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Tailor foster care to individuals' needs
Tailor foster care to individuals' needs
Luis, 23, a veteran of foster care, entered the system at 6. "I remember vividly sitting outside the courthouse, my mother crying," he recalled. "And then, suddenly, I was living in some house I didn't know." Children in foster care, he said, should have basic rights: "You have a right to be happy. You have a right not to be hit. You have a right to love. Everybody deserves a family." Ensuring that every child has a safe and permanent home should be one of our highest priorities. But for children in foster care, it's often not the case, despite our best intentions. Foster care is supposed to provide temporary homes for children until they can rejoin their parents or be adopted. Yet, the more than half a million children in foster care stay there an average of three years, in an average of three foster homes. This legalized limbo isn't a permanent home - nor, as headlines remind us, is it guaranteed to be safe. I met Luis through the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, a non-partisan effort to find ways to change how the federal government finances services for abused and neglected children and the way courts oversee these cases. The members met extensively with those touched most deeply by foster care. What we found was both heartwarming and heart-rending. Young people told us of long stays and frequent moves, of feeling utterly forgotten by the agencies and courts charged with their care. Caseworkers and judges spoke of how they would like to individualize services but often are thwarted by the volume of cases. They recognize the importance of acting quickly, but often are constrained by the system. Foster parents described how they care for children who come to them in pain, sorrow, anger and confusion. And parents spoke of overcoming crippling addictions and other challenges to get their children back from foster care and keep them safe and well. As a nation, we seem unable to achieve safety and stability for every child in foster care. For Luis, adoption led to a permanent, loving family. For others, it could mean reuniting with parents or other relatives. Can we build a system tailored to the individual needs of children and families? How can we not? Carol Spigner, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, is a member of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...dividualsneeds 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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