Family Reunification is Not the Problem

The issue of children deaths while under the care of the Department of Children and Family Services continues to capture our attention with the Los Angeles Times’ article entitled, “Facts, not furor,” published on October 22 and written by Los Angeles County Board Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Michael D. Antonovich. The article provided a call to maintain a perspective on the issue that is not driven by emotion, but rather rooted in a very sobering fact: for more than a decade, about twenty children die each year from abuse and neglect at the hands of their caregivers while in the care of DCFS.

Clearly, the Supervisors feel that this is not acceptable. They shared the information to establish some context and reinforce the position that there is no reason to believe that  DCFS's policy of family reunification has contributed to children deaths. Their leadership on this issue is yet one more indicator of their commitment to vulnerable children and families.

Some would say that it is inevitable that children will die while in the care of DCFS. While that may be true, it is nevertheless unacceptable and points to the need to develop more effective programs to address domestic violence. Addressing the many needs of those served by DCFS is a daunting task. No one policy, program or strategy can do it, but the facts help to determine the policies, priorities and initiatives that need to be put in place to serve the most vulnerable.

As always, the issue is reduced to the availability of resources and the development of effective systems to provide care. As I have stated in previous blog entries, I encourage our County Supervisors and DCFS leadership to address the infrastructure issues that threaten their capacity to be effective. I join my voice along with others who have written to the Los Angeles Times suggesting in addition to immediate measures that must be taken to assure the safety of all children in its care, a thorough examination of the system must be undertaken.

In reviewing the system of care, agencies like Hillsides should be engaged as active partners and allies with DCFS.  We are driven by a mission to serve vulnerable children and all of us are committed to keeping children and their families safe. Providers not only have expertise, they also are able to maintain a more effective and direct relationship with children and families that serves well in the development of a more effective system of care.

Let us not rest until we can eliminate children deaths.

Please feel free to share your views on this issue and forward the blog posting on to family and friends who may be interested in Hillsides and this issue.

Children's Deaths on the Rise

Once again the Los Angeles Times has kept the issue of children deaths while in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services front and center in an article published on Tuesday, October 19, 2010, entitled, “Deaths from abuse and neglect increase among children under L.A. County oversight.” The article seems to suggest that one of the reasons for this rise in deaths has to do with the premature reunification of children with their families after having been removed from them because of abuse and neglect.

The policy of DCFS to keep children and their families together is laudable. All things being equal, children belong with their families. In some instances where parents may be challenged to care appropriately for their children, every attempt is made to find some relative who may become the principal caregiver to lessen the trauma of being removed from the home and their community. More times than not this is a successful practice and leads to wonderful outcomes for the children and the family. At Hillsides, we partner with DCFS and families to develop a plan that reunifies children with their families as soon as possible.

That being said, this goal of restoring children with their families must always be driven by the need to safeguard the well being of the child. No family reunification plan, as laudable as it might be, can risk the safety of any child. Balancing reunification with child safety can be difficult, and although we are often criticized for being too protective of the children in our care, we would prefer to err on the side of caution. For most families one day away from their children is one day too many, and so we are committed to restoring the family, but never at the risk of harming a child.

Vulnerable families need support to be successful. That help is manifested in organizations, communities, caregivers and resources committed to supporting them through a difficult time. Let me suggest that the reason for the rise in deaths among children in the care of DCFS has nothing to do with the policy of reuniting families, but rather, it has to do with an unnecessarily complicated system of care, overworked and demoralized staff and poor utilization of the resources.

As we have done in the past, we continue to encourage our County leaders to examine these three areas and begin the process of developing a new system of care that is appropriately resourced. It can not happen soon enough!

John Hitchcock honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Part of the legacy that I’ve “inherited” at Hillsides is that of advocating for the children and families we serve. John Hitchcock, my predecessor, was an outspoken advocate for these children and worked diligently to establish this as a hallmark for Hillsides. Recently, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Community Human Service Agencies. What follows is the presentation that was made by the organization’s Board President, the Executive Director of Foothills Family Services Helen Morran Wolf. We join with ACHSA in acknowledging John’s great contribution to child welfare. Please join us in congratulating John!

Presentation: ACHSA Lifetime Achievement Award – John Hitchcock
This year ACHSA instituted a new award – The Lifetime Achievement award – designed to recognize a lifetime of work in the areas of social welfare, mental health or probation by one of our members who has made a significant and lasting impact on children, TAY or adults in Los Angeles County. I am delighted to announce that our first Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to John Hitchcock, former Executive Director of Hillsides Home for Children.

Before we give John his award, I want to share with you just a few of the amazing things that John has accomplished in his life’s work at Hillsides.

John was raised by his single mother, whose career in early education with a supportive employer and her circle of friends laid the foundation for John in understanding how to be a compassionate, strong and brave person. While he was in college and working at a summer camp with severely emotionally disturbed boys, John realized that he had discovered his mission in life – to heal these children and help them grow into strong, healthy adults. After getting his masters in social work in 1965 he moved to Pasadena with his wife Ida to become the Assistant Director of Hillsides. For John, “Hillsides was not just a job, but a mission and a ministry.” He strongly believed that Hillsides is a place where “children can find peace and hope, they blossom, find happiness and they prosper.”

John was appalled that in the early 1970s the Department of Children and Family Services would automatically remove a child from the home if the child was found to be abused or neglected, with no attempt to correct the situation at home since there was no funding available for in-home treatment. He felt strongly that parents wanted to do the right thing by their children, but their personal situations prevented them from being successful. 

In 1981 John became the Executive Director of Hillsides. He now felt that in this role he could speak up and be a strong and active voice for children. The following year, through his leadership, Hillsides was able to secure state funding to sponsor a pilot in-home intervention called Family Preservation. The Hillsides program successfully demonstrated that by going into the home and working with parents it was possible to turn the situation around and prevent the need to remove the child from the home.

Many of the elements that John, a visionary, thought so were so essential to the successful treatment of children who were abused or neglected are now incorporated into our current child welfare system:

• Evaluating families and assessing children when they enter the system to ensure they received the services they needed – The MAT program was instituted several years ago, through the advocacy of ACHSA
• Using a team of family members, friends and professionals to determine which program would be best for the child is approach used in Wraparound and other programs
• Providing in-home services to abused children and their families – which we now provide through several programs, including Family Preservation, Wraparound, FSP 

John was always pushing for new developments and improvements to the system – he always wanted what was best for the kids.

Under John’s leadership Hillsides achieved so many milestones:

• Built and on-grounds schools managed by the County
• Opened the Hillsides Education Center
• Was awarded the LEARN grant, which helped establish school-based programs
• Created an Infant Toddler Assessment Center
• Secured a DMH contract in 1990 to support community outreach and later to support day rehabilitation programs
• Established Family Resource Centers
• Constructed and opened the Children’s Resource Center
• Began initiation of RBS with 3 other agencies
• And built lots of new buildings throughout his tenure

When I think of John, and I have worked with him on several projects over the past years, I think of his passion, his advocacy for children and his tenacity. In a fight, he was always someone you wanted on your side. He cared passionately about the children and he was never afraid to let you know that.

 

I remember hearing stories of how he would stop during a tour he was giving to a major donor to listen to the complaint of a child about the food he had just eaten for lunch. John described how the children of Hillsides did not quite understand his exact role at the agency, so they decided he was “The Owner”. Initially he tried to explain his role, but then agreed to let them call him by this title. It really was an accurate description: He did indeed “own” all the work that happened at Hillsides and the difference it made in children’s lives. 

 

John was a passionate advocate who was always fighting for the children and youth that he cared about so much. His retirement was truly the end of an era. We want to thank him for all he contributed to the lives of children and families and to the lives of his colleagues who worked with him to achieve many of the hard-won victories in improving child welfare in Los Angeles County. He is a special and unique individual, whose often gruff exterior hides a warm and passionate heart. 

 

John: You have made a difference in the lives of thousands of children and families over your almost 40 years at Hillsides! You have also made a difference in the lives of the staff and volunteers of Hillsides who believe passionately about the work. You have been an inspiration to me and to all of us as a visionary and a tireless advocate for children! Thank you!!

 

It is my great honor to present ACHSA’s first Lifetime Achievement Award to John Hitchcock. Please join me in showing John our appreciation.

 

Blue Pencil Chaos

Last week was one of great highs and lows. At the beginning of the week I was invited along with many other child welfare executives to join Governor Schwarzenegger for the signing of Assembly Bill 12. Many of you who read last week’s blog entry will recognize the legislation as an important advancement of services provided to youth leaving the foster care system. The bill signing was the culmination of two years of hard work to craft the legislation and lobby for the support necessary to get it to the Governor’s desk.

The legislation, an important statement to foster care youth who have reached 18, enables us to continue providing services to former foster youth that are required for them to be successful. Having been part of this effort, it was truly gratifying to witness the signing. Youth served at both Youth Moving On and our Transition Aged Youth services throughout Los Angeles County will benefit from the legislation.

By the end of the week, a budget was presented to the Governor for his signature. Although the budget that was passed by the legislature provided no increased capacity to serve California’s most vulnerable, the budget was designed to maintain the State’s current level of commitment to social services and education. It is the Governor’s prerogatives to “blue pencil” or eliminate line items before finalizing the budget. As he has done in the past, he utilized the blue pencil to create further savings for the State’s “rainy day fund” and, in doing so, created a “rainy day” for us and other child welfare agencies.

In particular, the Governor significantly reduced funding for special education, suspended the mandate to provide some of these services, and moved the responsibility for funding these programs from the mental health to the education department. The “blue pencil” eliminations have created a tremendous chaotic environment in which to support these children and families, jeopardizing their care and placing them at considerable risk.

As you can imagine, we have been busy sorting out the impact this will have on 28 of 64 residents at Hillsides that are directly affected by these actions. We are, of course, committed to seeing them and their families through this very uncertain time and will do everything we can, within our own limited resources, to continue to provide them with the care they need.

Once again, the budget is “balanced” on the backs of the poor and the vulnerable. Once again, rhetoric is hollow as we continue to fail to allocate resources necessary to educate and safeguard our most vulnerable children and youth. Once again, the “system” further victimizes those who have been the most innocent of victims.

Over the next few weeks strategies will emerge to address this issue. We call upon our legislators to take up this issue as soon as possible and we call upon our donor community more than ever to support our efforts during this time. Together we will continue to be a resource for these children, youth and families helping them to create and find safe “places” were they can enjoy a full life.

Bill to Help Emancipated Youth and Kinship Care Passes

On September 30 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he has signed legislation to improve the lives of children and youth in California’s foster care system including AB 12 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) and Assemblymember Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) to extend transitional foster care services to eligible youth between 18 and 21 years of age.

According to Governor Schwarzenegger, our foster care youth deserve every opportunity to succeed in life, and extending foster benefits and services through age 21 will help better equip them with the necessary tools. AB 12 will ensure our foster youth have access to important resources as they transition into adulthood.

Studies have shown that former foster youth are less likely to complete high school, attend college, or be employed, and are at a higher risk for becoming homeless, arrested or incarcerated. AB 12 aims to reduce this correlation by providing foster youth between the age of 18 and 21 a better support system to stay in school and obtain employment.

In addition to continuing foster care services to this age group, the legislation allows California to take advantage of federal funding through participation in kinship guardianship assistance payments. California was one of the first states to establish the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment program to provide financial assistance for children that are placed under legal guardianship with a relative and, now under this legislation, federal funding will be available to support these payments.

In the work we do to help vulnerable youth who emancipate at 18 with no place to call home, the lack of employment to help sustain them or skills to achieve independent living, we understand the significance of this legislation. At Hillsides Youth Moving On, former foster youth receive quality and affordable transitional housing, mentoring, mental health, and vocational and academic support. Critical to the success of these youth is a supportive community they can tap into while learning how to become young adults and navigate through adulthood.

We, too, rely on the help of a supportive community to assist us in also working with the youth. Your donations yearlong, especially during the holidays and in June during emancipation time, are important to giving these vulnerable youth a head start in relieving some stress or financial burden. To continue the great cause, view how you can help.

We are also ecstatic to know that relative caregivers who are participating in the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment program will also be benefiting from this legislation. We work together with families to create safe places for vulnerable children, some of whom are relatives. Often times the financial responsibility of providing for additional relatives placed in their homes is great and unexpected. This legislation will help lessen the financial strain. These are families who, at times, need to be adopted during the holidays. We hope you will continue to support us through those efforts. Learn how by visiting our www.Hillsides.org.