012
• Indiana: 8,640*
• Kentucky: 6,720
*State records show that 10,000 children were in foster care in 2002 —
almost 1,400 more than what federal data shows.
Statewide costs
Using property taxes and federal grants as revenue sources, these .are
the total amounts in millions of dollars paid by all Indiana counties
in 2002 to support these types of foster care options.
• Residential facilities: $101.6
• Therapeutic foster homes: $42.5
• Foster homes with non-relatives: $24.8
• Foster homes with relatives: $4.2
Sources: Administration for Children and Families, Family Protection
and Preservation Bureau
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/125959-7743-102.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.