Volume 9

"Everybody Deserves a Family" - Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care Convenes Discussion with Former Foster Youth

Majority Give the Foster Care System a Failing Grade; Urge Reform Efforts to Focus on Individual Needs of Children

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care convened a special discussion with former foster youth to gain their input on the state of the foster care system, and how best to implement reform.

The wide-ranging discussion, moderated by Commission Chairman Bill Frenzel, Commission Vice Chairman William H. Gray and Commission member Carol Spigner, addressed issues including the need for more well-screened foster parents; increased access to medical, educational and mental health resources for children in foster care; better training of front-line caseworkers; and an overarching desire for the system to focus on the individual needs and security of the child.

When asked to grade the foster care system, the majority gave it a failing grade. Their assessment coincides with the Child and Family Services Reviews - the first major federal review of the foster care system in each of the states. Of the 50 states, 32 have been evaluated; all have failed.

"This discussion was a powerful reminder of the need for reform of the foster care system," stated Commission Chairman Bill Frenzel. "The Pew Commission is determined to hear directly from those most affected by the foster care system. The need to act – quickly and effectively – to improve outcomes for children in foster care is illustrated in the experiences and insights of these amazing young people."

"Everybody deserves a family," one respondent stated. Another urged that the system refocus its resources on the needs of the child; a third compared the family environment to the "soil" needed to ensure a child’s success, and stated that the system should be mindful of this.

The discussion was conducted among eight former foster youth from states including New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa and Idaho. All had been participants in the inaugural session of the Congressional Foster Youth Internship Program, sponsored by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and the Orphan Foundation of America, and all spent this past summer interning on Capitol Hill.

This discussion was the first in a series of three that the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care is convening with those most immediately affected by the foster care system. In addition to the discussion with former foster youth, conversations will be held with birth parents, and with foster and adoptive parents.

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About the Commission

The nonpartisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care was launched on May 7, 2003. Funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, the Commission is comprised of experienced legislators, child welfare administrators, family service providers, judges, parents, and youth. The Commission is committed to improving outcomes for some of the nation’s most vulnerable children by developing recommendations related to federal financing and court oversight of child welfare. It will report those recommendations in 2004.

The Pew Commission’s practical, evidence-based recommendations will focus on two targeted areas:

• Improving existing federal financing mechanisms to facilitate faster movement of children from foster care into safe, permanent families and to reduce the need to place children in foster care.

• Improving court oversight of child welfare cases to facilitate better and more timely decisions affecting children’s safety, permanence, and well-being.

For more information about the Pew Commission, this series of discussions or its upcoming publications, please visit www.pewfostercare.org or contact Gina Russo at mediaiq@comcast.net or 202-687-0697.