In 2000 there were an estimated 247,822 children in Rhode Island

LIFEBEATS
05/06/2004
Lifebeats feature
By JOE KERNAN
In 2000 there were an estimated 247,822 children in Rhode Island, and
2,302 of them were in foster care. Another 400 or so were awaiting
adoption. All indicators point to the number going up, and there is no
evidence of the numbers diminishing.

The National Foster Parent Association Council of Affiliated States is
promoting a nationwide campaign to heighten foster care awareness.
Each state foster parent association is being asked to arrange a blue
ribbon event at their state capitals during the month of May.

In Rhode Island, Casey Family Services, a non-profit support agency
for foster parents and families in crisis, is making a special effort
to insure that the many people who are foster parents get the
recognition they deserve and an effort to recruit more qualified
people to be foster parents as the need for them continues to outstrip
the supply. The people at Casey Family Services in Washington Park
have no illusions about the difficulty of their effort and are almost
brutally frank about the level of commitment being a foster parent
entails. They have to be that way because they work with some of the
most troubled children and families and offer a more intensely
therapeutic program than other programs.

“We want to recruit foster parents, but we are looking for some very
special people,” said Tracie Jones, the Resource Coordinator for Casey
Family Services. “We are looking for a home that offers stability and
a nurturing environment for a specific kid. Every child is an
individual, and having the right fit is crucial.”

The Casey organization works under contract with the Department of
Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to find temporary homes for
children in a crisis situation. But it does go further in offering a
variety of support services to foster families 24 hours a day.

“At 3 a.m. you can call us and someone will be there,” said Jones. “We
offer all the support we possibly can.”

Christine and David Ellis of Warwick have been foster parents for
years and have even adopted one of their charges. Christine works in a
women’s shelter and is no stranger to family strife. She is currently
caring for a four-year-old boy we will call “Matthew” and makes no
bones about the realities of dealing with a child with issues and the
almost ironic adjustments they have to make.

“There is always the ‘honeymoon’ period when you get a kid,” she said.
“They are on their best behavior for a while, but as they begin to
trust you, as they begin to feel that you are committed to taking care
of them, the problem behavior emerges. Matthew is a good kid, but he
has his moments.”

Matthew, who was with Christine at the Casey center last week, seemed
like a typical four-year-old: energetic, antsy, charming and willful
at turns. Christine said that at first you cannot claim to love the
kids, but you do have to convince them that you are committed to
taking care of them and will be consistent.

“You can’t pretend to love them,” she said. “You can show them you
care and that you are not going to leave them because of their
behavior. Once they vent their anger and frustration and see you are
still there, that’s what they need.”

In spite of what could be called a professional distance that people
new to foster parenting must have, children do “get to” people, and
Christine and David have adopted Allysa, who came to them as a foster
child. Allysa is as much a part of the picture as her parents.

“They have their fights and arguments, but that’s all part of being a
kid,” said Christine.

Christine and David originally wanted their own child and had gone
through fertility therapy but ultimately decided that they wanted a
child, period. But even then, they did not consider foster parenting
as a way to meet their own needs. They knew and accepted the challenge
of caring for a child with very special needs, the obvious one being
the lack of trust and the genuine abandonment they have experienced.
Casey Family Services is there to put potential parents on the proper
footing for the challenges that lie ahead.

“When we are looking for a family we are not looking to fill a need of
the family,” said Jones. “It is the child’s needs we want to meet.
People who commit to this should not expect it to make them happy.
They must be willing to want to help a kid and not to find a playmate
for an only child or for their own satisfaction.”

One of the goals of the Casey team is to get children out of group
homes or other residential programs and back into a normal family
situation. Jim Gannaway, the Division Director for Rhode Island, said
that, in spite of the best intentions, institutional programs are
expensive and do not address the main goal of the foster parenting
ideal, which is to keep families together and to give them every kind
of support they need to achieve that.

“We want to do what we can for kids,” he said. “Kids that don’t get
what they need end up in institutions that cost a lot and don’t offer
much.” Gannaway said it costs up to $60,000 a year to keep a kid in a
group home, about $1,300 a day. “The kids wouldn’t have to be there if
they got good care before they got there in the first place.”

Gannaway said that, in 12 years, only two kids out of a hundred who
were placed out of institutional care to them had to be returned to it
later.

“And a good many of those who had to be admitted didn’t have to stay
long,” said Gannaway. “There is really only one reason why a kid has
to be institutionalized, and that is when he is a danger to himself or
others.”

The people at Casey are not prone to criticizing the agencies they
work with but they are frank in saying that foster parents are
under-compensated by the state.

“Almost all foster parents have to go into their own pockets to give
the kids what they need,” he said. “We want them to see themselves as
professionals and they should be considered as such.”

Foster parents are licensed by the state through DCYF, which goes to
great lengths to insure that the proper background checks are done.
Everyone above the age of 18 in a prospective home is subject to the
checks. They obviously share the goals of Casey Family Services but
are subject to the often cumbersome bureaucratic and legislative red
tape. A number of agencies have complained of inadequate compensation
and even people familiar with DCYF agree the level should be raised.

“It should not have to cost people to help our state’s children,” said
one anonymously, who added broader public support and awareness of the
need for foster care should make the public more willing to support
foster parents.

The State of Rhode Island currently offers about $474 a month, with a
number of special costs included, but even they admit (off the record)
the out-of-pocket costs can be considerably higher for families. One
rationale they give for keeping the figure that low is that they do
not want people entering into the system for the wrong reasons, such
as the money.

Gannaway frankly begs to differ and says that a rigorous screening
process weeds out the people who are looking for easy money. Casey
gives foster families $800 to $900 a month, on top of a number of
other considerations, such as special needs or clothing or even
structural adaptations within a home to meet the needs of a child
without beggaring the foster parents. He said anyone who views the
foster parents program as a way to make extra money will be vastly
disappointed.

“Surprisingly [in spite of the lack of compensation], there are a lot
of really good foster parents out there, people who are really
committed. It’s not so much who you draw; it’s who you take. We do
extensive checks on people, BCI checks, records checks, DCYF checks
and interviews. Our philosophy will always be the child’s needs, not
the family’s needs.”

Gannaway and the staff at Casey Family Services can afford to be
generous with their support. Family Services is the action arm of the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, one of the most successful self-sustaining
philanthropic trusts in the world.

In brief, Jim Casey, the founder of United Parcel Service, started the
Annie E. Casey Foundation to help youth in need, particularly foster
children. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is now the largest private
foundation serving children and families in the United States. It is
fully endowed and does no fund-raising.

Casey Family Services is the operating arm for the foundation, working
on the ground with communities, families and children in need
throughout New England. They are a fully accredited nonprofit child
welfare agency, founded in 1976.

“We were formed to develop model programs and establish best practices
for the foster care system,” said Wendy Christian of the national
office. “Today, we provide programs to families in the areas of family
preservation and reunification, foster care and post-adoption
services. We also provide life skills classes and training for foster
youth preparing to ‘age out’ of the foster care system.”

Christian said they are particularly focused on the needs of youth in
transition this year. Every spring, 20,000 young people “graduate”
from the foster care system, and many lack the supports they need
(both financially and emotionally) to succeed on their own. Look under
the “graduation” or “making a difference” categories.

“We recently moved our headquarters from Warwick to a remodeled
warehouse in Providence, so we would be closer to the families and
children we serve,” said Christian. “Our office serves as a community
center for a wide range of programs. We have a terrific jobs program
in Providence, working with the Stand Construction Company.”

The move also fits in with the philosophy many foster care programs
are adopting, which is to keep foster children in environments similar
to that which they came from and, hopefully, will return to.

“We are developing a community-based effort,” said Jones. “Aside from
giving the child a sense of being part of the community, it avoids the
culture shock of a strange environment, which would only add to the
issues a child has to deal with.”

National Foster Care Month is a joint effort of Casey Family Programs,
DCYF, The Foster Parents Association and other agencies to bring home,
so to speak, the importance of foster care.

DCYF will host an informational meeting at Gymboree at 82 Rolfe St. in
Cranston on May 13. Agency representatives will be on hand between
7:15 and 9 p.m. to answer questions about foster care. A meeting to
discuss foster care and adoption is slated for May 26 at the DCYF
office at 650 Ten Rod Rd. in North Kingstown from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

There will also be a Foster Parents Night at McCoy Stadium on May 21
sponsored by DCYF, the Pawsox and others.

There will be an open house at the Casey Family Services Center, 1269
Eddy St., Providence, from 5 to 7 p.m. on May 11.

National Foster Care Month is also devoted to enlisting the help of
other organizations for support through special events. For ideas
about what you can do to celebrate foster parents, visit
www.nfpainc.org.
http://www.warwickonline.com/lifebea...ws.asp?ID=6026



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