Friday, April 17, 2009

Too Many Placed in Foster Care

A task force has concluded the same thing several judges have been saying about Michigan's child welfare system: The state is too quick to permanently terminate parental rights, throwing too many children into foster care. That was among the deficiencies cited in a draft report by the Michigan Child Welfare Task Force.

The task force, established by Human Services Director Ismael Ahmed, said a disproportionate level of state funding goes to programs such as foster care or group living that pull children from their homes. Not enough is being spent on programs to quell abuse or delinquency.

Judge Kenneth Tacoma: "The foster care system can't handle the influx of additional children made "legal orphans" under a 1996 law change that increased parental terminations."

Judge Milton Mack and others have recommend that terminations be slowed and judges be given more discretion. Judges should be able to appoint temporary guardians, they say, and if the parents can be rehabilitated, the children could be returned to them.

Full Article and Source:
Too many children are unnecessarily placed in foster care

2 comments:

StandUp said...

OK, they're admitting it. Now, what are they going to do? Think they can stop their bad practices over night?

I doubt it.

And if they're doing it to children, they're doing the same to the elderly.

Anonymous said...

Here's the problem: there are cases when parental rights should be immediately terminated for fear of danger to the child. Add to that the fact that many people working in these important job like to push people around and flash their power. And the recipe for abuse of power is complete.

Once again, who suffers? Always the innocent.