[craftingmama]

I'm upset at the state of foster care. I think we need a major letter writing campaign to attempt to inact change. I think there should be a national registry for people who abuse and neglect kids, much like that for sex offenders, to make sure that parenst can't move from place to place and kids slip through the cracks. I also think that it is a crying shame that animals have more rights than kids. If a person treated their animals the way my foster kids have been treated, they'd be prosecuted, put in jail and never allowed to have pets again. but we send the kids back. i'm just frustrated with a system that fails our kids continually.

[Withay]

I hear you crafting. There are many many areas of the foster care system that need work.

[CaddoRose]

I'm with ya. I think there should be federal guidelines on foster care that all states must abide by which includes giving parents only 1 yr to get their sh*t together or the kids are adopted by the family they are living with. There are so many things about the current system that create more problems for the kids, when it shouldn't. The system is geared toward doing what is best for the adult, not the child. It's crazy.

[MassachusettsMom]

My pen is ready -- to whom should we write?

[craftingmama]

what about 'if you've had rights terminated to another child, and your next child is taken into care for your abuse/negligence/drug use, that IS your second chance, no more chances, rights terminated! ugh.

[craftingmama]

I"m starting with every elected official in my state as well as those with political aspirations. and nancy grace. lol. it may not get me anywhere, but i think if more attention were brought to the spotlight, maybe something could change.

[Withay]

This may be an unpopular view, but I believe that if the child is taken into care when they are under 6 mo old that the parents should have to show at the 6 mo mark that they are making significant and consistent progress on their caseplan. If not, then tpr should be scheduled.

If the child is 6 mo - 18 mo at time of entering care the parents should have to show at the 9 mo mark that they are making significant and consistent progress and only have 1 or 2 more things to complete (by the 1 year mark), otherwise it's tpr.

At 18mo and older the parents should have to show at the 1 year mark that they have completed virtually all of the caseplan (maybe have 1 thing left to complete that will be done within 6 weeks) or it's tpr.

These kids need permanency sooner rather than later. Again, just my opinion.

[craftingmama]

oh i agree with the permenancy sooner idea. we have judges in our state who let kids stay in care for oh 4 years, 8 years, so they aren't as 'adoptable' when they are say 12 as when they wer e4 . it's sad.

[GaViolet]

I agree about the registry to. I work in a school and we had to call dfacs on one of our children who was being abused. They came and went to the home and mom had packed the kids up and moved to another county. They were even withdrawn from our school that day. I also love Withay's permanency plan. These children would benefit so much from this premanency. Like my FD whos been in care almost 3 years and is still here but no tpr yet. The sad thing is she has not seen mom in 6 years and dad showed up for a few visitations but before then he had not seen her in 6 years. So, I hope the flaws get fixed and will find who i need to write in my state.

[michsm]

I totally agree. In my state its three strikes your out. This isn't a baseball game!

[shavon]

The system is definitly broken..and possibly beyond repair.

I think that if a child under the age of 4 yrs comes into care that the parents should only have 1 yr to be RUd and that should only be if they make ALL scheduled visits.

It is horrible that they "jerk" kids out of their homes and put them into good places where they get attatched and have a normal functioning family, and then "jerk" them out of the foster home and put them back into a home where they possibly dont even remember the bio parents.

My baby foster son came here when he was 3 months old, his dad and mom were in jail so he didnt see them for a couple of months he didnt recognize his dad and it has taken 16 months for him to not throw a fit every time he sees him..

it is just so sad!!! and you are right, people who mistreat animals are given bigger sentences than people that beat, neglect, sexually and mentally abuse children..yeah nothing wrong with that picture..uggg just tragic...

[Mkap]

let the revolution begin NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! The system needs overhauled and Withay, I'm totally with you about time deadlines, especially with infants. Tearing these babies that have only known their foster parents away at 12-24 months is criminal in my opinion.

[EandDmom]

Originally Posted by Withay

This may be an unpopular view, but I believe that if the child is taken into care when they are under 6 mo old that the parents should have to show at the 6 mo mark that they are making significant and consistent progress on their caseplan. If not, then tpr should be scheduled.

If the child is 6 mo - 18 mo at time of entering care the parents should have to show at the 9 mo mark that they are making significant and consistent progress and only have 1 or 2 more things to complete (by the 1 year mark), otherwise it's tpr.

At 18mo and older the parents should have to show at the 1 year mark that they have completed virtually all of the caseplan (maybe have 1 thing left to complete that will be done within 6 weeks) or it's tpr.

These kids need permanency sooner rather than later. Again, just my opinion.

You get my vote!!

[CaddoRose]

Withay, I think you have the best ideas on the timeline issue.

You would think with all the research on childhood trauma and how that turns into problems later, that somebody along the line would do something to change how the system works. Judges should have to take courses in child psychology in order to be more effective in their rulings, because it seems so arbitrary in whether they send a child back or not. What constitutes enough evidence in my county doesn't in the next one over. The idea that children are young and can over come being moved around and uprooted and made to visit with people who abused them is outrageous.

It makes my head spin that the known abuser can't be prosecuted because they don't really know if they did it or not. Really? Who did it then, the poltergeist?

Craftingmama, you are right about animals. If a dog owner brought a dog into the emergency room because he had several broken bones, they would take the dog away, prosecute the owner for abuse and not make the dog visit with them every week so the dog could relive the trauma again and again.

I think a great deal of the problem behind the system is the idea that parents own their children. That since they have a biological connection they somehow have rights to the child that supersedes the needs of the child.

[DreamingAzure]

I would actually reverse Withay's time line...people with older children should get less time...they have had time with the kids to do better and have made the decision not to change. And the older kids are the harder they are to adopt, so they need to move through the system faster!

A national registry should be GREAT!! As long is it was ONLY accessable to the foster system. I could see it being used against people who have actually cleaned up their lives and moved on.