Foster Care Policies and Procedures

Nevada County currently has 164 children who are residents of the County in the foster- care system. Of that number, 75 of these children have been placed in Nevada County. CPS reports that children of Nevada County are rarely placed in foster homes in other counties. However, 89 (or more than half) of our children are in foster care in other counties. Two hundred foster children from other counties have been placed in Nevada County foster homes.

The Child Welfare Services Program Handbook (the Handbook) states: "When out-of- home placement is used…the decision regarding choice of placement shall be based upon selection of the least restrictive or most familylike setting…. The selection shall consider, in order of priority, placement with relatives, tribal members, and foster family, group care, and residential treatment, pursuant to Section 275 of the Civil Code."

Foster homes and foster parents are approved separately. If the approved foster parents should move to a new location, the overall approval is voided; a new application and approval are required. Similarly, if a new set of foster parents should move into a home that had previously been approved, the approval procedure must begin anew.

Each California county is responsible for approval of foster homes within its borders. Nevada County, however, has delegated this approval procedure to a licensing program analyst in the State Department of Social Services in Sacramento. This analyst is responsible for evaluating homes in a few counties contiguous to and including Nevada County. The analyst visits these approved foster homes annually.

Nevada County residents wishing to become foster parents must first contact the Department of Social Services in Sacramento. The applicants will then receive, by mail, packets of information and application forms. Evaluation of the candidates is made in Sacramento.

Upon approval, these candidates must then take their training in Sacramento, where they are given a 12-hour initial training session and, subsequently, an annual eight-hour refresher course.

According to Section 31-505.123 of the Handbook, CPS may place children currently living within the county (sending county) in homes in other counties (receiving county). The child may be placed anywhere in California, but, whenever possible, in a contiguous or nearby county.

There can be a number of possible reasons for the foster child's relocation to another county; e.g., the availability of foster homes, the need for special care, relationships between foster parent and foster child, the location of a desirable member of the child's extended family.

When a child is to be placed out of his or her county, the sending county is responsible for supervising and visiting the child in the foster home, and for developing a plan of supervision and visitation. It must specify, in a formal agreement, that the sending county is responsible for performing these activities. The reason or reasons for the out- of-county placement must also be documented.

By written agreement between the sending and receiving counties, the receiving county may accept responsibility for providing supervision and services for the foster child. The receiving county then would provide regular reports to the sending county; and the sending county would then provide consultation and advice as needed. (This is spelled out in Sections 10553 and 10554 of the Welfare and Institution Code.)

Approval of a foster home and foster parent may be classified as “certified” or “licensed.” Foster parents and foster homes approved by the County and State, as discussed above, receive a license. No more than six foster children may be assigned to a home, regardless of the size of, and the facilities in, the home. Currently, the State Department of Social Services in Sacramento is responsible for the supervision and approval of a licensed home in Nevada County.

There are also several foster-home agencies within the State, including Nevada County, that provide foster care. These agencies are authorized by the State to seek and approve foster homes and parents. Homes and caregivers, when inspected and approved by an agency are considered to be certified.

These private agencies must be non-profit. Each agency is approved by the State through the Community Care Licensing Section and is empowered by State legislation to receive from the court children for placement in foster homes in its system.

These certified foster parents and foster homes are not approved by, and may be unacceptable to our CPS, which has no authority over either the selection or supervision of these foster families or foster homes.

Usually younger children are placed quickly. Those ages 15 to 18 are least likely to find adequate foster care. According to Nevada County CPS, for want of adequate foster homes, some in this latter group may be placed in juvenile halls.

Upon reaching the age of 18, the child is no longer in the foster-care system. There is provision, however, under the Independent Living Program, according to the California Manual Letter CWS-93-01, for funds for extended care for those in need of additional help or supervision. Nevada County has a model program for those who graduate from the system. The funds that make this possible are drying up.

Surveys indicate that “aging out” of the system may lead too often to “aging into” homelessness, pregnancy, or unemployment. In one study, "Bridges to Independence" published by the 1999-2000 Orange County Grand Jury, half the foster-care “graduates” were unemployed and homeless in comparatively affluent Orange County; a third were getting public assistance; almost half were involved in out-of-wedlock births; a quarter of the males and ten percent of the females had already been incarcerated.

Under the California Fiscal Budget Act of 1998, foster parents receive a basic payment for each foster child in their care. Each county in California governs the payment to foster parents; the State and the federal government are expected to reimburse the county. a. Nevada County's current basic rate for payment to a licensed foster family is $425 monthly for the care of a child up to the age of four, and is raised in increments, depending on age, to $597 for a child between the ages of 15 and 18. b. Foster children with special needs are evaluated under an Appraisal/Needs and Services Plan. Payment can reach a maximum of $1,180 per month for a child under four to $1,352 monthly for a child in the oldest age group. c. There is, in addition to the monthly payments outlined above, an annual clothing allowance for each child in licensed foster care of $213. d. Foster-home agencies receive from the child’s originating county $1,589 per month for child to the age of four, and $1,865 for each foster child between the ages of 15 and 18, with incremental rates among the various age groups. The agency is expected to reimburse in part each participating foster family within its system. e. There is also a $391 infant supplement available for all foster families within the system.

Foster children are to be monitored in their licensed foster-care setting at least once a month by the social service worker assigned. a. There is no uniform training statewide for social workers in the foster-care system. Each county is separately responsible and each county's training may be very different from another's. b. Foster homes in the agency system are monitored only by agency supervisors.

All children in the foster-care system are required to have a permanent case plan designed to lead toward a specific outcome. Plan goals must include ultimate reunification with the family, adoption placement, or juvenile emancipation. Plans are to be updated every six months and are to be approved by the court.

According to those interviewed, foster children can be subjected to a number of problems. a. Official notification from the sending county to Nevada County as the receiving county may be delayed or simply may not occur. CPS may not become aware of a foster child transferred into the County unless the child is hospitalized because of possible abuse, or placed under arrest. b. Even when notification proceeds properly, the foster child's school records may not arrive at the new school for as long as eight or ten weeks. During this time, the child may not be permitted to attend school. c. Foster parents may home-school their foster children under State guidelines that do not require them to follow established curricula. Foster-care students are not required to be regularly tested, assessed for special needs, or graduated from any grade level. There is no State system for determining if foster children in Nevada County are actually receiving an education in these settings. d. Our CPS is on record as demanding that foster parents not home school the foster children in their care. CPS finds it difficult to enforce its own policy. e. Some adults become foster parents for no other incentive than the money to be derived from foster-child payments. This is a known fact and accepted by CPS and the State. Once these families receive their monthly payments, no accounting for how the funds are used is actually required in most cases. f. One family in Nevada County has housed 20 children at one time. Many of the children required special physical or medical needs. These children were placed in the home from outside Nevada County. The family eventually adopted most of the children. The State has now revoked this family’s license after CPS voiced concerns against the family home and the foster parents' care of the children. CONCLUSIONS The federal report's document seems correct: There is a greater need for considering the foster child's welfare in all judgments rather than narrowly following established rules and regulations. With the possibility of the Federal Government penalizing the State $18.2 million, each county, including Nevada County, will find it difficult to fund adequately its foster care programs. Nevada County must be in much greater control of foster parents and foster homes in the County. Currently that control is delegated to the State. This includes taking back the approval of foster homes. It also means that candidates for foster parenting residing in Nevada County should be evaluated, approved and trained in the County. The selection and supervision of foster-family agencies operating in Nevada County is not subject in any way to County approval. This should not be the case; the Grand Jury believes that supervision by the County's CPS would be more effective and efficient. There is a serious lack of communication among the various county and State agencies concerning the care and record keeping of children in the foster-care system. Agencies that have a stake in foster care are overburdened by procedures and understaffed to a point where the system is in danger of falling apart. Home-schooling in foster homes in the County is unacceptable for reasons beyond the possibility of the child receiving a poor education. By permitting a foster child access to the outer world of the public school, the child's clothing needs, social skills, freedom from abuse and general health can also be evaluated and interventions provided. Our local CPS, in spite of its intentions, is not enforcing its policy of eliminating home schooling in the County foster-care system. As funds earmarked for helping out those who age out of the Nevada County foster-care system dry up, the County should be alert to possible problems already encountered in other counties.