Children in Foster Care More Likely to be Abused

DCYF Stupid, Pointless

Published on July 1, 2007 By Jythier In Current Events

Link

"THE LAWSUIT CITES data collected from states by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying that in five of the six years between 2000 and 2005, Rhode Island had “the single highest rate of substantiated child abuse or neglect occurring to children in foster care among all states that reported data.” And those rates “far exceeded benchmarks set by the federal government.”

In the 2004 federal fiscal year, 1.32 percent of foster children in Rhode Island were maltreated, which was twice the federal benchmark of 0.57 percent. In federal fiscal year 2005, the rate of maltreatment in Rhode Island rose to 1.59 percent, the suit says, and since then the federal benchmark has fallen to 0.32 percent."

" Lambiase noted Rhode Island’s abuse and neglect rates were so high that children in state foster care were more likely to be maltreated than children in the general population. “It’s outrageous,” she said. “They are getting removed from their parents because the state is saying their parents are unable to care for them, and then the state is even less able to care for them and is damaging them worse.”"

" The lawsuit cited other problems, saying, “DCYF has so few foster homes that it places children in homes without licenses, depriving them of basic protections of foster parent background checks and training.” And, the suit says, “Instead of appropriately investigating and addressing abuse or neglect in foster placements, DCYF continues to rely on foster care settings known to pose a risk of harm to children.”"

So there you have it. Children in Rhode Island are more likely to be abused in foster care than in the general population. Children removed from abusive settings are being put into... abusive settings. Why even remove them in the first place, then? You need to guarantee, with relative certainty, that the situation will be better when you take kids from their parents or you shouldn't be doing it. Gideon MacLeish has posted many articles regarding CPS, which I believe is in Texas. It seems like they're doing a better job there than in Rhode Island, and they are NOT doing a good job there.

So, what's the solution? Well, one solution is to become a foster parent, thus giving the state one more placement for children. Well, I happen to know one couple who is absolutely wonderful with kids, in fact, I trust them absolutely with my own, often. And they did apply to be foster parents. They were denied. Why? Because one of the couple had been in the military, and served his country. His country will not release his medical records to the state. Therefore, he is disqualified from being a foster parent, even though any child would be incredibly lucky to even meet these people.

My wife and I may well become foster parents in the future, when we are not busy with 2 kids under 2 years old. But until then, I don't know what we can do. Just pray for those children, I guess.

Comments

Dr Guy

on Jul 02, 2007

Gid uses CPS as a generic term to talk about all the Child welfare agencies. ANd Texas is one of his pet peeves.

The sad part ot this report you cite is the lack of indignation out there over it. My cynicism tells me it is because it has become all too common. And that is as sad as the statistics themselves.

Jythier

on Jul 02, 2007

It was on the front page, and I haven't heard anybody talking about it yet. I didn't hear it mentioned in church, but we're not really an issues church. Maybe next week pastor will mention it? I hope so, because the more foster parents we have in the church, the more likely it is that kids will be treated fairly, or at least not abused. The chance to learn about Jesus is good, too, but some would probably say 'brainwashing' instead.

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