Re: DRG's and Child Welfare

["Anna K. Hagemeister" <ahagemei@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On July 1 in Minnesota new Concurrent Placement Planning legislation 
will take effect, and, as I understand it, will require that children 
under the age of 8 years be returned to their parent(s) or adopted 
eg. there be termination of parental rights, with in 6 months of 
removal of the children into foster care.  The ideas are to employ 
new approaches to begin both the reunification/family preservation 
work and search for a suitable adoptive family or kinship family 
placement and establish permanency ASAP. 

 I and others in my 
Social Work program see the need to address "foster care drift" and 
premanent placement for children, but we also very concerned about 
the impact of this new legislation on: 1. children of color, 2. women 
with CD issues, 3. women/families in which domestic violence is a 
factor, 4. and women with MI issues.  

Any thoughts on this?  Do any other states have a 6 month limit - aka 
"fast track planning?"

Anna Hagemeister 


> Date:          Wed, 12 May 1999 10:37:10 EDT
> Reply-to:      CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
> From:          Tbitlaw@aol.com
> To:            Child Maltreatment Researchers <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
> Subject:       DRG's and Child Welfare

> Take a look at the new federal legislation that mandates termination of 
> parental rights petitions for children who have been in the system for "15 of 
> the last 22 months."  Not driven by the needs of the family, child or time it 
> takes to address sometimes many layers of problems.  Yes, there are 
> exceptions, but child welfare workers and prosecutors see this as the 
> answer---we must terminate.  Often their goal is to "provide permanency" for 
> children---yes we can make them permanently orphans, especially those 
> children who are not young and adoptable.  And accomplish what?
> 
***********************************************
Annelies Hagemeister, M.A.
Research Assistant, School of Social Work
Graduate Student, SSW and Family Social Science
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN  55108
612-624-8796
hage0044@tc.umn.edu

The whole is greater than 
the sum of its parts.