The Economist - USA (2022-06-11)

30 United States The Economist June 11th 2022

Fostercare

Relative safety

D

anielkelly, anassistantprofessorof

stemeducationatTexasTechUniver­

sity,spentnearlytwoyearsina carehome

asa teenager.Whenhewas 17 hisgrand­

mother,whohadlongsoughtcustody,took

himin.Shemadesurehefinishedschool

andhelpedhimstarta businessandbuy

hisfirsthouse.“Ifshehadnotinterceded,

thereisnowayI wouldbewhereI am,”he

says.“Icannotimaginea scenarioinwhich

myoutcomewouldhavebeenpromising.”

Amongthemanywaysinwhichchil­

drenincaregetofftoa badstartisintheir

education.Abouthalfdonotfinishhigh

school.Only3%geta collegedegree.Living

witha relative,however,especiallyatthe

agewhena childismovingoutofthecare

systembuthasnotyetfinishededucation,

canmakea crucialdifference.

Researchshowsthatchildrenwhohave

been removed from their parents but

broughtupbyrelativesdobetterinmyriad

otherways.Theyarelesslikelytohavea

criminalrecord orbecome homeless(as

morethan aquarterofthose who have

beeninfostercareorinstitutionsdo).Re­

searchalsosuggestswhythatmightbeso.

Relativesarelesslikelythanfosterparents

torequestthatpoorlybehavedchildrenbe

removed.Andtheyaremorelikelytotake

ingroupsofsiblings,who areroutinely

separatedinthecaresystem.

About424,000childrenareincarein

America,mostofthemwithfosterparents.

Becausedemandforfosterparentsexceeds

supplyinmany places,recruitment  and

vettingcanbeinadequate. Toomany chil­

drenendupingrouphomes,meant  as  a

stopgap,forthelongterm.

A growingawarenessthatfamily place­

mentsarepreferablehasprompted federal

andstatelawswhichsaytheyshould  be

prioritised.Yetit doesnothappen enough.

CaseyFamilyProgrammes,a charity  that

workstoreducetheneedforfoster care in

America,saysnearlya thirdofchildren re­

movedfromthecareoftheirparents  are

placedwithrelatives.Butina handful  of

states,fewerthan10%areplaced with fam­

ily.Whydoesit nothappenmore?

Grandmotherknowsbest

Thefirstproblemconcernsthe  way  “kin­

ship”careisregulated.Ifthearrangement

isnotformalisedinsomeway,  relatives

cannotaccessthefundingandother  sup­

portgiventofosterparents.The  majority

ofchildrenwhoaretakenintocare  come

fromlow­incomefamilies,which helps to

explainwhyblackchildrenmake up 14% of

thechildpopulationbut23%ofthe foster­

carepopulation.

Onesolutionistomakeit easier for rel­

ativestobecomelicensedasfoster parents.

Thiscanbeanonerousprocess,some parts

ofwhichmakelittlesensewhen applied to

relatives.Arequirementtoprovide  a  cer­

tainamountoflivingspace,for  example,

shouldnotpreventawomanliving  in  a

modesttwo­bedroomflatfrom  taking  in

her  four  grandchildren.  Such  stipulations

make it likelier that a child will be separat­

ed  from  siblings  and  end  up  with  strang­

ers, miles away from each other and from

home.  Some  states  now  issue  provisional

licences that allow relatives to take in chil­

dren while becoming licensed; others have

waived  some  licensing  requirements  for

relatives altogether.

Sixto Cancel, the founder and chief ex­

ecutive of Think of Us, a non­profit group

that works with children in care, says even

when  requirements  are  loosened  many

relative­carers  are  hesitant  about  becom­

ing  licensed  foster  carers.  It  puts  them  at

the mercy of a court system that too often

makes bad decisions, he says. He cites the

example  of  a  grandmother  in  Texas  who

had her six grandchildren taken away after

a  court  decided  she  was  unable  to  cope.

After  a  long  court  battle  she  has  just  got

three of them back. It is better, he says, to

pay relatives as if they were foster parents

without  requiring  them  to  become  li­

censed (as happens in some places).

Poverty itself can be a reason why chil­

dren  are  removed  from  their  families.

America has one of the highest child­pov­

erty rates in the industrialised world. Ma­

ny people who work with children say it is

commonly assumed that a child living in a

house  in  which  the  electricity  has  been

turned off or the fridge is empty should be

removed.  It  would  often  be  better  (and

cheaper) to provide financial support, says

Mr  Sixto,  including  to  those  family  mem­

bers  who  might  take  a  child  in.  Tracking

down  relatives  and  establishing  that  they

are  able  to  look  after  children  takes  time

and  effort.  In  many  cases  it  also  means

finding them extra help. 

Mr  Sixto  has  direct  experience  of  this.

When he was 11 months old he and his four

siblings  were  removed  from  their  mother

and separated from one another. Mr Sixto

went through a brief and disastrous adop­

tion, followed by periods of homelessness

and  foster  care.  Later,  as  an  adult,  he

tracked  down  his  mother’s  case  notes.  He

reads  them  often,  he  says,  and  sees  noth­

ing  in  them  that  suggests  he  and  his  sib­

lings would not have been better off if they

had stayed with her and she had been given

“more support and less judgment”.

Yet it was another experience that con­

vinced  Mr  Sixto  that  authorities  should

make  greater  efforts  to  find  relatives  of

children  who  are  taken  into  care.  Three

years  ago  he  discovered  he  had  several

aunts  and  uncles  on  his  father’s  side.  He

had no idea they existed. They had no idea

he  existed  either  (nor  did  his  father).  One

of  his  aunts,  who  lived  only  58  miles

(93km) away from one of the foster homes

in  which  he  had  spent  several  years,  had

fostered  and  adoptedseveral  children,  he

learned. She toldhimshe would have done

the same for him.n

WASHINGTON, DC

Why care systems should strive harder to keep children in the family

Just one of the 424,000 in America