State Foster Care System
For more than twenty years, I have been appointed to represent both parents and children trapped in the juvenile court system. My upbringing was rather normal. A two-parent home, stay-at-home mom in a safe environment did not prepare me for what I have seen. This direct hands-on involvement with these families has given me insight to a world the majority of us never see.
I vividly remember one of my earliest cases, where I was appointed to be the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) for the children. I accompanied the social worker and law enforcement to the home. The exterior was not significantly different to the homes in the neighborhood, and certainly was no indicator of the horror we found inside. As we entered the door, the stench was so overwhelming that I nearly vomited on the spot. The grandmother was sitting next to a bucket of her own excrement. The filth and bodily secretions could be seen oozing from the folds of flesh of the mother. The children were obviously undernourished and unwashed. Law enforcement immediately removed the children.
As the weeks labored on, no one was looking for long-term permanent placement for the children, especially the oldest. I chose to take action in my role as GAL and subpoenaed everyone from the caseworker to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services to come to the next hearing and explain why they could not find a placement for that child. The response was quick. They found the child a top-of-the-line group home placement. I was still beaming with pride and false hubris when the call came in the next week. They told me that the child had to be moved because he was raped by a staff member at the group home. In that moment, I learned a very hard lesson on my limitations and the flaws to the system.
For those who think we have this great system to find safe and stable placements for unwanted, abused and neglected children, you are wrong. For everyone advocating depriving these people of proper family planning and contraceptives, let me take you on a tour of our “wonderful” system, and you’d best be ready to open your pocket book for more taxes, and YOUR home for placement, because it isn’t getting better.
Our foster care system is out of control. The number of children lost in this system is stunning. The cost of the system is so disproportionate to the effectiveness it is nearly criminal. We pour endless resources in cases where we can do no good, and neglect those where we can make a difference.
We spend more money defending the perverts and pedophiles than in prevention. We instill fear of strangers in our children, when the most likely candidate to beat, molest, or kill them is already in their home. We place children in foster homes where they are more likely to be molested than in their own home, and cut the funding to recruit and train competent replacements.
We even have the federal government paying the state to terminate parental rights before we have stable placements, creating a new class of legal orphans floating in the system. We incarcerate at a cost per year exceeding that of a private college, rather than finding effective treatment for addiction.
Our social services workers are understaffed, overworked and underpaid, causing burnout and cynicism. The devoted and quality foster homes are pushed to the limit. Unbelievably until this year, we appointed attorneys to represent these special needs children who had no training.
Is there hope? Until recently, I was starting to believe that the system was so broken there was no hope. But there appears to be the beginnings of change. The courts have taken an active role to overhaul itself, and the state has started a renewed focus and effort on getting kids out of foster care. While just baby steps, they are the first signs of hope in a long time.
Without ignoring our responsibilities to the children already in the system, the key to the solution is in the future. PREVENTION, prevention, prevention is the only true answer.
Some of the simplest and cost effective ways to help families is to give them the tools necessary to plan when or if they are ready for having a family. We cannot cut funding for community outreach and medical services because we are afraid they might discuss all of the client’s legal options.
Providing for supervision and assistance with safe and affordable day care is essential to ending the cycle of dependency. Preschool for all children whose families wish to participate, it is a critical first step to equalizing the gross economic and social inequities. Proper access to health care for all children, regardless of income is fundamental. A public school system that meets the needs of these children and realistically prepares them to be productive members of our society is the final step for the government.
I remember a client who was a meth user. She caused a miscarriage of her child by getting high. She would seek sympathy by showing a picture of her dead fetus and blamed the doctor rather than taking personal responsibility for injecting poison into herself and by extension her unborn child. This person should never be allowed to have any children in her care.
Drug addictions (including alcoholism) are without a doubt a major cause (whether a symptom itself or not) of family dysfunction. I cannot say it enough; treating drug use as anything other than a public health crisis is insane. Equally misguided is the use of treatment programs that are no more effective than chance. There are new and different options that must be explored in treatment of addictions, options that are more effective and will save costs in the long run. Dodge County has just begun a “Drug Court” program that shows promise.
The challenge before us is enormous, but must be confronted immediately or we will condemn another generation of children.
