A boost in funding is sought to hire more caseworkers and stabilize existing foster families
Marissa Johnson’s former foster child had no place to go.
When the youth’s behavior became potentially dangerous to herself and her foster family, the Oregon Department of Human Services informed the family it didn’t have anywhere to place the girl.
“I couldn’t put myself and family at risk, or her, so I thought we’ve got to stabilize her. Then, she can return to my care,” said Johnson, a victim advocate by profession. “But they said, you don’t seem to understand: We’re not asking you. She’s got to go .
“That was earth-shattering.”
The foster child was sent to California to live with her biological sister with a family who had provided therapeutic foster care in the past.
“I knew it wasn’t going to work out, but I hoped it would,” Johnson said. Unfortunately, the youth left the foster home at 18 and dropped out of all assistance programs. She is homeless.
On Tuesday, April 30, Johnson and other foster youth advocates and workers with SEIU 503 union held a rally outside the Oregon Capitol to demand funding for foster care programs.
Oregon’s foster care system has been under fire for out-of-state placements due to a lack of qualified foster parents in state. In April, Disability Rights Oregon and the national advocacy group A Better Childhood filed a class-action lawsuit against Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the state’s child welfare system , seeking to improve conditions for foster youths. The plaintiffs say they want a complete transformation of the system.
FURTHER READING: Because children are voiceless: Why foster youths sued Oregon
Johnson’s experience with the system helps in her work as a facilitator with Foster Homes of Healing, a coalition of 10 organizations dedicated to improving foster care through legislative action. They have a request in the governor’s recommended budget of $3.5 million, with a federal match, to provide special training for up to 3,000 foster families through the KEEP Program .
The program is designed to train, support and retain Oregon’s foster families. Foster Homes of Healing also has a proposal for expanded treatment foster care in Senate Bill 221 .
“Sometimes DHS will say we have several well-meaning caseworkers who are working on this issue; let’s just have them do it,” Johnson said. “But we already have this world-class program that qualifies for federal matching funds; why would you make it up?”
Johnson said that creating more foster care placement options across the spectrum is a primary goal but that it needs to go hand-in-hand with hiring more caseworkers and stabilizing existing foster families.
“We have kids in need right now,” she said. “So, if we’re having a hard time hiring up the number of caseworkers we need, especially with their two-year learning curve, we need to do something else right now.”
Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties are piloting the KEEP Program through June. Two years into the pilot program, organizers say 87% of KEEP foster parents have an active and open certificate, which is 16% higher than the control group parents. Also, KEEP youths were 40% less likely to experience a placement move compared to non-KEEP youths.
The program offers weekly evidence-based peer support group meetings for foster families for 16 weeks, which include training with a clinical support staff. Brown is recommending to make the KEEP Program permanent for implementation statewide.
Nathaniel Schwab, 22, spent more than a year in the Oregon foster care system in his teens and is now a youth advocate with Oregon Foster Youth Connection. He said any change to stop the turnover of foster families and caseworkers is a good thing.
“You think you have something that’s stable; you think you have a support that’s going to be there for you,” Schwab said. “Then, you have to make a transition to another foster parent, or another caseworker or another ILP (independent living program) caseworker. I mean, it takes you back a bit.”
Schwab said he and his 7-year-old sister ended up in a 900-square-foot squalid home with a single foster mother and three other foster children because his caseworker couldn’t find a more appropriate home for them.
He later complained to her about black mold growing in his sister’s bedroom and the bathroom.
“My caseworker said, ‘I can remove you from here, but there’s a really good chance you and your sister will be split up … or you can live with it.’”
Schwab ended-up cleaning the mold himself.
He’s hoping stories like his will convince lawmakers that a lack of funding is causing many of these problems. He also wants DHS caseworkers to better connect youths, and foster parents, with social service programs already offered in the community – including OFYC.
“Everything seems to be easier when you feel someone is on your side.”
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