Guest fx Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Foster care, orphanages doing more harm than good for children Richard Wexler http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070715/OPINIONS/707150342/1091 My organization has long argued that many children now trapped in foster care would be far better off if they had remained with their own families and those families had been given the right kinds of help. Turns out that's not quite right. In fact, many children now trapped in foster care would be far better off if they remained with their own families even if those families got only the typical help - which tends to be little help, wrong help, or no help - commonly offered by agencies like the Missouri Children's Division. That's the message from the largest study ever undertaken comparing the impact on children of foster care versus keeping children alleged to be maltreated with their own families. The study looks at outcomes for more than 15,000 children. It compares foster children not to the general population but to comparably maltreated children left in their own homes. On measure after measure, the children left in their own homes do better. In fact, it's not even close. Children left in their own homes are far less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, far less likely to wind up in the juvenile justice system and far more likely to hold a job for at least three months than children who were placed in foster care. A second study, last year, used different measures, but came to a similar conclusion: Children left in their own homes did better than children placed in foster care, even when both groups suffered similar maltreatment. The new study includes children placed in any form of substitute care, including group homes and institutions, so it can't be used as an argument for the worst option of all, orphanages. This does not mean that no child ever should be placed in foster care. But it means many fewer children should be placed in foster care. The study excluded the most severe cases of maltreatment, a very small proportion of any child protective worker's caseload, precisely because, horror stories notwithstanding, these are cases where everyone with time to investigate would agree that removal from the home was the only alternative. Rather, the study focused on, by far, the largest group of cases any worker sees, those where there are real problems in the home, but wide disagreement over what should be done. As the study itself notes: "These are the cases most likely to be affected by policy changes that alter the threshold for placement." All this means the limited progress in reducing needless removal of Missouri children seen in the wake of the death of Dominic James is a step in the right direction. In St. Louis, it's a big step. Even before Dominic died, St. Louis City was leading the state in protecting children, by using two innovative national models, Community Partnerships for Child Protection and the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family to Family initiative. (The Casey Foundation also helps to fund NCCPR.) Since 2002, St. Louis City reduced the number of children torn from their families by 60 percent. That means hundreds of children have been saved from teen pregnancy, juvenile arrest and youth unemployment. They've been saved from the emotional devastation of foster care - and they've been saved from the risk of abuse in foster care itself. Studies suggest at least one-third of foster children are abused in foster care, a rate far higher than official statistics acknowledge. St. Louis proved wrong the scaremongers who claim you can't leave children home and keep them safe. For example, Greene County takes children at almost three times the St. Louis rate. Yet Greene County does far worse on the key safety measure, preventing abused children from being abused again. At the time Dominic died in foster care, in 2002, Greene County was taking children at a rate nearly 50 percent above the state average; in subsequent years, rates of child removal in Greene County fluctuated wildly, but by 2006 that still was true. The number of children taken away in Greene County has declined, but at a rate no better than the state average. The findings from this latest study say less about how well child-protection agencies do in helping families than they do about how enormously toxic a foster-care intervention is. Greene County still prescribes mega-doses of foster care. Dominic James deserves a nobler legacy. Richard Wexler is Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, on the Web at http://www.nccpr.org. CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY/CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 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 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. 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... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.