FOSTER CARE
Reforming foster care
For two years, the Missouri Legislature has struggled
to pass a law to better protect children in foster care. The bill, now
nearing 200 pages, is far from perfect but deserves serious
consideration in the last days of the legislative session.
House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods, has
worked hard to draft a bill in response to the death of 2-year-old
Dominic James at the hands of his foster father in southwest Missouri in
2002. The bill would require more thorough background checks on
potential foster parents, including fingerprints and a background check
of protective orders. Had the state been able to more thoroughly check
out Dominic's foster father, James Dilley, it would have found a order
of protection citing his uncontrollable temper.
The Hanaway bill also requires prompter court action
in foster care cases, open hearings and records and a preference for
placing children with their relatives. In addition, it adopts Gov. Bob
Holden's emphasis on hiring more and better trained case workers so that
the state's foster care system becomes nationally accredited. That's all
to the good.
But as the Senate takes up the bill, it needs to
address several problems. Mr. Holden says he's likely to veto the bill,
as he did last year, unless the Legislature makes three fixes. First, it
should remove a provision that seems to guarantee a profit for private
foster care providers. Second, it should require private foster care
providers to be licensed by the state. Third, it should remove a special
provision that allows Heartland Christian Academy of Bethel, Mo. to
expand use of powers of attorney to take temporary custody of foster
children.
Heartland's heavy involvement in shaping the foster
care bill is one of its weaknesses. Charles Sharpe, founder of the teen
reform school that uses corporal punishment, has successfully backed
provisions that make it harder to establish that an adult has abused a
child and easier for those accused of abuse to have their names removed
from a state registry.
To Ms. Hanaway's credit, this year's bill doesn't push
privatization as drastically as last year's. But Patrick Lynn, the
governor's policy advisor on health issues, says some private welfare
providers “see green.”
Two generally good parts of the Hanaway bill need to
be tweaked. One gives Miranda-style rights to children in juvenile
court. The bill requires that questioning be stopped if a child wants
his parent or attorney present. That makes sense if the child is charged
with a juvenile offense; it doesn't make sense where the child is the
victim of abuse, possibly by a parent. The other provision that needs
work is one that requires a hearing before a judge within 72 hours after
a child comes into custody and allows the parent a change of judges. But
if the court inadvertently misses the 72-hour deadline, the case
shouldn't be thrown out. And if one judge makes a parent unhappy with a
ruling, should the parent be able to switch judges?
Many reforms in the Hanaway bill already have been
implemented by Mr. Holden's new director of social services, Steven
Roling. But, if Ms. Hanaway's bill can be fixed, it might provide a more
permanent framework for meaningful reform.
7 May 2004
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial+%2F+Commentary/255F648C3A3B068186256E8B00384926?OpenDocument&Headline=CHILDREN%3A+Reform+foster+care
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