New From South Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA: “Sanford Names Rest of Adoption Task Force” By: Joel Sawyer South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has named all members of the Children in Foster Care and Adoption Services Task Force. This group has been put in place to identify ways to improve the state’s foster care and adoption processes. The group’s main focus is to reduce the amount of time it takes to find permanent adoptive homes for foster children. The group’s existence was initiated when a recent study found that an agency adoption takes nearly four years to finalize while most South Carolinians expect the process to take no more than two years. Scpols.com, August 28, 2007 For Full Article Click Here

Update from Care Giver Subcommittee

The subcommittee has established meeting dates and posted them on the SB 64 blog. Interested community members are invited to attend. The subcommittee will be using this outline as a guide to accomplish their charge:

RECRUITMENT: Certification Issues.

1. How to find more foster/adoptive families
2. What are appropriate motivations for parents
3. How to determine parent motivation
4. “Types” of parents: those who only want to foster, those who desire to adopt
5. Review SAFE home study tool
6. Urban vs. rural recruitment
7. Paperwork standardization
8. Standards for foster parents – what are the current ones/what ones need to be there (e.g. IQ tests)

TRAINING: Are Care Takers prepared for the journey?

1. Standards/quality of training differs county-to-county
2. Standardization of training
3. Consider different types of parents in training
4. Reduce moves for children
5. Topics required for training
6. Expectations for parents
7. Getting medical/behavioral info on the children in care

RETENTION: How do we retain parents and support permanent placements?

1. Ongoing support
2. Ongoing training
3. Reduce moves for children
4. Counseling/therapy
5. Respite care
6. Subsidy issues
7. Community support services

For a copy of the complete minutes from the subcommittee please e-mail kippi.clausen@unitedwaydenver.org .

Subcommittee Members from the SB 64:
Adoree Blair: Foster Parent (Asso.)
Sheri Danz: Chief Justice Appt.
Sister Michael Deloros Allegri:Foster Parent (Asso.)
Honorable K. Jerry Frangas: General Assembly
Carol A. Lawson: Non-profit serving children
Paula K. McKey: County Dept. Rep.
Sarah Padbury: Adoptive Parent (no Asso.)

Congress passes education legislation benefiting youth adopted from foster care.

The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act, introduced by Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) as an amendment to the Higher Education Access Act, has now passed both houses of Congress and awaits President Bush's signature. The act, intended to encourage the adoption of older children by not forcing a teenager to choose between a loving family and financial aid for college, corrects current law, which allows youth who "age out" of the foster care system to qualify for virtually all college loans and grants while essentially penalizing those who are adopted before they age out.

The Coleman-Landrieu amendment to the Higher Education Access Act expands the definition of "independent student" as defined in current law to include youth in foster care who are adopted after their thirteenth birthday. This allows a student's financial aid eligibility to be determined solely by that student's ability to pay, regardless of his or her adoptive family's income level, as many families who adopt teenagers and pre-teens may have done so without being able to shoulder the entire burden of college tuition.

"All children deserve a loving, permanent family of their own, and teenagers adopted out of foster care should not lose out on financial aid opportunities for college simply because they were adopted. No child should have to choose between their education and having a loving family," says Pamela Davidson, NCFA's Vice President of Government Relations and director of the Adoption Leader Engagement Project.

Task Force Creates Committees

SB 64 has created subcommittees. These committees are open to the public. Interested community members are welcome to participate in committee meetings; however, only task force members can vote on recommendations to be forwarded to the whole task force for approval. All meetings will take place at Mile High United Way.

Here is a list of the Sub-Committees and focus:

1. System Sub-Committee:
Meeting Dates: October 9, 7:30 – 9:00, October 31, 10:00 -12:00; November 13, 7:30 – 9:00, November 27, 7:30 – 9:00; December 11, 7:30 -9:00.

a. 26-6-504 – 3 consult with the department to consider actions the department may take for the purpose of complying with the measures of federal child and family service review pursuant to 42 U.S.C> sec 1320a -2a.

b. 26-6-504 – 4 g. mediate conflicts between foster or adoptive parents and child placement agencies, biological parents or county departments.

c. Explore best practices and promising approaches, cultural competency, kinship, county grievance process, adoption, mental health, support systems, accountability and caseworker loads and training

2. Care Giver Sub-Committee
Meeting Dates: All meeting will take place from 9:00 to 12:00 for this committee. September 25, October 2, October 23, November 6, November 20, December 4, December 18

a. 26-6-504 – 4 a. ensure that foster children and adoptive children are placed in homes that become permanent and comfortable homes, thereby reducing the number of children who are moved repeatedly into foster homes and adoptive arrangements

b. 26-6-504 – 4 b. how to evaluate the motivations of foster parent applicants to ensure that the applicants are motivated by reasons that are in the best interest of children.

c. 26-6-504 – 4 c. how to encourage retention of foster parent who practice foster are for reasons that are good for children.

d. 26-6-504 – 4 d. how to provide foster or adoptive parents will all the available information about a foster child’s behavior before the child is place with the foster or adoptive parents, including contact information for the child’s previous foster or adoptive parent.

e. Explore recruitment, retention, training and support service for foster parents, refining kinship care, bio parents and practice standards and subsidy.

f. Attention should be given to the three types of foster caregivers:

i. Foster families with no intent to adopt
ii. Foster families with an
intent to adopt and
iii. Foster families who have adopted.

3. A Permanency and Child Wellbeing Sub-Committee
Meeting Dates: All meetings will take place from 8:00 – 9:30. October 9, November 13, December 11.

a. 26-6-504 – 4 e. how to ensure that adoptive subsidies remain sufficient to meet the needs of an adoptive child and his or her adoptive parent as the child grows older

b. 26-6-504 – 4 f. how to improve the rate of permanency among individuals who are at least fourteen years of age but younger then twenty-four years of age and who are in the state foster care system or in placement in residential placements.

c. Explore barriers, support services, reunification with bio families, transition for those aging out, OPPLA, community support, kinship care, mental health needs, and statewide adoption.

SB 64 - September 18, 2007 - Meeting Agenda

Meeting Time: 9:00 am – 3:00pm
Location: Mile High United Way - Founder Room

I. Welcome and Introductions of Task Force Members

II. Review of Minutes from 8-28-07

III. Public Comment

IV. County Department Panel Presentation

V. Review and discussion of foundation materials
· Report of the state auditor – Foster Care Program Department of Human Services
· CRFS data review and questions

VI. Review of federal legislation

VII. Sub Committees
· Review of charge to sub committees
· Sub committee meetings
· Report out of committee work

VIII. Next Steps
· Creation of agenda for 10-9-07 meeting
· Interim assignments and task

IX. Announcements and Close

Current Federal Legislation Before the 110 Congress

Listed below is information on the three federal bills that were identified during the last meeting of SB 64 that are currently before the 110 congress.

S. 1512: Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act
Expands federal eligibility for children in foster care who have reached age 18 and elect to remain in foster care until reaching age 19, 20, or 21. The bill, through amending Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, provides federal funding to states to continue providing essential services such as food and housing. Such supports help these youth to achieve a better transition into adulthood.
Press release: http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/record.cfm?id=275098
Full Text: Full-text of S. 1512: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s1512is.txt.pdf
Tracking: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1512

H.R. 2669 Higher Education Access Act of 2007
The amendment provides adopted foster children full access to college grants and loans regardless of their adoptive parents' income.
Press Release: http://landrieu.senate.gov/~landrieu/releases/07/2007723920.html
Full-text of H.R. 2669: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h2669rh.txt.pdf

H.R. 1376 The Medicaid Foster Care Coverage Act of 2007
Amends the Medicaid Program to establish independent foster care adolescents as a mandatory category of individuals for coverage under state Medicaid programs.
Full Text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h1376ih.txt.pdf

Link for a list from the Children’s Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/Pending_Legislation_June_2007.pdf?docID=4521

Additionally, the reauthorization of McKinney-Vento provides an opportunity to ensure the current protections under this act are available to all children in foster care, with special accommodation for the needs and family dynamics that face children in foster care.