About 200 kids placed in foster homes in 2014
By Olivia Deveau
Special to the Thousand Oaks Acorn
Better communication and more collaboration between the Ventura County Human Services Agency and its partner organizations are needed to improve the county’s foster care and adoption system, according to a new report by the Ventura County civil grand jury.
Operated by the VCHSA, the local foster care system placed 202 children in foster homes in 2014.
The grand jury report, released June 5, outlines shortcomings in the system and recommends three corrective measures. The civil grand jury is an all-volunteer watchdog group that investigates public complaints about all aspects of local and county government, including city councils, school districts, jails and hospitals.
The first change the 19-person jury is advocating for, according to the report, is improved training for foster parents considering adoption. The grand jurors recommend the VCHSA establish a training program so prospective parents can become better informed of everything the adoption and foster care processes entail.
The grand jury found that parents were often unaware of a sixto eight-month home study that is required with any adoption. The study involves a caseworker who records information about the prospective parents, including family background, education, employment, social life and daily routine.
“What we found in the course of our investigation was it wasn’t explained very well what the process for adoption was,” Robert Stewart, current grand jury foreman, said in an interview. “Specifically, the area that wasn’t communicated very well was the need for a home study, because that’s a mandatory element . . . in being able to adopt.”
Lack of communication
The grand jury’s second recommendation, according to the report, has to do with a lack of communication among the VCHSA, parents and various organizations involved with the foster care and adoption processes in the county. These agencies include the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Ventura County, Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families, County of Ventura Children and Family Services and Arrow Child & Family Ministries.
The grand jurors specifically recommend that VCHSA work as an advocate on behalf of foster parents and enhance “communication and input from all parties concerned with the foster child.”
“In our investigation, there is no requirement for a foster parent or potential adoptive parent to be part of (any) court proceedings, so therefore, they don’t have a voice in court unless (the VCHSA) gives them a voice in court,” Stewart said.
If the recommendation is followed, prospective foster or adoptive parents would potentially have a larger say in custody hearings.
The third recommendation in the grand jury report deals with the age a foster child should be in order to have direct input regarding his or her situation. The current age is 9; the grand jury thinks it should be raised to 12.
“Right now a 9-year-old can make a selection or can have major input into the selection of their adoptive parents—or whether to be adopted or not—and one day they may be very happy and the next day they may not,” Stewart said.
Like all other final reports released by the grand jury, a response is required from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors within 90 days.
“They don’t have to agree with our recommendations, but if they don’t agree, they do have to give us reasons,” Stewart said.
Agencies respond
Although a response to the report is neither required nor requested from the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Ventura County, a nonprofit that recruits and trains volunteers to act as one-on-one advocates for fostercare children, the grand jury did use the organization’s website for research during the investigation.
Court-appointed special advocates become sworn officers of the court and are assigned a child within the foster-care system.
When contacted by the Acorn on June 18, Miriam Mack, executive director of CASA Ventura County, said she wasn’t aware of the grand jury report. But she said she has confidence in how the current foster-care system is working.
“The child-dependency system is really rather impressive in Ventura County,” Mack said. “There are several important interagency meetings that go on, discussions that go on monthly. . . . The county does a great job bringing the partners together to collaborate on programmatic issues and share info.
“There is a lot of effort made to integrate and create opportunities.”
The civil grand jury has also requested a response from the VCHSA, but agency officials told the Acorn on June 23 they would prefer not to comment on the report prior to releasing an official statement. No statement was released as of press time Wednesday.
“We are currently working on a response,” said Jennie Pittman, senior administrative manager of the agency. “We are certainly looking forward to sharing the information, and to be fully responsive to the report.”
Olivia Deveau can be reached at livideveau@me.com.
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