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Report Examines the State of Child Welfare

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Fewer Pennsylvania children are entering the foster care system, and the total number of foster youth in PA is on the decline, according to the 2012 State of Child Welfare report.  “This a very important statistic,” says Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children President & CEO Joan Benso.  “Children who live in foster care don’t experience the same life outcomes as children who live consistently in families.  They tend to have poorer education outcomes; they’re more likely to be teen parents or involved in crime.” 

However she sees more work that needs to be done when it comes to permanent placements and stability for the 22,000 children who are in the state’s foster care system.  For instance, 35% of children who were in foster care for 12 – 23 months had been in three or more placement settings.    

Also, the report finds that 21% of PA’s foster youth live in institutional care.  “We’re encouraged that action will be taken on that in the next year, but that number needs to continue to go down.  We have a very high rate for children living in congregate care, and much higher than other states.”

This report comes in advance of a legislative session in which the General Assembly is expected to take up the recommendations of the Task Force on Child Protection, and it cautions that protecting children should not be simplified to a numbers game that leads to a false sense of accomplishment.

Report: More Kids Living with Extended Family

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Family structures are shifting.  A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation details the unique challenges of 2.7-million children being raised by relatives other than their parents at some point in their lives.  The number has increased more than 18% in the past decade.

It’s called kinship care, and officials say up to 101,000 Pennsylvania children (about 4%) are impacted.

“Many of these caregivers are older and have less income, and they’re taking on the responsibility in the middle of a crisis,” explains Robert Geen, the foundation’s director of family services and systems policies.

“The children themselves have experienced the trauma of being separated from their parents, so it is a challenging situation.”

That’s not to say kinship care is bad for kids.  Research shows that children do best with relatives when they cannot stay with their parents, but Geen says the best evidence is common sense.  “Ask any parent where they would want their children to live, if they could not take care of them, and they’re going to say a relative or extended family member,” he tells Radio PA.

The new report includes recommendations that take this changing family dynamic into account.  Geen says kinship caregivers should be given the authority to make decisions on behalf of the child, and that government programs designed for the nuclear family should be reevaluated to see if they are meeting the needs of kinship caregivers.

2011 Report Looks at the State of Child Welfare

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While there’s been no significant change in the overall number of Pennsylvania children in foster care, more are being placed in family settings and fewer are being placed in group homes, according to the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children State of Child Welfare report.  “Safety has to be first, but permanency needs to be an important goal,” says PPC President & CEO Joan Benso.  “Unfortunately, children who live in congregate care settings – group homes and institutions – tend to have poorer outcomes across the board.” 

While Benso is encouraged by the trend, she says there’s still work to do.  “The national average of children living in congregate care is 15% vs. 22% in Pennsylvania,” she tells Radio PA. 

Looking ahead to 2012, Benso wants to make older teenagers a priority.  “For teenagers the circumstances are pretty tricky,” Benso explains.  “At 18-years-old, except for some very few circumstances… you have to leave foster care.” 

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children began issuing the State of Child Welfare report in 2009.  Back then, 67.7% of children were placed in family settings.  In 2011, that number was 71.4%.  Results are also broken down by county.