More lies from NH DCYF Maggie Bishop-Foster care growing more responsive to youths' needs

Foster care growing more responsive to youths' needs - Fosters


By Jennifer Keefe
jkeefe@fosters.com
Sunday, March 6, 2011


Keefe/Citizen photo Emily Quigly of Rochester works as a youth consultant for the Department of Children, Youth and Families, applying her experience as a foster child at Dover Children's Home when she was younger.
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The world of foster care has changed drastically, and for the better, since Emily Quigly went through the system years ago.

And as a part-time, paid youth consultant for the state through the Department of Children, Youth and Families, Quigly, a Rochester resident who grew up in Dover, has the ability to not only advocate for initiatives based on her experience, but to help current foster children.

"Part of my job is I'm kind of like the Cliff(s) Notes version for these kids," said Quigly, 25. "I have fun doing it. It's nice to feel like I'm improving someone's life."

While Quigly's own experience as a foster child at Dover Children's Home originated from problems with the relationship between herself and her parents, other children are placed into the system for a multitude of reasons that frequently include parental struggles with drugs, alcohol or mental health issues.

"We've always had a good percentage of our group that we work with where the family has had a history of drugs, alcohol or incarceration; sometimes it's just the kid making choices and not any of that," said Donna Coraluzzo, executive director of Dover Children's Home.

A recent study through the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire titled "Hard Times Made Harder: Struggling Caregivers and Child Neglect," found neglected children from households with caregivers who struggle with drug use were three times as likely to be placed in out-of-home care than those without drug problems.

Maggie Bishop, director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families with the state Department of Health and Human Services, said it's hard to quantify which children come into the system because of a parent or parents' alcohol and drug use, but it is a common thread.

"Substance abuse is a big reason why we get involved," she said, but added, "Removal only happens if the child is in danger. Just because a parent may be involved or using substances doesn't mean they're going to lose their children. We're involved when that usage impairs their ability to keep their kids safe, and that does happen."

Bishop couldn't say whether there was a "drastic increase" in cases of fostering due to struggling parents as a result of the downturn in economy.

"It's always been a prevailing component of our work with families," she said. "Whether or not there's been a drastic increase lately, I haven't seen that."

Using data from 2008, the study shows 267,000 children nationally were removed from their homes as a result of a child maltreatment investigation. Sixty-nine percent experienced neglect. The study suggests child neglect prevention services and out-of-home placement should be multifaceted "so all families receive the support they need in a timely manner."

For those children who are removed from the home and placed in out-of-home care locally, the system has changed to address the child and their needs and make it a less isolating experience.

Some of the experiences Quigly had while at Dover Children's Home that negatively affected her at the time wouldn't be repeated today, she said. She remembers when she was 18, she was told she couldn't go on a date with a 17-year-old boy. It upset her so much she moved out of the home and ended up dropping out of high school six weeks before she was supposed to graduate.

While she regrets the move in retrospect, she said the system has changed to be more focused on the youths in such situations.

"They listen to what the youths have to say and try to normalize foster care for them," Quigly said. "I've seen changes over the last eight years. Before, we couldn't play sports. Now they encourage sports. And community involvement — they want youth to be involved in the community. They want people out in the community, learning independent living. It's empowering, so they don't feel so isolated."

There is now more of an emphasis on independence, and a "pilot house" on the Dover Children's Home property helps children transition to the house for independent living but still be within a spectrum of assistance.

Quigly said making children in foster care feel more normal sets up a higher success rate for when they age out of care and must live on their own and work to achieve their own goals. She went on to earn her General Education Diploma and then graduated valedictorian from the Thompson School of Business at the University of New Hampshire. Now, Quigly is working on her master's in business administration at Plymouth State College.

But, she adds, "not every youth is motivated," and thus the need for focus on normalizing foster care. As Quigly was in foster care from age 14 to 18, she said she really began to see changes in how foster children were treated in the system toward the latter part of her involvement with Dover Children's Home. Such changes included letting people visit the home and have overnights — "That was unheard of back then," she said — and allowing her the freedom to spend Christmas with a boyfriend when she couldn't go home to her family.

"Even back then the changes and out-of-the-box thinking was starting," she said.

Today, she participates in a regional Youth Advisory Board that meets monthly and includes children in foster care placement. The purpose is to get together, discuss situations and exchange ideas for improvement.

"These are things that never happened when I was in care," Quigly said.

A large part of a foster child's experience, however, is reunification efforts with their family.

"CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate Association) is usually involved, and the courts and systems work together to reunify the family," Bishop said. "If they cannot do that within 12 months or close to that, there's a lot of effort today to not have kids grow up in foster care, so you're looking for another permanent plan. We always look to relatives first so if we have to remove a child we look for aunts, uncles and other extended family members."

But due to budget cuts, Coraluzzo said there are difficulties with sending children back to their families.

"As recently as July 2010, across the board all residential programs got a 2 percent cut in the daily rate, which, depending on the budget for the program can be thousands of dollars and it was thousands for Dover Children's Home," Coraluzzo said. "What happens is during those budget cuts, a lot of the funding goes to just basic operating costs of the home and cuts start getting made around staffing and treatment services, and those are vital to getting a child home. The state looks at, 'Is this child at a point where they can go home,' and we've seen a lot of recidivism of kids going home and then having to come back. Referrals are down, the stays are a lot shorter. There are some kids who are going home with a lot less time of improvement."

Quigly was one who returned to foster care several times after going through counseling and going back home. In her experience, she said it's better for foster care agencies to set the bar high for children in care so they can better prepare for independence and reaching goals.

"Back then, it was a big deal to graduate high school," she said of the time she was in care. "That's not OK with me."

She said every child is different and the shift toward attentiveness and sensitivity to a youth's needs and those differences has been effective.

"I remember when I first entered, I felt like every decision was being made for me," she said. "Now, kids aren't just disregarded because of poor choices. We're teaching them there is hope."