Family Preservation FacePalm: Surrogate Extended Families
This article discusses a pilot program of Bethany Christian Services that has expanded from Atlanta, Georgia to Pennsylvania. Their Safe Families program is described as a “surrogate extended family” to replace the need for some children to go into foster care.
Bethany Christian Services tests family preservation program in Dauphin County
[The Patriot News 1/23/11 by Lara Brenckle]
“Children, on average, stay with volunteer families 30 to 45 days, West said. Parents retain all their legal rights, and communication between parents, children and volunteer families is strongly encouraged.”
Replacing the need for foster care for some kids doesn’t sound bad on paper. In fact it sounds fabulous, right? The devil (sorry, I couldn’t resist) is in these details and the intentions of this conglomerate adoption agency (that still uses maternity homes in their domestic placements) to expand this private child welfare system across the US.
#1: Minimal Requirements of /Marketing to SurrogatesAccording to the article, Bethany is “reaching out to churches, schools, hospitals and other community groups, hoping they’ll join with Bethany to not only find referrals, but be part of the extended support network helping all families.” Their website says “volunteers include singles, married couples with children of any age and empty nesters, all of whom simply decided to make room in their hearts and homes for children in need. “
While both foster care and this program require background checks, applications and child abuse clearances, these are minimal requirements when you compare them to the requirements of foster parents in Dauphin County where this program is being piloted.
“Foster Parents must be:
- 21 years of age
- In good physical and mental health
- Experienced with Children
- Agreeable to the use of nonphysical means of discipline
- Willing to meet safety requirements
- Willing to complete the home study process
- Willing to attend training
- Willing to deal with the feelings and behavior of children who have had a difficult childhood
- Willing to accept visitation and work toward reunification of the natural parent and Children
- Willing to work cooperatively with Agency caseworkers
- Willing to provide the care and security essential to foster Children.”
Bethany’s website says this about the types of children that may come into the care of this program:
“The children come from families that are experiencing a crisis of one sort or another. Such crises might include financial problems, unemployment and homelessness. In other cases, children come from families in which the parent needs time to heal physically or emotionally, or is recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction. Some children come from families in which the mother is being abused. Still other families are thrown into crisis when a parent is remanded to a correctional institution for a period of time. While these and other kinds of crises are traumatic, they also offer the opportunity for positive personal and familial transformations. “
Well, that sounds like the SAME population that goes into foster care! Why is the emphasis on SEPARATING these families instead of providing support to these people in THEIR original or extended families? Really… financial problems? How is taking a poor person’s kid going to help them? How about providing day care for them instead while they search for a job or provide job training or both?
Though the article states 30 to 45 days is the length of stay, Bethany’s website says it can be double that length. “The average length of stay is about six weeks, but placements usually last from three days to three months.”
How about the mental and physical health of these kids? Again the website claims the following:
“These are normal children coming from sometimes very difficult circumstances. Each child will respond to the situation differently, depending on their personality and coping skills. Some may show little response to the circumstances in their lives, while others may be deeply affected.
Please note that the children placed by Safe Families are not believed to be victims of abuse and neglect. If they were, they would instead have become wards of the state and not eligible for this program.”
So let me get this straight, kids coming from families where the mother is being abused are now considered NOT to be victims of abuse or neglect if Bethany gets involved?!? And kids whose parents are drug-addicted also are “normal” and not victims of neglect if Bethany gets involved?!? But kids placed into foster care because their mother is being abused or drug-addicted ARE victims of neglect or abuse. Clear as mud!
And these “normal” kids, do they have behavioral problems? Well the Bethany website answers that:
“4. Will the child have a lot of behavior problems?
Possibly, but not necessarily. Trauma can influence a normally well-behaved child to behave poorly, and can influence a child with behavior problems to behave better. Some children may display behavioral problems as a result of the chaos in their lives, while others may astound us with their calm and composure. It’s impossible to predict how the child will behave.”
Good thing these surrogates have lots of training in the area of “trauma”…oh wait….
#2: Recruiting FamiliesWhile the article says, “Bethany is working closely with the Dauphin County Office of Children and Youth, which will monitor the program and refer clients”, apparently they don’t provide enough referrals. Bethany additionally is going out of their way to find families that need services by recruiting them in “churches, schools, hospitals and other community groups.”
“Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a child advocacy group in Harrisburg, said it is supportive of anything that helps families and children succeed, but it cautioned that any temporary care program should be just that. “
#3 Surrogate Communication with FamiliesThe article states, “communication between parents, children and volunteer families is strongly encouraged.” STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. WOW! That seems enforceable! 
#4 Lack of Surrogate TrainingNone is listed as a requirement. It bears repeating that Bethany admits on their website this important fact about the children.
“4. Will the child have a lot of behavior problems?
Possibly, but not necessarily. Trauma can influence a normally well-behaved child to behave poorly, and can influence a child with behavior problems to behave better. Some children may display behavioral problems as a result of the chaos in their lives, while others may astound us with their calm and composure. It’s impossible to predict how the child will behave.”
Children that have experienced trauma have the possibility of being placed with untrained, unlicensed families!
#5 Questionable OversightThe article states that oversight is on the part of the county CPS, but what kind of oversight is enforceable in this situation? The Bethany people from the Atlanta program also supposedly “oversee” things. I highly doubt they are visiting families.
#6 The 15% That Don’t Get Returned to FamiliesLastly, the Bethany website says “Currently, 85% of all families in the program come back together, often in the most stable environment they’ve ever known. If, however, the biological parent loses legal custody of their child(ren), we urge you to contact an agency other than Safe Families about the possibility of adopting .”
I thought these were supposed to be low-risk situations with “normal” kids? This does not appear to have any checks and balances.
Again, these deficiencies are important to note as it appears that they are wanting this program to spread. This organization has 80 offices nationwide and made record amounts of money last year. They have the infrastructure to spread this program where untrained, unlicensed people will be caring for kids.
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