HAMILTON — Bill to shield foster records Amendment also would increase required training for foster parents.

Bill to shield foster records
Amendment also would increase required training for foster parents.

By Josh Sweigart

Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

http://www.western-star.com/n/conten...1007HB214.html

HAMILTON — In April 2007, Joyce Massie of Middletown was denied a foster
parent certification for not reporting a disorderly conduct conviction
in 2002 and not completing her required training.

Eight certifications were revoked or denied in 2006.



This is the only type of information about foster parents that is public
record, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
officials, though no specific exemption exists in state law.

"Current practice is that in the best interest of putting a shield
around our most vulnerable children that the names and addresses of
active foster parents with children placed with them is not public
record," said agency spokesman Dennis Evans.

Rep. Jeff Wagner, a Republican from north-central Ohio, is looking to
codify that policy as an amendment he's proposing today to House Bill 214.

The bill seeks to increase required training for foster parents from 24
hours to 36 — which Butler County already has done.

Wanger's amendment would shield all info about foster parents from
public view unless a foster parent's certification was revoked or the
parent was charged with a crime that could lead to revocation.

But Frank Deaner, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association,
said the public needs much more access to oversee the state's child
welfare agencies.

The ONA sought for foster parents' names to be public, as well as the
age and gender of foster children and the reason a child is removed from
a foster home.

If a certification is revoked, the group wants all records to go public.

Deaner said foster parents are paid with tax dollars, and likens the
state certification to licenses for doctors and lawyers.

"It's unrealistic to believe that you should be able to do all those
things behind a shield of secrecy," Deaner said.

The ONA's objection stalled the bill twice, but it gained new wind after
Gov. Ted Strickland backed Wagner's amendment this week.

"In order to ensure the safety of foster children as well as foster
parents (the governor) believes the names and addresses of foster
parents should remain confidential," said Keith Dailey, Strickland's
spokesman.

This is Wagner's argument: "If all of a sudden it becomes part of a
public record you will immediately turn the system upside down and two
bad things will result" — biological parents will track down their
children in foster care, and potential foster parents will be scared
away by the increased scrutiny, he said.

But even with the governor's backing, the amendment faces an uncertain vote.

State Democrats met Tuesday and emerged without a consensus either way,
though some are still opposed.

"I believe foster children are safer by the transparency provided if
these records are public records," said Rep. Jennifer Garrison,
D-Marietta, adding that a determined biological parent will find a way
to track down a child.

"I believe we get more protection from the scrutiny the media provides,"
she said.

Garrison said both sides have the same goal: keeping children safe after
3-year-old Marcus Fiesel of Middletown died last year at the hands of
his foster parents, Liz and David Carroll.








An Inconvenient Truth about Child Protective Services, Foster care, and
the Child Protection "INDUSTRY"

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.

Currently Child Protective Services violates more civil rights on a
daily basis then all other agencies combined, Including the NSA/CIA
wiretaping program…


FOSTER CARE IS A 80 PERCENT FAILU. A Brief Analysis of the Casey
Family Programs. Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. By Richard Wexler

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...fpanalysis.doc

or for .doc
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/cfpanalysis.doc


HOW THE WAR AGAINST CHILD ABUSE BECAME A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN
http://www.nccpr.org/issues/1.html


A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster ca

30% of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
2% receive a college degree
50% were unemployed
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support

Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children
not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems,
including conduct disorders, depression, difficulties in school and
impaired social relationships. Some experts estimate that about 30% of
the children in care have marked or severe emotional problems. Various
studies have indicated that children and young people in foster care
tend to have limited education and job skills, perform poorly in school
compared to children who are not in foster care, lag behind in their
education by at least one year, and have lower educational attainment
than the general population.
*Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support

80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.


The highest ranking federal official in charge of foster care, Wade
Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services, is a former child
psychologist who says the foster care system is a giant mess and should
just be blown up.

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=2017991

This study found thousands of children already in foster care who would
have done better had child protection agencies not taken them away in
the first place.

Front-page story in USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...m?csp=34#Close

The full study is available here.
http://www.mit.edu/~jjdoyle/doyle_fo...arch07_aer.pdf



The bottom line? - the foster care system nationwide for the most part
turns out young adults that are nothing more than walking wreckage...