Foster Care Pilot Project
Click here to edit subtitle
Executive Summary
The foster care population is a big population within the United States of America and is the one being addressed in Bill H826. This bill was created by Representatives Josh Dobson, Larry W. Potts, and Donna White and currently in a pilot program for social workers to gain a better understanding of the amount of trauma each foster child is subjected to as well as any underlying mental health concerns that the children may have upon entering foster care. It is reported that there are over 250,000 children that enter the foster care system a year (Nfyiadmin, 2017) and many of them are not evaluated for trauma or mental health concerns upon entrance.
The foster children of the United States of America are taken from the only thing they have known and placed in a strangers home or an unfamiliar residential facility and expected to adjust. This bill could help a lot of those foster children suffer repeated traumas of multiple placements by simply administering a standardized assessment to learn a baseline of where each child’s trauma level is prior to their first placement. By having each foster child assessed upon entering the system could eliminate multiple placements, behavioral problems, hospitalizations, and even criminal behavior down the road. This bill proposes that a standardized assessment be completed by a trained social worker or other mental health professional to each foster child as young as four years old.
In this analysis you will find a summary on the House Bill 826 and the sponsors behind the bill, statistics on the foster children within North Carolina, suggested advocacy efforts on each level; micro, mezzo, and macro, how the NASW values and principles can be tied into this bill and the foster children that it is fighting for, and finally a letter to the editor in an effort to show our support to the bill.
Standardized Assessment
As Foster Care Social Workers become more demanded in the field with increasing turnover rates, we must address the issues at hand, healing those experiencing foster care. Perhaps this bill can be a start. Usually in foster care, children are not provided a mental health assessment or an assessment that may reveal any type of trauma unless recommended. This is not standard for children without any behaviors; however, not all behaviors are expressed immediately, therefore all children in foster care need to be evaluated. H826 will develop a standardized process for every child 4 years old and older entering foster care to receive a standardized trauma-and evidence-informed screening and assessment to ensure proper diagnosis and services (Bill H826, 2019). Foster care social workers often struggle with placement issues due to behaviors that can not be explained. Providing this evaluation early in the case will allow social workers to understand the needs of the child upon entering care.
Those individuals who sponsored the bill and got the assessment up and running in the pilot program include Representatives Josh Dobson, Larry W. Potts, and Donna White. Representative Josh Dobson is a budget analyst and has served 4 terms in the House. Representative Larry W. Potts is a real estate investor. He also is a building contractor and has served 2 terms. Representative Donna White is a registered nurse and aging specialist. She has served 2 terms in the House. Other sponsors include Representative Carla D. Cunningham, Representative Pricey Harrison, Representative Verla Insko, and Evelyn Terry. Representative Carla D. Cunningham is a registered Nurse and has served 4 terms. Representative Pricey Harrison is a retired communication attorney and has served 8 terms. Representative Verla Insko is a retired health program administrator and has served 12 terms. Representative Evelyn Terry is just listed as retired but has served 4 terms in the house.
When children are removed from their home and/or parents for any reason, it is traumatic and can create adverse traumatic experiences that could last a lifetime if not dealt with and managed. This policy addresses the fact that many children come into the foster care system with underlying mental health issues and they are not addressed early enough or at all in some cases. This bill proposes that when a child aged four years old or older enters the foster care system a social worker or other facilitator will complete an evidenced-based standardized assessment with the child to gage the amount of trauma they may have gone through as well as find any underlying mental health concerns that the child may be experiencing. The bill mentions that when the State takes on the custody of the child, they are also responsible for their physical and behavioral health needs. The pilot program of administering the standardized assessments early on into custody shows a decrease in the emergency room visits, crisis management, and residential treatment placements, which also means a decrease in Medicaid costs.
The Department of Health and Human Services and Division of Social Services must submit a report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services by December 1, 2021, that includes tracking of case flow, completion and timing of the trauma checklist and screening tool, a comprehensive 7 clinical assessment, and diagnostic finding and service recommendations from the assessment from each participating county (Bill H826, 2019).
