DEPENDENCE ON THE GOVERNMENT DOLE IS NOT WORKING
FOSTER CARE REFORM :
DEPENDENCE ON THE GOVERNMENT DOLE IS NOT WORKING
by Jonathan Trotter
Today , there are more than 415,000 children in foster care in the United States . 1 Only 51 percent of foster children are reunited with their parents or primary caretakers . 2 The rest are either adopted , live with other relatives or guardians , are emancipated , run away , or remain in long-term foster care . Currently , more than 107,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the United States alone . 3 Within this group of children , only 1 percent have trial home visits that encourage reunification with their birth families . 4 Results under the current foster care system in this country have been vastly unfavorable . Comprehensive reform outside of governmental construction is the most practical next step in improving the current foster care system .
In 2014 , Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System ( AFCARS ) data reported that 22,392 youths were either emancipated or aged out 5 of the foster care system . Since 1999 , more than 230,000 young people have transitioned from foster care without permanent family connections . 6 Studies on these young people have reported that one in five will become homeless after age 18 ; only 58 percent will graduate high school ; 71 percent of the women are pregnant by age 21 ; only half are employed ; fewer than 3 percent will earn a college degree ; and one in four are involved in the criminal justice system within two years after leaving the foster care system . 7 These devastating trends hold true today .
In recent years , there has been a push for reform through the checkbook . Officials such as former Secretary of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) Kathleen Sebelius have urged for “… interventions that promote social and emotional well-being for children in foster care through … discretionary and mandatory funding programs .” 8 Despite increases in funding , the number of children in foster care has risen and outcomes have been declining since the late 1990s . There must come a moment when local officials and the federal government realize that child welfare is multifaceted and that substantially expanding the funding of programs is not helping .
Those transitioning out of foster care are not necessarily better off simply because they were provided this temporary care . As early as 1994 , Congress has been pushed to reform child welfare practices through policies such as the Adoption and Safe Families Act ( ASFA ). 9 The push for reform is not a new concept , but it is a complex one . The most frequently used reform tools are court orders resulting from class action lawsuits . In Sheila A . by Balloun v . Whiteman , 10 plaintiffs brought a civil rights action against the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services ( SRS ) on behalf of children placed in the Child in Need of Care ( CINC ) program or who were at risk of such placement . Plaintiffs claimed that SRS failed to remove children promptly from abusive or dangerous homes because of lack of adequate placement facilities , adequate social worker staffing , and failure to provide statutorily required reports to the court . 11 Plaintiffs highlighted the systematic failures of SRS and “ attacked nearly every phase of the Kansas child welfare system .” 12 Defendants argued that as a result of a performance audit report criticizing the accuracy of SRS ’ s foster care programs , the 1992 legislature significantly increased staffing and provided funding for an adequate child tracking system . 13 Justice Edward Larson of the Kansas Supreme Court agreed with the trial court ’ s holding that “ the filing of this lawsuit brought positive changes and improvements in the foster care system which probably would not have occurred absent this litigation .” 14
Sheila A . is just one example of an attempt to stifle a blazing fire of misappropriation with tax dollars . The court was satisfied that the legislature “ fixed ” the systematic failures in the foster care system by simply increasing funding . These same failures were occurring over twenty years ago , and it appears that reform by way of court decree is still not feasible . The Center for the Study of Social Policy ( CSSP ) relying on Sheila A . stated , “ Several child welfare systems that have been the subject of class action lawsuits … have demonstrated … measurable systematic improvements and better outcomes for children and their families .” 15 Thousands of foster children will go through the system this year and outcomes are bleak . There must be alternative measures other than simply encouraging more spending for ubiquitous , unfavorable results .
So what is a viable alternative and is there hope for the future ? First , there must be careful scrutiny of the current Title IV-E Foster Care Program . 16 Second , there must be a greater push for reunification , specifically on how states determine when it is not reasonable to do so .
In 2012 , states spent nearly $ 6.5 billion in federal Title IV-E foster care funds . 17 This expenditure was predominantly comprised of maintenance payments , administrative and placement activities , and training . Additionally , most states do not revise foster care payment page 10 | LIBERTY LEGAL JOURNAL | SPRING / SUMMER 2016