Foster parents' fighting chance

Foster parents' fighting chance
A Times Editorial
Published May 29, 2004

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It's a scenario that can rip the heart out: a child pulled from foster
parents who want to adopt him - the only family and stability he has
ever known - to be sent off to live with a relative or couple he has
never met.

That doesn't happen frequently, but it does often enough to have
compelled Florida lawmakers to want to provide an extra layer of
protection. The Legislature this spring overwhelmingly approved a bill
(SB 2046), by Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Tamarac, and Rep. Nan
Rich, D-Weston, giving foster parents the right to be notified and
heard and making judges, not Department of Children and Families
caseworkers, the final arbiters. The bill is on its way to Gov. Jeb
Bush and deserves his support.

All things being equal, extended family members should be favored when
it comes to adopting abused or neglected children taken from their
biological parents. But what happens when an obscure relative emerges
on the scene, months or even years later, after the child has already
bonded with his or her foster family? Traumatic to be sure, the abrupt
move could also prove permanently damaging to the child.

The bill would kick in only when the foster parents have cared for the
child six months or longer and DCF has denied their formal application
to adopt. Even then, it would not dictate the outcome but simply
provide what foster parents currently lack: the chance to fight for
the child, before the child is pulled from the home.

DCF says that giving foster parents such standing would be expensive
in cost and delays, but its objections are speculative at best. Though
the agency might have a legitimate gripe if the second-guessing were
more widespread, the bill is narrowly targeted. Its fundamental goal
of protecting children should prevail over any desire on DCF's part to
suppress costs or guard its turf.

By signing the bill, Gov. Bush can help make sure that any decision to
uproot a child from a loving foster home is worth the high price.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/29/Op...s__fight.shtml

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