Reasonable Efforts (cont.)

We began discussing reasonable efforts in the last post. Here, the subject is continued, to give you more of an idea of what goes on behind the scenes...

If the core problem is not correctly assessed, appropriate services will not be made available, and reasonable efforts will not have been made. Ineffective, untimely, or inappropriate services are a basis for a lack of reasonable efforts, and the result is an untimely resolution for children and families. Also, if parents are not involved in the case planning process, they may not cooperate with CPS. Even if parental non-compliance is the reason for delays in case plan progress, this does not excuse... more

Reasonable Efforts (conclusion)

CPS receives numerous calls per month regarding children who may be at risk for neglect and abuse. The calls cover a wide range of situations, from hunger and housing issues, to educational needs, to custody battles, abuse, neglect, and sexual molestation. These incoming communications, usually phone calls, are referred to as reports. These reports usually are incomplete, as far as names, location, …etc. and must be handled as allegations, not facts. So, CPS must conduct an investigation to determine the validity of the allegations in the report. Following is a list of goals for conducting an investigation:

1. Determine the nature and... more

Animal School Author Unknown

Once upon a time, the animals had a school. They had four subjects - running, climbing, flying, and swimming- and all the animals took all subjects.

The duck was good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless in climbing. So they made him drop swimming to practice more climbing. Soon he was only average in swimming. But average is okay, and nobody worried about it- except the duck.

The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there, which was against the rules. He... more

Reasonable Efforts

When the court finds a child dependent, the child is made a ward of the court and committed to the care, custody and control of the Department of Economic Resources (DES). The court must also find that the agency made reasonable efforts, under the requirements of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272), to prevent the removal of the child from the parental home or that the child was in imminent danger and in-home preventive services would not substantially reduce the risk to the child.

Before this law passed, as we discussed earlier, social service agencies were removing children and allowing them to remain in out-of-home placements... more

Child Protection Legislation – Part 3

The Child Abuse and Prevention Act of 1974 was effective in bringing about national awareness of the problem of child abuse and neglect, and the adoption of state policies relating to reporting abuse, but the grants to states were too small to fund programs to help the children and families that were reported.

It wasn’t until 1980 that public law 96-272 was passed. This law attempted to establish a national child welfare policy, by tying federal foster care funding to the implementation of policies related to family preservation and permanency planning for children removed from their homes. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act... more

(Since child protection began with the humane society, I thought it appropriate to include a picture of one of our four dogs. Lucy is the only one that wasn't adopted. Of the other three, two were strays and one adopted from the shelter).

Child Protection Legislation History

Early leaders in the child protection field came almost exclusively from private agencies, as opposed to religious or governmental groups. They took an active role in protecting children, and advocated for better legislation to safeguard children’s interests.

The private child protective movement... more

They found that children who grew up in foster care were unable to form lasting relationships as adults, and in the 1970s the permanency planning movement began. In 1970, Arizona passed legislation to establish Child Protective Services (CPS). Reports of sexual abuse soared as more information became available regarding the devastating effects on adults who had been abused as children. This coincided with the women’s movement at the time, and victims were encouraged to speak out about things that had gone unnoticed previously. The result was that the newly formed CPS and the child welfare system was in high demand and immediately overwhelmed.

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment... more

Foster Care In The Movies

There have been several movies about kids in out of home placement, in other words, foster care. One of my favorites is Antwone Fisher. If you haven’t heard of, or seen this movie, go get it now. It stars, and is directed by Denzel Washinton, and features an excellent unknown actor by the name of Derek Luke.

Derek plays the part of Antwone, and Denzel is his therapist. It documents the life story of a young man who spends many years in foster care, and how he joins the Navy and then ends up confronting his former foster family and finding his biological family. It is based on a true story, and is very good. I have it on DVD, so if you’d like... more

Foster Care By The Numbers

· Currently, there are over half a million children in foster care · On average, a child who enters foster care will remain there for 32 months · Only about half are returned to their parents · Over six million children are living with grandparents (4.5 million) or other relatives (1.5 million) · Each week, nearly 50,000 children come to the attention of child welfare service agencies throughout the US · In 2002, nearly three million children in the US were reported as abused and/or neglected with 896,000 of these substantiated 1 · The federal government estimated that throughout the 2003 federal fiscal year, 800,000 children... more

Foster Care- The History

I’m not much of a history buff, so I’ll keep this part short and to the point. For those of you that are more into history, there are a variety of articles on the subject out there that you can read.

The history of foster care dates back to the 1500s, when the English Poor Law carried over to the states from England. In colonial days, poverty was considered a sin, and work was the way to salvation. With the English poor law, public responsibility for the poor was placed on the towns, and Parens patrie (the ruler’s power to protect minors) came to be broadly interpreted in America... more