This blog is to take a look at the legislation surrounding foster care in different states. The lack of consistency among these laws is negatively effecting the children in this system, and is creating a system that is unfix-able. If there is not a unified system, the children in foster care will only ever be broken to a system that is broken. I will go through four states in particular as listed below:

Georgia Foster Carehttps://fostercarebystatekids.family.blog/2019/11/11/georgia-foster-care/

New York Foster Care https://fostercarebystatekids.family.blog/2019/11/11/new-york-foster-care/

California Foster Care https://fostercarebystatekids.family.blog/2019/11/11/california-foster-care/

Texas Foster Care https://fostercarebystatekids.family.blog/2019/11/11/texas-foster-care/

Foster care in Texas laws are ahead of Georgia’s. For many years already, Texas has held kinship care has the first priority for children before moving them to traditional foster care. Texas also has a program called “extended foster care” which gives the child in foster care an extra support many states do not have. Extended foster care is a program that will allow the child to stay with their current foster family after turning 18 years old so they can transition into living independently. The tone of this echoes that of New York’s, however in Texas the support is provided to the caretakers instead of directly to the foster child to support them living on their own.

Texas would be eligible for the same type of funding as New York provided the Title IV-E requirements were met, but this seems like a long shot. The local governments are beginning to realize and be shown these requirements are not enough to protect the foster children.  U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack is adamant that more actions be taken, like nighttime watches. An adult must stay awake to watch the children in any group home in Northern Texas beginning last month. Judge Jack believes that Texas has already endangered about 11,200 children by meeting bare minimum state requirements. Judge Jack believes this lack of attention opens the possibility for these children to be raped, assaulted, or to OD on what they can get their hands on.

While attention on needing more than minimum requirements is a good step, it is still not enough. It is still too easy for anyone so inclined to fake these requirements when watched to receive the funding they desire. The loop holes here are still to enhance pockets, and not the welfare of children in foster care.

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/State_Care/default.asp

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/11/18/north-texas-foster-care-operation-agrees-to-nighttime-watches-of-kids-after-grilling-by-federal-judge/

California foster care is specially focused on reuniting the children with their birth parents. For this reason, most foster parents in California are not setting out to adopt. A person does need to hold a license to have a foster home, but the personal, safety, and space requirements are very minimal. The law itself only calls for minimal settings for these children to be thrust into after being taken from all they have known.

On the other hand, House of Representatives bill 4980 was passed into law to ensure that children in foster care are active members in their own case and rights after their fourteenth birthday. H.R. 4980 was set out to follow the lead of those before in returning children to their original nuclear family, as well as trying to cut down on the children lost in the system. The lost children often fall prey to sex trafficking.

However, even with these laws someone must wonder how much help they contribute. When the entire state is set on being a leader in bringing original nuclear families back together, it would seem that short cuts would be taken to make this goal happen. Foster children get the short end yet again so that statistics can work out. H.R. 4980 allows the world to think the children have more of a say, while not actually changing anything in the system.

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/Foster-Care

http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/foster-care-bill-of-rights.aspx

New York foster care law 18-OCFS-ADM-03 was pushed through to expand the kinship care available in the state. This law does not expand who is allowed to be considered for kinship care, but it does expand who is eligible for payments from the system to house the children being placed in their care. This law also allows the caretakers of the children in foster care to receive payment for their care until the child reaches the age of 21. Formerly, the payments would end the moment a child turned 18.

New York is also leading in their attempts to help current and former foster children become self sufficient. According to New York Law 19-OCFS-LCM-08, the state is maximizing federal funding for this attempt. Nina Aledort, the Deputy Commissioner, explains that the law states that federal allocations will be used heavily for independent living and will be matched up to twenty percent for each claim from the local funds. As these claims are based on each district, any unused claims in that district can be moved to an area where the claims exceed the allotted federal amount. No laws before 19-OCFS-LCM-08 have allowed for funds to be transferred. Transferable funds opens up the opportunity to create a more state wide, cohesive foster care system.

While this certainly takes steps in the right direction, it is not enough. The transferable funds will allow for the state of New York to better it’s system, however it needs a more broad lens. The foster system is broken across the nation. Children that grow up in foster care meld it into their identities forever. Laws protecting their ability to become self sufficient do help easy these effects. However, only for New York. The children in Texas or Georgia do not benefit at all. The federal funding is not the same. Law 19-OCFS-LCM-11 points out that New York only gets this funding because they meet Title IV-E requirements for the last year; the requirements are set up to ensure safety of the children in foster care.

https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/sppd/policy/foster-care.php

Georgia’s foster care legislation is moving towards kinship care over traditional foster care. Kinship care is defined as the full-time care of a child by a blood relative. In May, Governor Brian Kemp signed the piece of legislation that will move Georgia forward in the attempt to ensure this. The bill states that every placement hearing will require a report of the Division of Family and Children Services, DFCS, representative to the extent to which a kin of the child being placed has been found. This requirement will increase the chances of a child staying in the community they have always known.

This is similar to California’s laws, except in Georgia the funding is not equal to traditional foster homes. For example, Mr. Vickerson became the foster parent and guardian to his grandchild well into retirement. There was no immediate funding to help with the new costs of raising children, and it took years to begin to receive support. Vickerson complained about the lack of help and ability to even have a crib for his then infant granddaughter, only to be told by the Division of Family and Children’s Services that if he could not afford it he should not have become a foster parent. Vickerson never asked to be a foster parent. The stress was thrust upon him.

As this happens to more and more families in Georgia, the children are receiving less and less adequate care. Kinship care does not qualify for the Title IV-E funding that New York is happy to throw about among their districts. Law 19-OCFS-LCM-08 may allow the redistributions in a state, it does not allow one state to help another if there is an excess. This only ensure the continued crippling of an already broken national foster care system. Unless these laws are amended to ensure better funding for kinship care, and funding to be moved between states, the children in foster care will continue to suffer for our injustices.

https://dhs.georgia.gov/kinship-care-portal

https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/this-life-with-gracie-georgia-foster-care-system-really-crisis/OM6rjd7XfmhmKjB0UTe7JL/