What Child Welfare Agencies Can Do to Support Reunification

The relationship between resource/foster caregivers and parents whose children are in foster care can be one of the most impactful connections to supporting reunification. Resource caregivers play a critical role in supporting family time and maintaining children’s connections to family. What is the role of Child Welfare agencies in supporting this connection? Please join us as we explore this role and offer concrete ways Child Welfare agencies can be a partner in supporting reunification through this relationship and other practices.
Oregon Department of Human Services and Georgia Department of Human Services will offer tips not only from the agency’s perspective but also from the perspective of parents and resource caregivers in partnership with Rise, a parent-led NYC-based advocacy organization. Participants will hear personal perspectives from parents who have been impacted by the child welfare system and will leave with practical tips for how agencies can support families in achieving reunification from the moment a child is placed into care.

[@chriswirth4329]

Well first of all to do any kind of good for the system with the funding their fiscal funds are based upon how many numbers go into estimated projected data for the next year and that's how they get funded so you want to actually help, if you're serious about helping.... you got to get down to the bottom, through figuring out what the core problem is, in this case, it is the funding when there's more incentive to take people's children and to not unify families back together then that causes fundamental issue I can speak for experience that where I'm from there's no reasonable efforts, to be more precise it's the exact opposite.

[@HollyFazzone]

Facts. And if I heard him correctly, he said 43% of all children were reunified with their families last year. That is not something that should be celebrated as a victory. That's less than half of children in the system male it home. It's appalling and anyone that supports the policies and procedures that CPS uses to remove children from their families and place them with strangers should be ashamed of themselves. Dcf is the most corrupt government agency within the United States. The general public is being lied to. Dcf claims to be about preserving families and working with families through services, addressing issues and helping to strengthen families. That's a bunch of BULLSHIT. From the moment a child is removed from their home, DCF begins the process of family separation. They purposely pit the parents against each other by making them separate. They are given separate court appointed attorneys and told that if the parents stay together then the court will view them as one unit, so if one parent is doing well and further along in completing DCF's steps for reunification, but the other parents is not doing as well, or is taking longer to complete the steps, then neither parent reunifies w the child. This is how DCF justifies destroying families. They make it a race between the parents. Whoever completes the steps first, gets the child. At that point DCF stops all contact with the other parent. It is then up to the parent to go to family court to fight for visitation, custody etc. However, DCF may or may not object to unsupervised contact w child to family court judge based on fact that parent has not yet completed the steps. But, also will not assist parent in competing steps (not that they do much to assist anyway). Dcf is in the business of making money. No kids, no money. Their first goal is abaolutely not reunification so please dont believe that BS. They are an investigative agency that is gathering evidence to remove your child (and i use the word "evidence" losely because DCF exagerates the truth, outright lies, regularly commits perjury w immunity and its common knowledge within the juvenile court system, but it's DCF, so they are above the law). Anyway, DCF is an investigative agency similiar to the FBI or local police department, except that DCF governs themselves and are not required to provide the people that are investigating with the constitutional protections that the police and the FBI are required during course of investigation. One example, DCF is immune from following the the Freedom of Information Act. This means that DCF is not required to provide a parent with the evidence in their case file that they are basing their case to remove your child, or terminate your rights. Your case file is considered confidential. Insane. Once you request that you be given your case file, DCF has 90 days to provide you with what THEY deem appropriate for you to review with NO OVERSIGHT FROM A JUDGE. ITS 100% UP TO DCF TO DECIDE WHAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT REVIEW. INSANE. THIS IS AMERICA. Being a parent is a fundamental right and should be protected with strict laws because as we all know absolute power corrupts absolutely. Trust me, DCF is not there to help preserve your family. They are there is destroy it. They are not on your side and they do not care about the best interest of your child. Without kids in the system there would be no more federal funding. It's a business and the workers are incentivized to remove your children, and place then in out of home (meaning non family) foster homes. Dcf will use every excuse to place the child w a non family member. Again,its about the federally funded money honey. It's a fact that children placed in non family foster homes are at a greater risk of being sexyally abused, physically abused, emotionally abused, neglected, treated poorly etc. Dcf is well aware of the statistics, THEY DONT CARE. ITS NOT ABOUT PROTECTING CHILDREN OR HELPING FAMILIES. Final thought, IF DCF COMES TO YOUR DOOR, DO NOT SPEAK TO THEM. DCF will twist your words and their report will be negative most of the time and the rest of the time it will be somewhat neutral. They will never ever report that you are a great parent and impressed with what a great job you are doing with your children. Never never never will that ever happen. If dcf has evidence to prove neglect or abuse they would have already filed for removal. Most dcf cases of neglect and abuse are proven by the parents talking to dcf. The parents foolishly trust dcf and try to explain themselves and their kids get removed or a case is opened against them and your life will be miserable for the next year plus dealing with their lies, twisting facts, essentially doing whatever they can to terminate your rights and adopt your children to most likely someone on their adoption list that is in someway associating w dcf (works in social seevice field etc.). Most termination cases are with children under the age of 6. Why? Because they are easily adoptable. After that, it's a burden for dcf to continue pursuing the case, so they are either returned to a parent, or placed in a residential for "problemed children." Which is more bs because the children aren't the problem. Dcf is the problem, but the even bigger problem is nobody does anything about it. The judges are well aware that it is dcf policy to lie/exaggerate the truth on petitions and courts documents relating to remove children etc and that the worker signed under oath to tell the truth, yet allow it. A judge has a duty to uphold the law, but yet judges continue to allow this unlawful practice. It's egregious and even worse it's the innocent children are paying the biggest price because nobody wants to do the right thing and put a stop to the illegal and civil rights violations that is part of DCf's standard practice. End of rant. Lol