Have You Seen Me?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Is additional foster care the answer?

Am I the only one who finds the following 'trend' an alarming step in the wrong direction? The below posts are only 3 listings out of 57.

~FOSTER FAMILIESFamilies urgently needed. More children than ever before can no longer live in there own homes. You can help by becoming a foster parent. Call FCCY, 1-800-747-3807. EOE

~FOSTER FAMILY RECRUITER: Seeking an individual in the Leesport/Harrisburg area who has excellent communication and people skills to recruit foster families. Prior sales experience a plus. Must be flexible with schedule as evening and weekend work will occur, with frequent traveling. This is a FULL TIME position with a salary range of $21,600$24,000 including an EXCELLENT benefit package. Please send resume to: Family Care for Children & Youth, 2 5 Belford Blvd, Milton, PA 17847. Attn: Crissi Cox. EOE

~TFI Family Services Inc. TFI FTFI Family Services Inc.TFI Family Services, a state wide mental health/social Service agency, has immediate openings for a full time Resource Family worker in our Pittsburg office.Responsibilities include managing caseload of foster care placements, coordinating with other agencies that provide services, assessing placement needs, safety, family strengths and resources for child and foster/kinship caregivers. Licensed Master�??s or Bachelor�??s degree in Social Work preferred. Bachelor�??s degree in social service field with two or more years of experience is required.Benefits include: Paid health/ dental/ life insurance, 401 (k) employer matched plan, paid holidays, sick, and vacation, Annual Longevity bonus, Overtime pay, Flexible work schedules, Agency vehicle fleet, and more…

What's the company name for this last add? How does 'The Farm' sound? Like a meat packing plant, perhaps? The Sentinel Jobs
What will become of families if Child Protective Services has monetary incentive to find placement facilities for children? Is CPS making more $ to find new living arrangements for a child, than a person can possibly earn by working an honest living?
Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that taking a child out of an abusive home environment is wrong. But with incentives like the ones listed above, how easy will it become for CPS to redefine the term abusive? Who determines that a foster family is any better than the natural family?

"Words cannot describe the travesty of justice suffered by these children who, rather than receiving the protection of the state, gave their lives in a most horrible and painful death because of a failed and unaccountable system of administration," says Schaefer.[36]
"We have to ask ourselves whether we're doing children a service by taking them out of their homes and placing them in a system that's just as unable to meet their needs," says District Judge Bill Jones of Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Are we doing them more harm than good?"
Says District Judge Deborah Burgin of Rutherfordton, North Carolina: "If you take on the responsibility to take care of someone - and are paid to take care of someone - the least we can ask is that they come out of it alive."[37]

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