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(published in Dallas
Morning News, April 12, 2004)
Kurt
Senske: Let's do more for our foster children
12:02 AM CDT on Monday, April
12, 2004
By KURT SENSKE
The first time most parents hold their newborn infant, they make a vow to
provide the best possible life for their child.
But for the more than 26,000 children in Texas' child welfare system, those
vows were broken. Or they never even were made.
State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn
tries to make it right for Texas' abused, neglected
and abandoned children with a comprehensive audit
of
the system that seeks to ensure that Texas' children are protected and
that they receive the care and compassion they deserve.
In her report, "Forgotten Children: A Special Report on the Texas Foster
Care System," she identifies the shortcomings of the system and the
opportunities for improvement.
There are many dedicated staff members
at the Texas Department of Family and Protective
Services who see their jobs as a calling.
At Lutheran Social Services of the
South, we are privileged to work with those individuals,
who put in long hours under stressful conditions
for
little pay or recognition.
But years of experience have taught
us that there is significant room for improvement.
Ms. Strayhorn's report has many specific
suggestions. Here are the two recommendations we
believe are the most important:
End the dual system of foster care.
We wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Strayhorn's recommendation that the state
should get out of the direct-care business and instead focus all of its
attention on ensuring the health, safety and education of the children
in its custody. Nonprofit child-placing agencies are able to access community
resources that the state government can't.
For years, mentors, tutors and volunteers
have made a profound difference in the lives of
the nearly 2,400 children served annually at our
four Texas
residential treatment centers and our network of foster homes.
Generous donors contribute to build
recreational facilities and state-of-the-art dormitories
and make gifts so that we can pay for modifications
to foster
homes and buy equipment for medically fragile children.
Increase accountability through performance-based
contracts.
Accountability is critical to improving
the system. Agencies should be expected to demonstrate
that the care they are providing, whether it is
basic care
or more intensive treatment, is making a difference in the lives of children.
Agencies should be able to prove that taxpayers are getting a high return
on their investment in the child welfare system.
We urge state officials to seek accreditation
by the Council on Accreditation of both Department
of Family and Protective Services and foster care
providers
to ensure that consistent standards of care and fiscal responsibility are
being met.
We also agree with Ms. Strayhorn
that every provider should be held to the same
standards and that those who exceed the minimum
standards should be
recognized and rewarded.
"Forgotten Children" challenges
our state officials and citizens to set higher
expectations for the care we provide to the victims
of abuse, neglect
and abandonment.
It is my hope and prayer that we
will rise to that challenge.
Kurt Senske is chief executive officer of
the Austin-based Lutheran Social Services of
the South, which serves more than 25,000 children,
elderly and poor throughout Texas and Louisiana.
The group's Web site is www.lsss.org.
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