State system creates too many orphans
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1186584143303540.xml&coll=2
Michigan is making orphans out of too many children. It's an unintended
consequence of laws passed in the 1990s making it easier for judges to
terminate parental rights.
The ambitious goal was to quickly get abused and neglected children into
stable, permanent homes. The reality has been thousands of children
becoming wards of the state, then languishing in foster care for years
before aging out of the system. Lawmakers need to revisit, and revamp,
laws that have doubled the number of orphans in the state since 1994.
Michigan had 2,972 legal orphans 13 years ago. Last year there were
6,292, not including the 536 who aged out of the system because they
turned 18. The latest Kids Count in Michigan report released in July
found almost 28,000 state children received foster care services in
2004. It rightly calls on lawmakers to re-examine the foster care laws.
Foster care was never meant to be a permanent situation for children
taken from their parents. But each year, hundreds of youngsters who've
been in the system for years, age out of foster care without ever having
a permanent home.
A report by the state's Foster Care Review Board in June said the growth
of state wards and increasing case loads for foster care workers might
partially explain why some children have been abused or died in foster
care. Gov. Jennifer Granholm is seeking funds to hire more than 250
workers to find permanent homes for children in the foster care system.
While the state must be zealous in protecting children by removing them
from abusive or neglectful homes, it can not be overzealous in
permanently cutting parental ties, especially with older children. The
sad fact is that once children reach age 11, there is little chance of
them being adopted out of foster care. Three quarters of the children
adopted from foster care are taken by age 10. That means options other
than adoption are needed to find permanent homes for older children.
Recommendations from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which does the Kids
Count study, include programs such as permanent guardianships, which
allow children to maintain legal ties to their parents while being
raised by someone else. Michigan ought to try such programs. They have
been used with good effect in other states. Guardianship programs can
provide financial assistance commensurate with adoption assistance,
allowing children who can't go home to live permanently with relatives,
foster parents and other adults, without being adopted by them. Another
suggestion is to let judges create temporary legal guardians for foster
children. That leaves open the possibility of a reunion if parents
rehabilitate themselves.
Those ideas could be good options for older children, who often don't
want to permanently cut ties with their parents.
Michigan already is trying the "Family to Family'' approach to foster
care, which aims to keep abused and neglected children with their
families when it can be done safely, with relatives or at least in their
home communities. Research funded by the Casey Foundation says children
are less traumatized by removal from their families if they are not also
removed from their schools, neighborhoods and other supports that are
familiar to them.
At any given time up to 19,000 children are in foster care in Michigan.
Too many of them are spending years in the system without being returned
to their families or adopted. For our children's sake, the state must
find better options.
The Grand Rapids Press
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
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
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
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...
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