Transcript The Importance of Fathers

Kids Need Their Dads:
Addressing the Issue of
Nonresident Fathers in the
Child Dependency System
Fatherhood Workgroup
A Preliminary Report to the
State Roundtable of
Pennsylvania
May 28, 2010
Harrisburg, PA
The Committee Members
Judges & Masters
Hon. Kim Berkeley Clark
Allegheny
Hon. Scott Naus
Columbia
Hon. Maureen Skerda
Warren/Forest
Hon. Harold Woelfel
Union
Hon. Flora Barth Wolf
Philadelphia
AnneMarie Cucinotta
Master/Berks
Members
Children & Youth Agencies
Dayna Revay
Carrie Ann Frolio
Lynne Rainey
Roberta Davis
Luann Hartman
Doug Ameley
Anna Caffarelli
Lisa Chambers
Bill Phifer
Beaver
York
Bucks
Venango
Venango
Franklin
Chester
Allegheny
Allegheny
Members
Attorneys
Kathleen Williamson,Esq. Solicitor-Lehigh
Robert Scott, Esq.
Brian Forsyth, Esq.
AOPC-OCFC
Sandy Moore
Lynne Napoleon
Stephenie Strayer
Parent Atty. Allegheny
Clerk to J. Campbell-Berks
Members
Others
Karen Jenkins
Lisa Pilnik
Gene Detter
Tonya Burgess
Roseanne Perry
Commissioner Hartwick
Christine Doty
Dan Derr
Patrick Quinn, Esq.
American Humane
ABA
Child Welfare Training
Child Welfare Training
DPW-OCY
Dauphin
CASA-Lycoming
Special Guest- Allegheny
Who is the Nonresident
Father?
Nonresident fathers are:
 Men whose children are involved in the
child welfare system
 Men who did not live with their children
when the suspected abuse or neglect
occurred
 Often referred to as non-custodial fathers
Advocating for Nonresident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases, ABA Center on Children and
the Law, National Quality Improvement Center. Copyright 2009.
Goals & Objectives
Developing Mission & Vision
Creating Protocol for:
 Establishing Paternity
 Locating Fathers
Goals & Objectives

Engaging Fathers in:
Case Planning
Services
Visitation
Goals & Objectives
Engaging Incarcerated
Fathers
Developing a Survey to Find
Out What’s Going on in
Pennsylvania
Fatherhood Mission
Statement
KIDS NEED
DADS:
Fatherhood Mission
Statement
Pennsylvania endorses the
positive involvement of
fathers & paternal family to
protect children, promote
strong families, promote
child well-being, & provide
timely permanence for
children.
Fatherhood Vision
Statement
Positive connections
between children &
their fathers are
achieved & nurtured
by:
Fatherhood Vision
Statement
prompt identification,
outreach, & engagement
in services
that recognize fathers’
unique strengths, &
are tailored to meet each
father’s individual needs.
Establishing Paternity
One Father per
Child!!!!!
Agency Protocol
Check BCSE paternity
tracking system for
acknowledgements of
paternity
Check PACSES for orders of
support
Agency Protocol
Ask/interview mother
Ask/interview the child
Check all collateral
sources
Court Protocol
Establish a legal father—only one
per child
Question mother &/or child under
oath
Explain to mother the importance of
establishing paternity
Court Protocol
If no legal father, & alleged
father appears, judge should
do a colloquy on the record
about obligations
Ask him to sign an
acknowledgement of paternity
or order genetic testing
Court Protocol
In cases with a legal father, &
paternity is challenged:
 Require challenging party to
file a motion or petition to
seek genetic testing with
service upon & notice to the
legal father
Court Protocol
Never order genetic testing in a
case with a legal father, without
first disestablishing paternity
Court order should reflect whether
paternity has been established &, if
not, the reason(s) it has not been
established & what efforts, are
being made to establish paternity
Court Protocol
If paternity has not been
established before the
adjudication of dependency, but
is subsequently established
through either acknowledgement
or genetic testing, the court
should enter an order
establishing paternity.
Court Protocol
If paternity has not been
established, at every court
hearing, the court should
inquire as to the efforts that
have been made to
establish paternity.
Locating Fathers
Agency Protocol
Ask/Interview mother, child, &
other relatives
Check PACSES
Check with the Armed Forces
Complete a diligent search for
whereabouts
Go to the home (last known
address) & knock on the door
Court Protocol
If father has not been located,
at every hearing the judge
should ask/interview mother,
etc. under oath on the record
At every hearing, the judge
should ask the agency to place
on the record the efforts made
to locate the father
Court Protocol
When appropriate, the court
should require the agency to
take affirmative steps to locate
the father
The court order should reflect
the efforts made or needed to
locate the father
Engaging Fathers
Engagement with a noncustodial father is an
ongoing, strength-based,
solution focused process.
It takes more than sending
him a letter!
Engagement Requires a
Cultural Change
We must recognize &
acknowledge the value of
fathers in the lives of their
children.
Leadership from the top is
needed to accomplish this.
Engagement in Case
Planning
The caseworker visits the father in
his home
Father is included in all
permanency planning meetings
Once paternity has been
established & father has been
located, the family service plan is
revised to include father
Engagement in Case
Planning
Parent attorneys are trained on
engaging fathers
Mother is engaged as to the
importance of having father
involved
Practices such as Family Group
Decision Making are utilized
Engaging Incarcerated
Fathers
 When possible, the caseworker should
visit the incarcerated father to assess
needs for services & to assess whether
services are available in the jail or
prison
 In most cases, it is in the child's best
interest to visit & maintain contact
with a parent who is incarcerated
 Contact visits are best
Engaging Incarcerated
Fathers
Incarcerated Fathers:
 Have the right to participate in the
case planning
 Should be included in the family
service plan
 Should have goals tailored to their
needs
Engaging Incarcerated
Fathers
Incarcerated Fathers:
Have the right, in most cases, to
maintain contact with their children
while incarcerated
Have the same visitation rights as
mothers, under the same
circumstances
Engaging Incarcerated
Fathers
Incarcerated Fathers:
 Should participate in court hearings,
which can be accomplished through:
 Videoconferencing
 Teleconferencing
 Having him transported to the
hearing
Engaging Fathers in
Visitation
 Regular visits & contact are in the
best interest of the child
 At the very least, absent safety
considerations, a child's visits or
contact after the initiation of a
dependency proceeding should be the
same or similar as the child's visits or
contact with father prior to the
dependency proceeding
Engaging Fathers in
Visitation
Fathers should have quality visits
 Visits should be structured so that
fathers can be active participants & can
accommodate the different ways in which
parents interact with their children
 Supervision should not affect the quality
of the visits
 Less supervision is best!
Recommendations
 Adoption of the Mission & Vision
Statements
 Approval & adoption of the protocols
for establishing paternity & locating
fathers
 Approval of the concepts &
recommendations for engaging
fathers in case planning & services
Recommendations
 That the workgroup continue & be
expanded to:
 Thoroughly examine & identify the
issues surrounding visits
 To develop best practices
 To make recommendations with
respect to visits for both parents,
siblings, grandparents & others
Recommendations
 The CPCMS orders should be revised to
include check boxes that would require:
 A finding of paternity
 A finding as to how paternity was
established, or
 Establishment of paternity
Recommendations
 If paternity has not or cannot be
established the CPCMS orders should
reflect:
 The reason(s) that paternity has not
been established
 What efforts, if any, are being made to
establish paternity
 Refer these recommendations to the
Juvenile Rules Committee
Recommendations
 Collection of data thru CPCMS or other
means to measure outcomes with
respect to father engagement
 Survey should be sent out to all 67
jurisdictions to determine current
practices/trends
 Create a parent handbook to assist all
parents in understanding their rights
Recommendations
Work with BCSE to have access to
the paternity tracking system. This
should be available to all 67 CYF
agencies after August 2010
Each jurisdiction should create an
agreement or MOU between the
court DRS & CYF that would permit
DRS to provide PACSES
information to CYF
Training Recommendations
 In 2011, regional training should be
held to focus on fatherhood
engagement, including establishing
paternity, locating fathers, & gender
specific communication
 Children & youth staff should receive
training on locating fathers—agencies
should consider hiring &/or assigning
dedicated staff to locate fathers
Training Recommendations
 Training for caseworkers & judges on
proper engagement of mothers & others
with respect to the inclusion of father in
the process
 Regular, mandatory cross-systems
trainings focusing on aspects of
fatherhood engagement
 Utilization of Advocating for Nonresident
Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases, as a
training tool for parent attorneys
THANK YOU!
GET INSPIRED!!!
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By Daniel Beaty