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


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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
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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 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 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?

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 »

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.
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· 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 ...

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