To the End of June : The Intimate Life of American Foster Care (9780547999531) (46 page)

29.
[>]
   
whose story was fairly typical:
The foster girl I know has a story very similar to the one described in Zraick, “8 Charged in Brooklyn in Sex-Trafficking Case.”

30.
[>]
   
ran from the foster care system entirely:
This is an unfortunate but all-too-common end result because there are only about four treatment facilities in the country for minor victims of domestic sex trafficking. Clawson and Goldblatt Grace, “Finding a Path to Recovery.”

 

9. Taking Agency

 

1.
[>]
   
more than thirty agencies contracting with ACS:
Family Foster Care Awarded Slots by Borough, Contract Term Begins July 1, 2011
(New York: Administration for Children's Services, September 27, 2010.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/contracts/Family%20Foster%20Care%20Awarded%20Slots%20by%20Borough.pdf
.

2.
[>]
   
of around $140 million a year:
Richard Wexler, “Child Welfare Waivers: The Stakes for Families,”
Journal of Family Strengths
11, no. 1 (2011). This figure rises 3 percent a year for inflation.
Department of Children and Families Family Safety Child and Family Services Annual Progress and Services Report
(Florida State: Florida Department of Children and Families, June 2011), 41.

3.
[>]
   
least experienced removed 18 percent:
Alan Abramowitz, talk given at a New York University conference called “Drugs, Pregnancy and Parenting: What the Experts Have to Say,” held at NYU School of Law, February 11, 2009.

4.
[>]
   
will fall off the map:
For a good overview of the issues raised by privatization in child welfare, see
Literature Review on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services
, a report written as part of the Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services on behalf of the Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Planning and Learning Technologies, Inc., and the University of Kentucky, August 25, 2006). Also helpful is
An Analysis of the Kansas and Florida Privatization Initiatives
(Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs, April 2010).

5.
[>]
   
on a smaller scale, in select counties:
Title IV-E Waiver Demonstrations: Overview of Evaluation Requirements and Considerations
, Webinar (Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, James Bell Associates, June 6, 2012).
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/waiver_demo.pdf
.

6.
[>]
   
it's nothing new:
An Analysis of the Kansas and Florida Privatization Initiatives
, 5.

7.
[>]
   
in terms of government involvement:
Privatization of Child Welfare Services: Challenges and Successes Executive Summary
(New York: Children's Rights, 2003).
http://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/privatization_of_child_welfare_services_exec_sum.pdf
.

8.
[>]
   
or more business-oriented services:
The federal Administration for Children and Families has launched a major five-year study to look at the effectiveness and efficiency of this general shift toward privatization in several states. The study was launched in 2005 with the University of Kentucky. The Children's Bureau funded the University of Kentucky and Planning and Learning Technologies to create the National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services (QIC PCW) in 2005. The purpose of this five-year project is to build knowledge and inform decision making regarding /files/10/77/65/f107765/public/private partnership in child welfare service delivery.
http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/qicpcw/index.htm
.

9.
[>]
   
advocates the waiver system:
See
Ensuring Safe, Nurturing, and Permanent Families for Children: The Need to Expand Title IV-E Waivers: Second in a Series of Four Reports on Improving Child Welfare
(Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs, May 2010).
http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/pdf/NeedForWaivers.pdf
.

10.
[>]
   
seems to be doing well with its choices:
A good story about Florida's overhaul is Erik Eckholm, “Florida Shifts Child-Welfare System's Focus to Saving Families,”
The New York Times
, July 25, 2009. For a later overview, see
Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations
(Arlington, VA: James Bell Associates for Children's Bureau on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2012), 1.

11.
[>]
   
head of child welfare at the national level:
George Sheldon was appointed acting assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May 2011. Prior to joining ACF, Sheldon served as the secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).

12.
[>]
   
lasting through 2016:
President Obama signed the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112–34) into law on September 30, 2011. For more information, see
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/im/2011/im1106.pdf
.

13.
[>]
   
for another five-year waiver:
Florida's application letter to the federal Administration for Children and Families has been widely circulated and can be found on Florida's Department of Children and Families website at
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/initiatives/preservingfamilies/docs/Letter%20Requesting%20Extension%20of%20IV-E%20Waiver%20from%20Secretary%20Sheldon%20to%20David%20Hansell%20of%20Administration%20for%20Children%20and%20Families.pdf
.

14.
[>]
   
23 percent in nearly three years: Ensuring Safe, Nurturing, and Permanent Families for Children
.

15.
[>]
   
claimed the data wasn't contextualized:
See, for instance, Daniel Heimpel, “Responsibility Lost,”
Huffington Post
, November 16, 2010.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-heimpel/responsibility-lost_b_781910.html
.

16.
[>]
   
unnecessary removals from other, safer homes:
A good analysis of this can be found in Richard Wexler,
Foster-Care Panic in Los Angeles
(Alexandria, VA: National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, released April 2010, updated February 2011).
http://www.nccpr.org/reports/LA2010.pdf
.

17.
[>]
   
director to another job:
Garrett Therolf, “Ploehn Removed as Head of L.A. County Child Welfare Agency,”
Los Angeles Times
, December 14, 2010.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/14/local/la-me-dcfs-chief-20101214
.

18.
[>]
   
experiment needed to go on longer to really tell:
Synthesis of Findings: Title IV-E Flexible Funding Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations
(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2011), 36–37.

19.
[>]
   
recruiting and training qualified staff:
“Program Instruction, Procedures for Adoption Incentive Payments” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Log No.: ACYF-CB-PI-99-04, March 5, 1999).
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/pi/1999/pi9904.htm
.

20.
[>]
   
left their computers sitting on their desks:
Garrett Therolf, “Deaths of 2 Children Are Tied to Lapses in L.A. County's Welfare System,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 18, 2011.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/18/local/la-me-child-fatalities-20110718
.

 

10. Homespun

 

1.
[>]
   
any race and over the age of ten:
“New York State Subsidy Profile,” FAQ page published by the North American Council on Adoptable Children, updated June 2008.
http://www.nacac.org/adoptionsubsidy/stateprofiles/newyork.html
.

2.
[>]
   
plus a $62 monthly clothing allowance:
Ibid.
http://www.nacac.org/adoptionsubsidy/stateprofiles/newyork.html
.

3.
[>]
   
little sister, Kimberly:
Name has been changed.

4.
[>]
   
age out on her own:
Preparing Youth for Adulthood
(New York: Administration for Children's Services, June 2006), 3. This document claims that 80 percent of the kids who age out of ACS do so primarily without adults to rely upon.

 

11. Fantasy Islands

 

1.
[>]
   
over six thousand adolescents under ACS supervision:
In 2009, ACS reported that approximately 8,500 adolescents were in care, representing 46 percent of the foster care population. This data refers to material published August 14, 2009, and numbers are current as of March 2009.
Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide
(New York: Administration for Children's Services, August 14, 2009).
By 2012, the total foster care numbers had gone down, to roughly fourteen thousand, according to
NYC Administration for Children's Services Monthly Flash
(New York: Administration for Children's Services, June 2012),
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/stats_monthly_flash.pdf
. Presuming that adolescents are still 46 percent or so of this total, we would arrive at roughly 6,400 adolescents.

2.
[>]
   
as soon as they reach legal age:
According to the Administration for Children's Services, “In September 1999, ACS adopted a set of Permanency Principles that articulated its philosophy toward serving families and children. These principles are tools that offer the agency a framework for directing policy, formulating practice guidelines and protocols, and developing staff training” (
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/outcomes/out6_citywide.pdf
). In August 2009, ACS released data, in a performance report called
Outcome 6
, in reference to these permanency principles.
Outcome 6
specifically “provides measures of the foster care system's success at moving adolescents (children 12 years and older) into permanent homes on a timely basis.” This data refers to material published August 14, 2009, and numbers are current as of March 2009.
Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide
.

3.
[>]
   
had shifted their goal to independent living:
Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide
.

4.
[>]
   
“must rely primarily on themselves”:
Preparing Youth for Adulthood
(New York: Administration for Children's Services, June 2006), 3. The authors state, “Every year, approximately 1,200 of New York's foster youth over the age of 18 leave the foster care system, but only 20% of them are leaving their families to be adopted. The remaining 80% must rely primarily on themselves.”
http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/youth_for_adulthood.pdf
.

5.
[>]
   
discharged directly from group homes or institutions:
Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide
.

6.
[>]
   
supervised living arrangement for kids in their late teens:
In 2008, forty-five states responded to a survey about young people transitioning out of care. Eighty percent of these states had some sort of supervised independent living option. Amy Dworsky and Judy Havlicek,
Review of State Policies and Programs to Support Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care
(Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, submitted to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Olympia, WA, December 2008), 9.

7.
[>]
   
as they aged out of the system:
Kendra Hurley, “NYC Closes Transitional Housing for Foster Teens,”
Child Welfare Watch
(January 14, 2011).
http://blogs.newschool.edu/child-welfare-nyc/2011/01/nyc-closes-transitional-housing-for-foster-teens/
. In a personal interview with Commissioner Richter in June 2012, he confirmed that ACS was no longer funding the SILP apartments.

8.
[>]
   
named David:
Name has been changed.

9.
[>]
   
providing them with housing, training, and health care:
“Frequently Asked Questions About the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program” (National Foster Care Awareness Project, February 2000), published on the website of the National Resource Center for Youth Development (a service of the Children's Bureau):
http://www.nrcyd.ou.edu/publication-db/documents/chafee-faq1.pdf
.

10.
[>]
   
how well, or even if, the programs were working:
See Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Danielle Huff, Ernestine F. Jones, and Anita Marshall,
Aging Out of the Foster Care System to Adulthood: Findings, Challenges, and Recommendations
(Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Health Policy Institute, December 2007). Also, a 2006 article in
Children and Youth Services Review
provided a review of the literature on Independent Living Programs and found that “the effectiveness of ILPs remains unknown” as “reviewers were unable to find any randomized controlled trial evaluating ILPs.” Paul Montgomery, Charles Donkoh, and Kristen Underhill, “Independent Living Programs for Young People Leaving the Care System: The State of the Evidence,”
Children and Youth Services Review
28, no. 12 (December 2006): 1435.