A Parenting & kids forum. ParentingBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » ParentingBanter.com forum » alt.parenting » Spanking
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Foster care, orphanages doing more harm than good for children



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 17th 07, 06:52 AM posted to alt.support.child-protective-services,alt.support.foster-parents,alt.dads-rights.unmoderated,alt.parenting.spanking
fx
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,848
Default Foster care, orphanages doing more harm than good for children

Foster care, orphanages doing more harm than good for children

Richard Wexler

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs...707150342/1091


My organization has long argued that many children now trapped in foster
care would be far better off if they had remained with their own
families and those families had been given the right kinds of help.

Turns out that's not quite right.



In fact, many children now trapped in foster care would be far better
off if they remained with their own families even if those families got
only the typical help - which tends to be little help, wrong help, or no
help - commonly offered by agencies like the Missouri Children's Division.

That's the message from the largest study ever undertaken comparing the
impact on children of foster care versus keeping children alleged to be
maltreated with their own families.

The study looks at outcomes for more than 15,000 children. It compares
foster children not to the general population but to comparably
maltreated children left in their own homes. On measure after measure,
the children left in their own homes do better.

In fact, it's not even close.

Children left in their own homes are far less likely to become pregnant
as teenagers, far less likely to wind up in the juvenile justice system
and far more likely to hold a job for at least three months than
children who were placed in foster care. A second study, last year, used
different measures, but came to a similar conclusion: Children left in
their own homes did better than children placed in foster care, even
when both groups suffered similar maltreatment.

The new study includes children placed in any form of substitute care,
including group homes and institutions, so it can't be used as an
argument for the worst option of all, orphanages.

This does not mean that no child ever should be placed in foster care.
But it means many fewer children should be placed in foster care.

The study excluded the most severe cases of maltreatment, a very small
proportion of any child protective worker's caseload, precisely because,
horror stories notwithstanding, these are cases where everyone with time
to investigate would agree that removal from the home was the only
alternative.

Rather, the study focused on, by far, the largest group of cases any
worker sees, those where there are real problems in the home, but wide
disagreement over what should be done. As the study itself notes: "These
are the cases most likely to be affected by policy changes that alter
the threshold for placement."

All this means the limited progress in reducing needless removal of
Missouri children seen in the wake of the death of Dominic James is a
step in the right direction. In St. Louis, it's a big step.

Even before Dominic died, St. Louis City was leading the state in
protecting children, by using two innovative national models, Community
Partnerships for Child Protection and the Annie E. Casey Foundation's
Family to Family initiative. (The Casey Foundation also helps to fund
NCCPR.)

Since 2002, St. Louis City reduced the number of children torn from
their families by 60 percent. That means hundreds of children have been
saved from teen pregnancy, juvenile arrest and youth unemployment.
They've been saved from the emotional devastation of foster care - and
they've been saved from the risk of abuse in foster care itself. Studies
suggest at least one-third of foster children are abused in foster care,
a rate far higher than official statistics acknowledge.

St. Louis proved wrong the scaremongers who claim you can't leave
children home and keep them safe. For example, Greene County takes
children at almost three times the St. Louis rate. Yet Greene County
does far worse on the key safety measure, preventing abused children
from being abused again.

At the time Dominic died in foster care, in 2002, Greene County was
taking children at a rate nearly 50 percent above the state average; in
subsequent years, rates of child removal in Greene County fluctuated
wildly, but by 2006 that still was true. The number of children taken
away in Greene County has declined, but at a rate no better than the
state average.

The findings from this latest study say less about how well
child-protection agencies do in helping families than they do about how
enormously toxic a foster-care intervention is.

Greene County still prescribes mega-doses of foster care. Dominic James
deserves a nobler legacy.

Richard Wexler is Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child
Protection Reform, on the Web at www.nccpr.org.





CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.

BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Governor vows to 'get to the bottom' of foster care lawsuit: fostercare system is so broken that children have been placed back with fosterparents who abused them or even killed in foster care. fx Spanking 1 July 4th 07 12:51 PM
Governor vows to 'get to the bottom' of foster care lawsuit: fostercare system is so broken that children have been placed back with fosterparents who abused them or even killed in foster care. fx Foster Parents 1 July 4th 07 12:51 PM
Protecting Children in Foster Care Why proposed Medicaid cuts harm our nation’s most vulnerable youth wexwimpy Foster Parents 0 October 28th 05 05:54 PM
Foster Care Month Spotlights Year-Round Needs of 523,000 U. S. Children; Public Urged to Help Change a Lifetime for Children in Foster Care wexwimpy Foster Parents 1 April 27th 05 09:34 PM
Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care Releases Sweeping Recommendations to Overhaul Nation's Foster Care System wexwimpy Foster Parents 0 May 19th 04 05:50 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:14 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 ParentingBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.