JUDGE URGES FOSTER-CARE CASE REVIEWS INQUIRIES WOULD DETERMINE IF KIDS COULD RETURN HOME.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer In response to a Daily News report, Juvenile Court juvenile court Special court handling problems of delinquent, neglected, or abused children. Two types of cases are processed by a juvenile court: civil matters, often concerning care of an abandoned or impoverished child, and criminal matters, arising from antisocial Presiding Judge presiding judge n. 1) in both state and federal appeals court, the judge who chairs the panel of three or more judges during hearings and supervises the business of the court. Michael Nash called Tuesday for an unprecedented review of the cases of half of the 30,000 children in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County foster homes to determine whether they could be safely returned to their own families or relatives. Nash said the most urgent need is for judges, attorneys and social workers to review the cases of about 8,000 foster children - mostly teenagers - who have been in foster care for many years and are about to turn 18, after which they will be released from the system. ``We need to closely review each of these cases as they come up and determine what is the most appropriate long-range plan for these kids,'' Nash said. ``For many of those kids, it will require us to go back and look at their family situations. Are there responsible adults they can rely upon once they leave the system?'' The Daily News reported Sunday that up to half of the 75,000 children in the system and adoptive a·dop·tive adj. 1. a. Of or having to do with adoption. b. Characteristic of adoption. 2. Related by adoption: homes were needlessly placed in a system that is often more dangerous than their own homes because the county receives $30,000 to $150,000 in state and federal revenues for each placement. The $1.4 billion Department of Children and Family Services budget currently pays to support a total of 75,000 children, but Nash pointed Nash Point is a headland and beach in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. It is a popular location for ramblers and hiking along the cliffs. A short circular walk of 4 miles from the lighthouses at Nash Point to St Donats can be accessed along the cliff tops. out that the number of children in foster homes has dropped from 52,000 in 1998 to 30,000 now. He said about half of those children are placed with relatives. Andrew Bridges Andrew Bridge is a Broadway lighting designer, who has worked on many Broadway productions, including The Phantom of the Opera. He has won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design three times: in 1998 for Phantom of the Opera, 1995 for Sunset Boulevard, and in 1999 for Fosse. , managing director of child welfare reform programs at the private Broad Foundation, said since the mid-1990s, the county's child welfare system has been based on an aggressive policy of detaining children because of the financial incentives. He said those who are well-acquainted with the system also estimate that up to half of the children should be returned home. ``There were so many other options that would have valued and protected the family, instead of splitting it apart,'' Bridges said. ``The truth is if we are going to take families in this country seriously - if we are going to say we are truly a country about family values family values pl.n. The moral and social values traditionally maintained and affirmed within a family. - then we ought to go ahead and implement a structure and funding stream to support those values.'' Critics of the foster-care program said an independent commission composed of parents, attorneys and child advocates should oversee the review of the cases. ``They seem to be leaving children in dangerous situations while removing children from nondangerous homes and placing them in a foster-care system where they are six to seven times more likely to be abused than in the general population,'' Century City attorney Linda Wallace Pate said. Marcia Lowry, executive director of Children's Rights The opportunity for children to participate in political and legal decisions that affect them; in a broad sense, the rights of children to live free from hunger, abuse, neglect, and other inhumane conditions. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , which has filed class-action lawsuits against child-welfare systems in 10 states, said hard questions must be asked before placing a child in foster care. ``Although it's true that some children can return home, in many instances they need services,'' she said. ``A key question is whether there are really going to be services and supervision provided to protect the children in their homes.'' Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985 troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com |
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