Cutting out the bloated middle layer of child welfare administration and shifting funding to direct service providers is testament to the fact that the current system does not work. Child Placing Agencies do not need more laws to challenge its decision making and operations, they need to be eliminated.
If it does not work, get rid of it. This includes workers who lacked compassion and common sense.
With the growing population of foster children who are aging out with no place to go, it is finally recognized that many of these state programs have failed. Not only that, how society has addressed the needs of older youth has proven to be ineffective as the traditional procedure is incarceration or contained environments.
The move to home-based/community-based services is what should be considered as best practices in child welfare, not the cookie-cutter methods for alternative placements. It should only be in the most serious circumstances a child is removed from a home and the time has come to end the culture of layering on more unnecessary policies which have nothing to do with the transformation of child welfare.
Eliminating funding to child placing agencies is a cost-effective shift which eliminates fraud, waste and abuse. Invest in children, not privatized administrations which have proven to justify sunken costs and fraudulent billing.
Another opportunity that comes from shift is the creation of jobs. In many instances, direct service providers are community based home businesses run by people who actually care. These are the partnerships that can successfully meet the needs of tomorrow's workforce.
I commend the Annie E. Casey Foundation for its bold initiative and can only pray our elected officials take notice. Announcements such as this give me moments of satisfaction that I am on the right path.
Annie E. Casey Foundation to Phase Out Funding for Casey Family Services
The Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation has announced that it will stop providing direct foster care services through Casey Family Services under a new grantmaking strategy focused on helping nonprofit human services agencies improve their child welfare practices.
The move will eliminate two hundred and eighty jobs and, according to theChronicle of Philanthropy, free up some $20 million a year for other nonprofits. While CFS will transition the majority of the children and foster families it currently serves to other providers by the end of the year, the agency will remain open through June 2013 to support cases that require additional time.
Founded in 1976, New Haven-based CFS has provided therapeutic foster care services as well as family preservation, reunification, and post-adoption supports under state contracts in Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. AECF's new strategy is aimed at scaling and sharing with the field best practices and lessons learned in finding permanent families for children and serving older and high-needs youth through effective recruitment of stable, nurturing foster families, intensive counseling, and careful planning for their aging out of foster care.
To that end, the foundation will partner with child welfare providers to develop or scale proven models; spread effective practices by building awareness, providing education and technical assistance, and supporting efforts to secure federal and state funding for such practices; and create materials and tools that leverage the accumulated knowledge of direct service providers and the expertise of foundation staff. The foundation also plans to expand its partnerships to providers in other human service fields such as community change, juvenile justice, mental health, substance abuse, and workforce development.
"As the human services environment changes, we see an opportunity to help strengthen the work of frontline staff who often make life-and-death decisions on behalf of vulnerable children and families," said AECF president and CEO Patrick T. McCarthy. "We are proud of the contributions Casey Family Services has made in supporting families, working with foster parents, collaborating with public agencies, and providing outstanding care to children. This success is due to a skilled and dedicated staff, and we deeply regret the impact this transition will have on them. We will honor the legacy of CFS and its people by continuing to work diligently to build better futures for children and families across the country."
Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©
1 comment:
Child placing agencies should be eliminated all together here in Michigan. I really don't think they help children or parents at all. And a lot of them claim to be non profit. But are making profit from other ppl kids, and making big pay checks also. Its time they go.
Post a Comment