Texas Abuse in Foster Care Statistics UPDATED
The article title is a FacePalm. Abuse by foster parents rare [Amarillo.com 6/9/13 by Russell Anglin]. Supposedly only 84 cases were reported in 2011. Most of those do not make the news. The article tries to compare this with biological parent abuse cases. There should NEVER be ANY abuse in foster care because supposedly the foster parents have been screened.
“Child abuse is an ongoing problem in the United States, while cases of abuse by foster parents are relatively rare, government data show.
Child Protective Services agencies estimated more than 680,000 children fell victim to abuse or neglect in 2011 nationwide, about 9 of every 1,000 children. More than 1,500 of those child victims died in 2011, the most recently available Department of Health and Human Services data show.
Statistics show less than 1 percent of children living in foster homes in Texas were victimized by a foster parent in 2011. That percentage remained mostly unchanged since 2007, reports show.
Data show 84 reported cases of child abuse by foster parents in Texas in 2011, compared with more than 72,000 cases of child abuse by the victim’s parents. Parents abused or neglected their own children in about 80 percent of reported cases nationwide.
Amarillo Area Court Appointed Special Advocates Program Director Linda Coronado said when judges appoint CASA volunteers to monitor abused or neglected children, the volunteer will pay monthly visits to the child’s home, as well as visits at school or in other settings away from home.
“A lot of the time … if we suspect something’s going on, that child’s not going to talk to us at home,” Coronado said.
Advocates remain in close contact with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to monitor children and report any suspicions of abuse or neglect to the judge handling their cases.
“Lots of times (Child Protective Services) already has the same concerns that we had; it’s just putting two and two together,” Coronado said. “That’s why it’s so important that CASA and CPS work together.”
Coronado said local advocates have suspected in a “handful” of cases that foster parents were trying to game the foster system for money. Some of those cases involved foster children who require more care and supervision, because the government gives more money to the children’s caregivers in those cases, Coronado said.
“The majority of our foster parents are really, really good foster parents and they care about these kids,” Coronado said.”
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Remember the Number 5 child abuse risk factor is being in foster care /being adopted.
Update: “A spike in the number of Texas children dying in foster care has prompted state officials to demand a tougher screening process for foster parents.
Ten foster children died under suspicious circumstances in the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31. Patrick Crimmins with the state Department of Family and Protective Services told The Dallas Morning News that four of the deaths have been ruled the result of abuse and neglect, while the other six remain under investigation.
Two foster children died from abuse and neglect in the prior year.
Family and Protective Services Commissioner John Specia wrote a letter this month to the more than 300 private child-placing agencies and residential treatment centers in Texas, urging them to redouble their efforts to keep foster children safe.”
More Texas children dying while in foster care
[El Paso Times 9/14/13 by Associated Press]
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