More facts are coming to light to the missing toddler in Florida that was found in Wisconsin. One thing that was very interesting was that the “foster parent” was not a licensed foster parent. The toddler was placed with a friend of the mother so this would be kinship placement.
The friend providing care for the toddler says that the mother showed up and took the toddler without permission. She did not report the toddler missing or being taken for ten days to the caseworker. The toddler’s mother says that the friend dropped the toddler off at her door stating that she could not afford to care for the child any longer. Who knows what really happened?
This is a problem with kinship placements. I have talked about it before and was told it did not happen. I have personally fostered a few cases of kinship placements gone wrong. Kinship placement can add a burden to a family already dealing with issues with the biological parents. Kinship placement does need to be monitered to ensure the child is safe and has not returned to the biological parents.
Kinship can be a much needed resource to the foster care system. With saying that, kinship placements also needs guidelines, Child Welefare involvement, and to ensure the safety of the children that we are suppose to be protecting. Not all foster care cases would benefit with a kinship placement. We need to know what kind of situation the kinship placement is before placing a child there. Some, not all families are also struggling with their own demons as the biological parents are.
This toddler was found unharmed but that may not be the case next time. We have to ensure the safety of the children when they are removed from their homes.
Should kinship providers also have to go through background checks? Does kinship only mean family or do friends and others qualify?
Please share your thoughts and feelings below.
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That is so scary…..
Background checks, absolutely. If you need it to be a foster parent then kin should have to pass the same tests. Who’s to say the kin won’t be just as dysfunctional as the parent?
I was a kinship placement for my great-niece and nephew. I believe dysfunctional can apply to anybody – relatives of the bio parents, foster parents – we’ve seen it everywhere in the news. As a kinship placement I was required to have a complete background check, STARS training, homestudy and the other things required of a foster parent. The program focused a little different, but it was thorough. It shouldn’t matter what kind of placement it is, every safeguard should be taken because dysfunctionality is everywhere!