FOSTER CARE
Human costs of foster care
In a new report released by
the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, Voices from the Inside,
foster children and birth, foster and adoptive parents reveal the daily
costs exacted from them by a child welfare system that is overly reliant
on foster care. The structure of federal financing contributes to
prolonged stays in foster care by limiting states' ability to provide
services that might shorten a child's time in foster care or avoid
placement altogether.
— Jackie, 22, entered foster care at nine. She had been living with
an aunt. “I have excellent memories of living there,” she said. I think
if she had had a little help financially that I may not have entered
foster care.”
— “Nancy”, whose children were in foster care, voiced frustration
with court delays beyond her control. “Six months within a family's life
is a long time. If I go to court in September, and you give me six
months, that's in January. That's Halloween...Thanksgiving...Christmas
and New Year's. Those are important times in a family.”
— Alice, a foster and adoptive parent of 12, spoke of the plight of
children who languish in foster care. “My heart breaks for them, because
no one is going to walk them down the aisle, and no one is going to be
there for their graduation.”
These Voices from the Inside represent the real-life daily struggles
of those in foster care. Together, they provided powerful glimpses of a
system that often does not succeed in serving the children and families
who need it most. Foster care is vital to protecting seriously abused and neglected
children. But too many children languish for years in foster care,
moving from one temporary home to another. Federal financing mechanisms
contribute to this “foster care drift.” The structure of federal
financing favors placing and keeping children in foster care, sometimes
for longer than is necessary, over other services that might keep or
bring children safely home or move them more quickly to a new family.
“These ‘voices from the inside’ are powerful reminders of how much is
at stake for the half million children in foster care today,” stated
former Representative Bill Frenzel (R-Minn.), Chairman of the Pew
Commission. “Their stories illustrate the serious challenges facing the
child welfare system, challenges that often have roots in federal
financing and court oversight of child welfare.”
The costs of foster care are typically defined in terms of dollars
and financial implications. However, in a series of focus group
discussions conducted by the Pew Commission, former foster youth, birth parents and foster and
adoptive parents described costs that go well beyond dollars alone. The
costs are borne first by those on the frontlines of foster care, but
society as a whole pays a price when the system does not achieve the
positive results it was intended to.
The report identifies six long-term costs of foster care:
- The cost of insecurity — Children in foster care for extended
periods of time, particularly those who have been in multiple foster
homes, suffer from the insecurity of ruptured relationships and
disrupted schooling. Jelani, who spent nine years in foster care, said
“I remember every day I would come home from school, I would just see if
my stuff was packed...that was the first thing I would go check for.”
- The cost of poor communication — Former foster youth, birth,
foster and adoptive parents characterized the child welfare system as
suffering from poor communication, where decision-making is fragmented,
and information guarded rather than shared. This leads to more
insecurity, frustration, lack of understanding and professional burnout.
- The Cost of inflexibility — The respondents described a child
welfare system that failed to respond quickly, or adequately, to their
individual needs. Lisa and her seven brothers and sisters were placed in
foster care when her mother could not get treatment for her mental
health needs.
- The cost of not securing timely help — Parents and former foster
youth said help came too late — after the children were placed in foster
care. They said earlier intervention targeted at addressing mental
illness, substance abuse, and domestic abuse might have lessened the
time a child had to spend in foster care, or even prevented the need for
foster care.
- The cost of professional burnout — Workforce issues prevent
social workers, judges, lawyers and others from protecting and
supporting children; these include lack of appropriate training,
unmanageable caseloads, high turnover and low compensation.
- The cost of stigma — Youth and parents alike said that they feel
stigmatized by their involvement with the foster care system. They feel
the sting of this stigma long after their cases have been closed. In
sharp contrast to public perception that foster parents are “in it for
the money”, foster parent Dianna stated: “My love of children got me
into foster care, and the thinking that maybe I could do something to
make America a little bit better place to live.”
When tragedy strikes a child in foster care, the media and policy
makers shine a spotlight on the child welfare agency, caseworkers,
parents and foster parents. Sadly, that spotlight rarely illuminates the
underlying reasons for child welfare system shortcomings, including a
financing structure that encourages an inflexible, “one-size-fits-all”
approach in treating all abused and neglected children, no matter how
different their situations.
“The Pew Commission is dedicated to improving outcomes for children
in foster care by developing practical, feasible policy recommendations
to reform federal child welfare financing and strengthen court oversight
of child welfare cases,” stated Vice Chairman and former Representative
Bill Gray. “Because the mechanics of financing and court operations can
sometimes seem far removed from the everyday experiences of children in
foster care, we have endeavored to keep children at the heart of all of
our work.”
“Improving outcomes for these children will take more than the heroic
efforts of individuals or the resilience that enables some children to
beat the odds,” stated Frenzel. “It will take thoughtful changes in
public policy and court oversight. And it will take public will and
compassion equal to the individual commitment of the parents and
children whose voices shape this report.”
———
About the focus group discussions:
The Pew Commission conducted three focus groups in September and
October 2003. The groups were among eight former foster youth in
Washington, D.C., 13 birth parents in New York City, and 11 foster and
adoptive parents in Denver. Each discussion was led by one member of the
Commission, and attended by two additional members who participated
throughout the discussion.
About the Pew Commission:
The nonpartisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care was
launched on May 7, 2003 under the leadership of former Congressmen Bill
Frenzel (R-Minn.) and Bill Gray (D-Pa.). Supported by a grant from The
Pew Charitable Trusts to the Georgetown University Public Policy
Institute, this expert panel of experienced legislators, child welfare
administrators and providers, judges, parents, and youth is committed to
improving outcomes for some of the nation's most vulnerable children by
developing practical, evidence-based recommendations related to federal
financing and court oversight of child welfare. It will report those
recommendations in 2004. For more information about the Commission, or
to view the report, visit http://www.pewfostercare.org. To request
interviews with Commission members, contact Gina Russo at 202-687-0697
or grusso@pewfostercare.org.
By Gina Russo
25 February 2004
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