Children's lives cannot wait

FOSTER CHILDREN

As representatives of five foundations that care deeply about vulnerable children, youth and families, we welcome the attention given to the state's foster-care system and the increased investment represented in budget proposals put forth by the Legislature and the governor. The package of legislative and budget proposals under consideration in Sacramento is an important building block to the significant reform initiatives already under way.

For more than 25 years, the foundations we represent have each developed and carried out initiatives to help communities across the state improve the lives of foster children and their families. Through combined annual investments of $20 million, we provide flexible funding for research, community outreach and technical assistance such as training and consultation, which often is not possible with government dollars. Our role has been to promote promising new practices grounded in values and principles and focused on outcomes. Our work in child welfare is direct and it is intentional.

We choose to invest in child welfare because our investments make a difference -- not only to those we help directly in the individual communities in which we work, but because what we are learning in partnership with others can benefit so many more. In California today, we are seeing significant changes in child-welfare worker practice, approach and even culture -- all of which have the potential to spread throughout the system and positively impact the lives of millions of children and families.

Foundation-led reform initiatives are operating in many counties with demonstrable positive results. However, additional support is needed to sustain and spread the practices being implemented, which include:

Treating the root causes of abuse and neglect -- With a child's safety always being the first priority, counties are expanding their work with community partners to provide early, critical assistance to families at the first signs of crisis so that children will not have to enter the foster-care system.
Engaging youth and families in decision-making -- Counties are bringing family, youth and communities into the decision-making process regarding foster-care placements, family reunification and other permanent placements such as adoption. This recognizes that families and youth have expertise about their lives and that they are more likely to engage in a plan when they are part of the process.
Supporting smoother transitions and lifelong relationships for youth leaving the foster-care system -- New initiatives, which bring together the multiple systems that touch the life of a child in foster care in key areas of education, housing, workforce development and personal development, recently have emerged to improve outcomes for youth. In addition, a major initiative has been implemented that recognizes that all young people have a right to age out of the system with a permanent lifelong connection to a responsible, caring adult.

Outcomes for children and youth are headed in the right direction in California. Yet we know that it takes more than the current level of support to sustain them and to spread the impact to all of the children affected. For example, social work practice is changing, and workloads and staffing levels have to be reduced, if we expect to see the outcomes that are urgently needed for children, youth and families involved with the child-welfare system.

Partnership is key to all of this work. In deeper ways every day, we continue to partner with each other, with counties and with the state. We remain committed to these partnerships and continuing our support. With key decisions looming in Sacramento, we applaud the Legislature and governor for their focus on foster care and for their bipartisan effort to increase much needed support to the state's child-welfare system. By working together, we can make real and meaningful gains for our most vulnerable children this year.

The five foundations collaborating on child-welfare reforms in California include the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, the Stuart Foundation and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Bill Bettencourt, Teri Kook, Miryam Choca
12 June 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/12/EDGDOIJID51.DTL

home / Previous viewpoint