Transcript Family Reunification in Pennsylvania
Family Reunification
Jamie L. Russell HDFS 397A May 30, 2012
History and Context
• • • • • • •
Increased awareness of child abuse and interventions.
Reporting laws were put into effect which led to increase of children in foster care.
1980- Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act established to keep families together.
– Made it difficult to keep children safe because of the emphasis on preserving families.
1994- Funding made available for adoption /foster care analysis and reporting systems.
1997- Adoption and Safe Families Act revised the 1980 act to make safety of children a top priority.
March 2000- Child and Family Services State Reviews required to assess domains of safety, permanency, and family and child well-being.
Family reunification today.
– Goals are to preserve families while keeping child safety a top priority.
(Courtney, Needell, & Wulczyn, 2004; Myers, 2010)
Federal Requirements
• • •
Federal law requires states to demonstrate that reasonable efforts are made to:
– Provide services that prevent children from being removed from their homes.
– Make it possible for families to reunited in the event that children are placed in out-of-home care.
In the event that reunification is not in the child’s best interest:
– Many states are responsible for finding safe, permanent placements for children if the court determines parent(s) unfit.
Reasonable efforts are not required when:
– The child is exposed to aggravated circumstances.
– The parent commits murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent or a felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to a child of the parent.
– The parent aids, abets, attempts, conspires, or solicits murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent.
– The parent’s rights to the child’s sibling are terminated involuntarily.
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009 & 2011)
Family Reunification in Pennsylvania
•
What are reasonable efforts?
– Efforts that assist children and their parents.
– Services that prevent future maltreatment.
•
Reasonable efforts are required:
– To prevent or eliminate the need for protective custody.
– To make reunification possible.
– To make permanency plans final.
•
Reasonable efforts are not required:
– When the court has determined that aggravated circumstances exist and no new or additional efforts are required.
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009)
Family Reunification in Pennsylvania
•
What does Pennsylvania consider an aggravated circumstance?
– When the child is in custody of the county agency; the identity of the parent is unknown; and the parent does not claim the child within 3 months or has failed to maintain contact for a period of 6 months.
– When the child or another child of the parent has been the victim of a serious physical abuse, sexual violence, or aggravated physical neglect by the parent.
– When the parent has been convicted of any of the following crimes in which the victim was a child: criminal homicide, aggravated assault, rape, statutory sexual assault, indecent assault, or the attempt to commit any of these crimes.
– When the parent’s parental rights to another child have been terminated involuntarily.
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009)
How Does Pennsylvania Compare?
•
Additional grounds for not making reasonable efforts in other states:
– The Parent: • Abandons a child (28 states and PR) • Abandons an infant (9 states) • Is convicted of murder or voluntary manslaughter of the other parent. (12 states) • Previously had a child removed for abuse or neglect. (9 states and PR) • Fails to comply with the reunification plan. (6 states and PR) • Has been incarcerated for a duration of the child’s age and no other relative is suitable to care for the child. (7 states) • Has a mental illness that makes it impossible to resume care of the child within a reasonable amount of time. (6 states and PR) • Chronically abuses drugs or alcohol and has failed or refused treatment. (7 states and PR) • Lacks interest in reunifying with the child. (2 states and PR) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009)
How Does Pennsylvania Compare?
•
Other grounds in 1 or 2 other states:
– A newborn tests positive for alcohol or controlled substances. (Florida) – A putative father fails to establish paternity. (Montana and Nevada) – The Parent: • Withholds medical treatment or food from the child. (Ohio) • Allows the child to be present where an illegal laboratory is operated. (Utah) • Is convicted of being a sexually violent predator. (Washington) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009)
• • • • • •
Children Birth Parents Friends and Relatives Foster Parents Adoptive Parents Social Workers
Stakeholders
• • • • •
Teachers and Child Care Providers Politicians Tax Payers Communities Etc.
Un intended Consequences
•
Focus is on parental rights rather than best practices intended for typical, healthy development for children.
•
Family reunification slows down the process of removing children who are in danger of maltreatment.
•
Once children are reunified there is a chance that they may be re-victimized.
•
In some cases, reunification policies lengthen the time it takes for children to acquire permanency and may increase the likelihood of placement instability.
(Akin, 2011; Courtney, Needell, & Wulczyn, 2004)
Successful Reunification
• • • •
Concrete services
– Food, transportation, housing, and utilities.
Substance abuse treatment
– Intensive case management.
• Eliminating barriers to recovery – Tailoring programs for women with children • Employment, education, family and children services.
– Strong social support
Home-based services
– Intensive casework services, parenting and life skills education, family-focused treatment, access to community resources.
Post-reunification services
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011)
Making Changes in Policy
•
Early permanency and stability need to be added to the list of priorities for protecting children.
– Re-evaluate the time-limits on reunification efforts.
– Add family assessments for temporary placements.
•
Social workers making decisions to reunify children should have specialized training and educational requirements, as well as greater experience.
– Provide special guidelines when dealing with families with multiple risk factors.
– Limit the number of cases that case workers are given to avoid burnout and adequate service delivery.
•
Post-reunification services should be required as part of the reunification plan.
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011)
Barriers Affecting Possible Change
•
Every case is different and needs to be evaluated on an individual basis.
•
Funding for planning, activities, and placement.
•
Low-pay and high turnover in the field of Social Work.
•
Parental rights are difficult to terminate.
•
Rehabilitation takes time.
(Akin, 2011; Courtney, Needell, & Wulczyn, 2004; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011)
Discussion
• • • •
How much time should a parent be given to rehabilitate issues such as, substance abuse and mental health? What if there is a combination of risk factors?
Should there be a limit to the number of attempts to reunify families after subsequent abuse?
Who should be responsible for tracking post-reunification services? Why?
– Courts? Social workers? Family?
What would you like to see added or taken away from Pennsylvania's list of factors in which reasonable efforts are not required to remove a child from their home?
– Will these changes: • Have a balance between child safety and parental rights?
• Create higher turnover/burnout for social workers?
• Be cost-effective?
References
Akin, B. A. (2011). Predictors of foster care exits to permanency: A competing risks analysis of reunification, guardianship, and adoption.
Children and Youth Services Review, 33
, 999 1011.
Courtney, M. E., Needell, B., & Wulczyn, F. (2004). Unintended consequences of the push for accountability: the case of national child welfare performance standards.
Children and Youth Services Review, 26
, 1141 – 1154.
Myers, J. E. (2010).
The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment
CA: Sage Publications.
(3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2011, June 27).
Child Welfare Information Gateway
. Retrieved May 28, 2012, from Family Reunification: What the evidence shows: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue_briefs/family_reunification/family_reunification.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2009, November 17).
Child Welfare Information Gateway
. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from Reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify families and achieve permanency for children: Summary of state laws: http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/reunifyall.pdf