[Suzy]

I am posting this Chicago Tribune article on a couple of boards here because I'm wondering how other foster/foster-to-adopt parents feel about some of the comments made by the Public Guardian. While we all know from experience that the system sometimes fails, it is unfortunate that the multitudes of cases where children have been placed in good, loving, supportive foster homes and adoptive homes are not considered to be nearly as media-worthy as the stories that make one cringe in horror.

While I have a great amount of respect for Mr. Murphy and have had the occassion to speak to him personally in the past, I am disappointed in the comments made that perpetrate stereotypes and cause all foster families to defend their reason for being foster parents. For me personally, Mr. Murphy's comments hurt me deeply, especially after being part of an online community of individuals who have opened every part of their lives and hearts to be able to provide loving homes for children. Our role in general society is not valued as it should be, rather we are often subjected to a unique brand of prejudice. To the general public who has no idea what the dollar amount of a foster subsidy actually is, these types of comments are particularly misleading. In the correct context, all of us here know that the foster/adoptive subsidy constitutes less than half of the dollar amount that studies publish as the cost to raise a child each year.

All of us know the time that we spend in our lives addressing the special needs of these children (therapy, extra parenting time, school meetings, etc.) While our friends spend time at soccer and ballet, we drive to visits with the birthparents and administrative case reviews and work in whatever else we can manage. And most of us do it with a compassionate and loving heart. Sometimes we are stepped on and trampled by our agencies or by the system, but we pick ourselves back up and move on. We aren't doing this because we expect anyone to say thank you, we do this because our hearts have been pressed to do something to make a difference in the lives of others. Our reward is the healing of a family or the healing of a child.

The comments made by Mr. Murphy do not do anything to improve public conscience or motivate the system itself to improve. Its unfortunate that so many comments made by child welfare professionals can only serve to drive others away and make the crisis caused by a shortage of foster homes that much more pronounced.



3 accused of imperiling kids
Boy, 3, chained to bed, cops say
By Ofelia Casillas, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Kevin M. Lynch contributed to this report

January 27, 2003

Three adults were charged with child endangerment Sunday after police discovered a 3-year-old boy described as "quiet and withdrawn" chained to a bedpost in a South Side home.

In another incident, Robert and Annette Hernandez of the Far Northwest Side were charged Friday with six counts of child endangerment after authorities removed six children from a basement with little heat, where their adoptive guardians allegedly paddled them.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has custody of 12 children in the two cases, which drew fire Sunday from Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy.

"They are fully responsible," Murphy said of DCFS, questioning the safety of adoptive and foster-care placements. "If a foster parent has five kids and has handguns and dope in the home, someone isn't doing a good job of monitoring."

Murphy challenged the state's practice of placing more than one child in a single home and relying on a variety of private agencies paid by the state to handle those placements.

Martha Allen, DCFS chief of staff, disputed Murphy's comments.

"No child is placed into a home without public guardian input in court," she said. "We are not the only ones that weigh in on where a child is placed and with whom."

In the South Side incident, the foster parents of the 3-year-old are Melvin Bond, 49, a vending machine repairman, and Mary Bryant, 64, who is retired, both of the 9900 block of South Aberdeen Street, authorities said.

They were charged Sunday with child endangerment, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, police said. They were being held in lieu of $200,000 bond.

Melinda Bryant, 29, of the same address was charged with a felony count of child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance believed to be cocaine, possession of cannabis, failure to register a firearm and not having a firearm owner's identification card. She was also held in lieu of $200,000 bond.

It was unclear whether Melinda Bryant is related to Mary Bryant.

Eric Bond, 26, also of the same South Side address, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly possessing a handgun. He was being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

Chicago public school records obtained by the Tribune describe a "quiet and withdrawn" 3-year-old. The boy's sister, 7, was also placed at the Bryant home, the seventh foster placement for both children, records show.

Besides the 3-year-old, four other children lived in the home, ranging in age from 3 to 11.

"Delays were exhibited in visual discrimination, verbal concept and receptive/expressive language skills. Child made very few verbalizations," a professional wrote of the 3-year-old in an evaluation from May 2001.

In addition to the five children taken from the South Side home, five adoptive children and a sixth child under guardianship were taken into state custody from the Far Northwest Side home in the 5000 block of North Mobile Avenue, officials said.

A biological child of the Hernandezes, who was not kept in the basement, was also taken to an emergency shelter, authorities said.

Allen said she had no information on the adoptive children in the Mobile Avenue home because it was considered a permanent residence and their cases were closed. She said DCFS is investigating the case.

The state agency had given the job of finding homes for the South Side children to three private agencies, although Murphy said additional agencies had been involved throughout the case histories.

Once a month, caseworkers from both DCFS and private agencies are expected to visit foster children in their homes, Allen said. But after children are adopted, the state typically steps out of the picture, she said.

Allen said in the South Side case the three private agencies were supposed to be checking on the children.

"If all that activity was happening at the home and police could find it, we are wondering why none of this was detected by caseworkers who are supposed to be seeing these kids," she said.

Murphy said both cases underscored the need to change the child-welfare system. The state should enforce stricter limits on the number of children permitted in a foster or adoptive home, he said.

Foster parents typically receive a monthly stipend for every child, Murphy said. Some are only interested in the money, he said.

The number of children in a placement is typically based on house size and the number of parents available to care for them, Allen said.

Sometimes larger groups of children are allowed to stay in one home to keep siblings together.

"Worst case scenario, they have no way to contain them so they lock them in basements or chain them to beds," Murphy said. "Best case scenario, they just ignore them."


Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune