Foster Care Pilot Project

Letter to the Editor: Copy, Print, and Send

Letter to the editor

Dear Editors,

In reference to the HouseBill 826, Standardized Assessment/ Foster Care Pilot, we support the pilot testing of all foster care children aged 4 years and older. The issue of concern lies with the benchmarks of the assessment. Your bill suggest that the benchmark pilot will include a three-county department of social services along with additional mental health services. With the three-county department of social services, has the demographics of the three counties been considered. With concerns of demographics, it’s possible that certain areas may have better outcomes than others, especially if the three counties are conjoined. Possibly each county in North Carolina may be able to pilot their own assessments. Another concern with benchmark results is the possibility that children scoring high on trauma assessments may be victims of the trauma causes from actually being removed from their home not pre removal. This bill also needs to address the post trauma of child removal.

As current social workers, it is our responsibility to provide the best care for children within the foster care system. Children in foster care are often excluded by default. They are removed from their home causing more trauma, there is always a shortage of foster homes concluded from the assumption that foster children are problematic (unaddressed mental health), and often there are long wait times for adoption in children who are not placed with a relative willing to adopt.

We have taken a stance to be onboard with this bill; however, there are areas of improvement for this piloted bill. These areas of improvement include understanding if the trauma is related to being in foster care, will this bring on future mental health issues. A better plan for benchmarks related to a three-county department, this should be done by each county independently. Funding also needs to be addressed, as not all mental health providers accept Medicaid. All foster care children will receive Medicaid upon entering in care. There could definitely become a shortage in mental health providers, ultimately placing more responsibility on the Social Worker to locate mental health providers or transporting out of the county for services. Perhaps the Department of Social Services can include their own mental health treatment centers to provide services for families experiencing foster care.

In agreement with the idea of this bill, we feel that there is so much work that needs to be done to ensure that this bill is a success for everyone involved in advocating in foster children. There still needs to be discussion on how to make this bill cost efficient for all 100 counties in North Carolina, benchmark expectations, and post services for those that leaves foster care yet still have mental health issues to be addressed. We would love to further discuss areas of improvement for this bill from a Social Workers Perspective. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Jessica Lawrence

Alicia Cohen

Laura Waddell

Winthrop University MSW Program