Post by queenbee on Sept 18, 2007 9:33:34 GMT -4
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/17/07
The state child welfare system must recruit several hundred more foster homes to fill a shortage in Fulton and DeKalb counties, according to a court-ordered report released Monday.
The independent report on foster care in Fulton and DeKalb, the two counties with the largest child welfare case loads in the state, found that 40 percent of foster children had to be placed in homes outside these counties.
Fulton needs 500 more foster homes, or 1,500 more beds for the children, most of whom are removed from their parents due to abuse or neglect.
While DeKalb has enough beds for the number of foster children, the county does not have enough homes that suit the special needs of these children. Many of the foster parents are not sufficiently trained or don't have room to handle teenagers, large sibling groups or children with emotional problems, the report said.
To meet the needs of troubled adolescents, the state must recruit 325 more foster home beds in DeKalb, said the report prepared by Hornby Zeller Associates.
Consequently some children are placed in foster homes that cannot handle them. Others are placed outside their home county, which can strain efforts to keep children in touch with their birth families and eventually reunite the families, experts say.
A federal judge ordered the report as part of the 2005 settlement in a lawsuit that criticized foster care in Fulton and DeKalb. The settlement in the Kenny A. lawsuit mandated that the state Division of Family and Children Services reduce the case loads of overburdened workers and improve investigations into abuse and eliminate overcrowding in foster homes. It also required an assessment by an independent expert on whether additional foster homes and services were needed.
"Foster children should be thoughtfully matched with families that can best meet their needs and not just be placed wherever a bed is available," said Ira Lustbader, associate director of Children's Rights Inc., the nonprofit that brought the lawsuit.
He added, "This study requires a major initiative to recruit and retain more foster homes."
The report noted that 90 percent of the Fulton and DeKalb children in foster care are black, nearly half are 12 years of age or older, and roughly one-third are under the age of 6.
DFCS officials did not respond to a request for comment on the report.
Lustbader said the state has a year to "substantially" meet the goals outlined in the report, or a judge may hold the state in contempt or order specific remedies to meet the goals.