[professor70]

has anyone ever gotten a FC whose case was marked confidental? we have a fs who we do not know when he came into care, why he is in care or any background info on him. this is because his case is confidental. he is only two years old and we are (at least possibly more) his third foster family in 8 months. (its prior to that 8 months that we dont know what happened). in my opinion he has pychological issues but no physical problems. he does not talk. his vocabulary is about 6 words and they are no, stop, quit, go, look and baby. when you tell him to do something like sit down or come here or anything he just stands there like he is in another world. I have to physically move him most of the time. the only thing he does without any coaching is eat. I don't know what to do for him because I don't know what the problem is. He attends day care and they say he plays with the other children but he does not talk there either and he does not respond to anything they request of him. when we first got him they told us that he has never talked during a visit with bio mom so she does not think he can talk at all. does anyone have any ideas???

[tinatyme]

What!! This sounds outrageous to me that you don't have any more information on him. How are you supposed to address his needs, help him develop, and take care of his medical and psychological needs without having any information. Especially when it looks like he will need medical therapies and additional medical professionals involved.

I have had children where they limited the information about the parents and just gave me information regarding the medical needs of the child but I have never heard of this much being withheld.

Tina

[Natnclay]

That is weird. Do you think his bio parents are well known? Would that even make a difference to DCFS?

You will have to let us know if you ever find out!

[rsbg]

Please keep in mind that I don't know much about how the system actually works, and probably will NEVER understand how it works or why they do the things they do....

But my first thought is that it is a high profile case, or one that has been in the media. ??? I am curious to see if anyone else has had a case that was classified confidential.

Did he witness a traumatic event, is he delayed, it sure would be nice if you had SOME information. Not having any info on him has got to be frustrating.

[tvs4]

That is pretty odd since all kids information is "confidential" to a large part and foster parents know they are not supposed to give identifying info on their kids or the kid's families. At his age, if he isn't talking I'd say they need to assess him for hearing issues and get him some speach therapy ASAP. Now is the time to correct it. It made a world of difference to our FS once they figured out his hearing was compromised by chronic ear infections (which he never had any obvious "signs" of and there was no history of ear infections because his mom never took him to the MD) and then they did speach therapy. It could be that he doesn't hear well and can't process the requests you are asking him.

If I were you i'd push for more information using the argument that you need information to help get this kid his necessary services. Asking for medical information isn't the same as asking "So what did his parents do to land him in foster care". I would keep asking the medical questions until someone gave you an answer.

[stevenstwin]

I can see the argument for keeping more than usual confidential if it is a high profile case - but it just doesn't seem right not to at least give information on the child's medical/emotional needs. Surely they could give THAT much without giving away anything "sensitive". I think I would find it very difficult to care for a child under those circumstances.

[sdiedre]

Not to mention the possibility of making things worse as you are forced to stumble around trying to 'feel' your way with him.....this sounds ridiculous!

[patti Daniels]

I would request medical records. He has a right to medical attention. His needs need to be met. My prayers are with you and this precious little boy.

[jackiesbooks]

Check the papers - Maybe he was front page news? Maybe he was left somewhereor maybe extreme abuse. Does Dad come to visits? Maybe he is dangerous? BUT whatever it is, he needs to be have a good evaluation.

[Kelly Rae]

He could have hearing loss, auditory processing problems, and he could be disassociating because asking him to do something is a trigger for past abuse. He clearly needs some assessments to help find out what is going on. Physiological evaluation, hearing test, and early intervention should come out and assess him. Hope this young man gets the help he needs so he can reach his potential.

[zoeymnstr]

It could be a hearing issue or maybe signs of autism? I know that there is a broad spectrum being diagnosed these days. We will pray for you and this sweet baby.