Listen to thisFoster Parents Bill of Rights should be supported
A proposal expected to be debated and voted on in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week would give foster parents more information and more of a voice.
Senate Bill 394 would establish a Foster Parents Bill of Rights and create a state foster care advisory board composed of foster or adoptive parents and up to two representatives of statewide foster care and adoption associations.
In testifying to the necessity of the bill, former state Sen. Barbara Allen on Wednesday described how an infant that her family had fostered since November, when she was 6 days old, was abruptly moved to a new placement. Allen, who served the Legislature as a Republican from Overland Park, was told only that the person was an aunt. Allen said her rights to information were limited because she had fostered the baby fewer than six months.
Kathy Armstrong, an attorney for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said she believed such grievances “are an anomaly.” While she said her agency is neutral on the bill, she said it is based on a bill of rights in Missouri, which has only partially privatized its child welfare system. Kansas’ system is fully privatized. KDCF and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment split oversight of the system.
Though Kansas’ system may differ from Missouri’s, its bill of rights still could offer a good model. Private contractors can be held to standards that the state defines.
While the privacy of the child remains a top priority, foster families need to have access to as much information as possible before and during placements, whether that be medical or behavioral records, special needs issues or other information. Such details would help prepare foster families and allow them to better deal with anything that might arise.
Foster families – with their 24/7 relationship with the children – also likely have numerous insights that should be considered in making the best decisions for each child. While foster family concerns aren’t the only considerations that must be weighed in child placements, foster families certainly shouldn’t fear retaliation for speaking up.
Lori Ross, president of Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association, said some foster parents didn’t testify Wednesday because they feared losing foster children or future placements.
The commitment that a foster family makes, to bring children into their family and provide them love and support around the clock during a stressful time, is a generous and loving act that we should do all we can to support and encourage. The more foster parents can be listened to and treated as valued team members with the foster care agencies, KDCF and KDHE, the better off children will be.
Editorial
23 February 2014
http://cjonline.com/opinion/2014-02-23/editorial-foster-parents-bill-rights-should-be-supported
