The New York Times shows how New York’s family-to-family strategy that keeps the connection between birth parents and foster parents is becoming a model across 16 states.
Leslie Kaufman writes (excerpt):
But in 1998, New York was among the first cities to adopt an approach to foster care that actively nurtures open relationships between foster and birth parents.
In this model, which takes a page from the latest thinking in divorce custody cases, not only do the birth parents know where the foster parents live, they share in the decision making on everything from discipline to the cereal on the breakfast table.
In the best cases, like that of Ms. Stevens and Ms. Blount, the foster parent remains a continuing source of support and counsel after the child returns to the birth parent, as most do.
Now after six years, with some 28,000 families having participated in the program, the city’s departing commissioner of children’s services points to the growth of the program as among the achievements he is most proud of. “For many parents, it has demystified foster care,” said the commissioner, William C. Bell, who will step down in a few weeks. “In surveys, parents report a much more positive experience with the system and their caseworkers. Children are returned home on average three months earlier.”