by Cris Beam
Department of Child and Family Services, xvi, 51–52
Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS, Texas), 52, 53
“diagnostic centers,” 124–25, 284
Dominique (Green foster daughter). See Welcome, Dominique
Doyle, Joseph J., 272
E
Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program, 295
Edwin Gould (agency), 103, 149, 150, 157–58, 176, 243. See also Smalls, Tolightha
emergency licensing, 6
emotional effects on foster kids. See also anger of foster kids; attachment
losses and, 89–94, 143
from multiple placements, 89–94, 117–18
emotional factors for foster parents, 7–9
Episcopal Social Services, in Manhattan, 78
Erikson, Erik, 145, 146
Estrada, Rudy, 20, 163–64, 202, 204, 268
F
failed placements
foster parents’ perspectives on, 78, 83–84, 245–47
impacts on foster kids and, 89–94
proportion of, 89
YGB program and, 235–42
family court
number of cases heard in, 267
substance abuse cases and, 69–72, 279
termination hearings and, 51–52
family members
abandonment of foster kids by, 91
adoption of teens by, 223–25
reporting by, 60, 70–72
family preservation, as goal
ASFA mandates and, 44–45
late-stage efforts and, 51
preventive social services and, 51, 52, 274
removal rate and, 26
“family team conferencing,” 8, 9, 10–13
Family-to-Family program, 40, 40
Fannie (foster child), 209–11
Fatimah. See Green, Fatimah
federal government
Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, 263, 297
frequent changes in requirements and, 43–46
“positive tox” babies and, 61
fifteen-month ASFA cutoff, 43–45, 98, 120, 140, 276, 288
Florida, 164–66, 167
“forever families,” 226
foster care “drift,” 43, 44, 118–20
Foster Care Panic (late 1990s), 25–26
foster children. See also newborns; teenage foster kids; entries for specific persons
author’s own story and, xii–xiv
perceptions of parental fitness by, 53–57
reconnection with birth parents, 178–79
statistics on number of, xi, 265
time in foster care and, 268
trauma of multiple placements and, 89–94, 117–19, 122, 233
views of therapy and, 153–54
what they want from foster parents, 93–94
The Fostering Connection (TFC, NYC therapist group), 152–54
foster parents. See also Glenn; Green, Allyson; Green, Bruce; Keane, Mary; Mindy; support for foster parents; training of foster parents; Wilson, Steve
agency placement decisions and, 14–15, 103–4
demographics of, 75, 103–4, 280
difficulties with teens and, 106–8
emotional health of, 7–8
as interchangeable, 161–62
lack of agency support for, 235–38
letting go process and, 30–35, 37
licensure process for, 6, 75, 78
motivations of, 75–76, 92, 94
pay rates for, 75, 91, 92, 94, 105, 169
psychological training for, 91, 92–94, 108, 124, 159–60
recruitment of, 74–76, 80, 92
rejection of kids by, 82–84, 106–7, 235–38
relationships with birth parents, 38–42, 273
rights of biological parents and, 12–14, 31–35
shortfall of, 75, 280
what kids want from, 93–94
“foster-to-adopt” parents, 15–17, 79. See also Wilson, Shawn; Wilson, Steve; Wright, Bruce
Frankie (probation officer), xv, 266
Freud, Anna, 45
Frisby, Noble, 76–77
G
gay foster parents, 77–78. See also Wilson, Shawn
gay teenagers. See queer kids
Georgia, state of, 82–84
Gil, Eliana, 101
Giuliani, Rudy (New York mayor), 25
Glenn (foster parent), 226, 227, 228–33, 235–38
Goldstein, Joseph, 45
Gould agency. See Edwin Gould
Graham Windham at Hastings-on-Hudson (RTC), 128–31, 134, 212, 226
Green, Allyson. See also Green family
baby Allen’s birth father and, 38–42, 48
blame for failed placements and, 245–46
Dominique and, 109, 110, 158–59, 174, 175–76
dreams of, 7–9, 181, 182
Fatimah and, 170–71, 181–82, 184–85
parenting style and, 104–5, 109, 111–12
Russell and, 196–97
Green, Bruce. See also Green family
Dominique and, 110–11, 114–16, 158, 243–47
failed placements and, 243–44
fostering teens and, 102–5, 242–47
payment for foster parenting and, 92, 247
Green, Bruce, Jr., 111
Green, Charles, 111
Green, Fatimah, 9, 113–14, 153
adoption process for, 113–14, 170–73, 174
after adoption, 179–85, 245, 248, 250
biological mother of, 114, 170, 172, 180, 183–84
Chanel and, 172–73, 177
Dominique and, 157, 173, 256
hopes for adoption and, 113–14, 169–70
planned memoir of, 113, 171–72
running away and, 179–80, 181
Green, Jaleel, 42, 105, 109, 111
Green, Sekina, 7, 8, 9, 109, 111, 174, 182
Green family, 4–14
baby Allen and, 8, 9–14, 38–42, 48
battles and, 4–5
commitment of, 157, 159–60
Edwin Gould agency and, 103, 149, 157–58, 176, 243
failed placements in, 242–47
foster teens in, 102–5, 108–16, 176–79, 180
house rules and, 104, 108–9
group homes, 125, 202
adolescent sex offenders and, xvi
child abuse in, 54–55
costs for care in, 105, 283
critiques of, 132, 213, 214
Kecia’s view of, 135–36, 146–47, 148–49, 155–56
lack of love in, 135–36, 149
therapeutic services and, 154–55
guardian ad litem, 50, 164
guilt of leaving, xii–xiv, 53–57, 186–87
“hard-to-place” kids, xv, 103. See also teenage foster kids
Holy Cross Campus of Pius XII (RTC), 127–28
homelessness, and foster care, 192, 203, 223, 267, 295
You Gotta Believe! program and, 222–25
house rules, 104
I
identity crisis, 146
ILPs. See independent living programs (ILPs)
“imminent risk,” 19–20, 21
“Improved Outcomes for Children” (I.O.C.), 106–7
incarcerated parents
contacts with children and, 139, 287
drug treatment for, 66
outcomes for children and, 141
rights of, 139–40, 141, 288
independent living programs (ILPs)
agency services and, 208–11
effectiveness of, 203, 293
Keane’s home and, 206–8, 211–12
state programs for, 192, 199–200, 202–4, 293
teen fantasies about, 191, 192–202
institutional interactions, and reporting, 60–61
institutionalization. See group homes; residential treatment centers
“intensive family preservation services,” 45
Internet, and foster kids, 244–45
investigators, 20–22, 27–28. See also caseworkers
Izquierdo, Elisa, 25, 270
J
Jackson, Chester, 223–25
Jay Jay (Mary Keane’s adopted son). See Rosario-Keane, Jay Jay
John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (“Chaffee laws”), 203–4, 205, 208
Jonathan (foster child). See Cruz, Jonathan
“just staying” with foster kids. See also attachment; Keane, Mary; love
Dominique and, 157–61, 243–44
as goal in child welfare system, 259
the Greens and, 157–61, 243–44, 247–51
Kecia’s thesis about, 144–49, 155–56, 233, 247–48
as policy goal, 259
Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 36
juvenile hall, xv
juvenile justice and foster care, merging of, 133–34, 234–35
K
Kansas, 166–67
Keane, Mary, 122–23
Rosario kids and, 55
work with older teens and, 206–8, 211–21
You Gotta Believe! program and, 222–25, 227–28
Kecia (former foster child). See Pittman, Kecia
Kempe, C. Henry, 24, 88
“kinship care,” 6, 7. See also family members
L
Laurenceau, Doris, 227–30, 232, 233, 236
law guardian, 100
Lei (former foster child), 97–101, 187–88
as child welfare worker, 259–60, 261–62, 263
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in Manhattan, 74
lesbian teens. See Keane, Mary; queer kids
Lester, Barry M., 64–65
listening, 150–51, 263
Los Angeles County, 167–68
love. See also attachment; “just staying” with foster kids
as benefit to foster parents, 75–76
foster kids’ inability to, 116, 117, 148, 218
foster kids’ testing of, 123, 160–61
from foster parents, 123, 124
group homes and, 135–36, 145
Lowry, Marcia Robinson, 46–48, 275
M
mandated reporting, 6, 24
Martin (foster parent). See Wilson, Shawn
Mattingly, John B., 40, 106
maximum capacity, 9–10
mental disabilities in foster kids, xi, 195–97. See also Russell
methamphetamine, and babies, 64–65, 66, 279
Mindy (foster parent), 226, 227, 228–33, 235–38
Miracle Makers (foster agency), 99–100
Missouri Model, 134
“moral adoption,” 206–7, 209
Mothers’ Pension Programs, 87
multiple placements. See also attachment; failed placements
attachment disorders and, 150
“family team conferencing” period and, 10–12
kids’ emotional walls and, 117–22
maltreatment of foster kids and, 103, 113
reduction of, as goal, 267
rejection by foster parents and, 82–84, 241–42
N
National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR), 272
National Incidence Study (NIS) for Child Abuse and Neglect, 63
National Institute on Drug Abuse, 64
National Youth in Transition Database, by AFC, 293
NCCPR. See National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR)
neglect, xi, 18–19, 29, 268
newborns, 61–64
adoption process for, 76–82
drug-exposed, 60–61, 64–65, 74
racism in drug testing and, 61–64
New York City. See also ACS
average duration of foster care in, xi–xii
family court cases in, 267
IOC rules in, 106–7
privatization of foster care in, 166
Shirley Wilder case in, 275
SILP program in, 192
teen prostitutes in, 154–55
New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 23–24
New York State
Education and Training Voucher program in, 295
legislation in, 6, 23
rights of prisoners in, 139–40
NIS study. See National Incidence Study (NIS) for Child Abuse and Neglect
Noble (adopted baby). See Wilson, Noble
O
Obama, Barack (U.S. president), 167, 260
O’Brien, Pat, 222, 223–25
ODD. See Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD)
Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), in New York, 128
Oliver (Steve Wilson’s adopted baby), 15–17, 18–19, 29, 30–36, 50–53
Oneida (foster child), 226–27, 228–33, 235–42
Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), 35
Oregon, 93–94
outcomes, xi–xii, 102, 141. See also aging out; attachment; homelessness, and foster care; independent living programs (ILPs)
with birth vs. foster parents, 165, 272
Chaffee programs and, 203–4
crack babies and, 64–65
Dominique and, 252–58
“outdoor relief,” 85
oversight, lack of, 48. See also accountability
P
parens patriae, 270
parent advocate, 106, 108
parental rights
federal law and, 42–46
foster parents and, 12–14, 31–35
prison and, 139–40, 141, 288
removal of children and, 262
support for, 28–29
parental termination
ASFA and, 43–45, 139–40
contact with children and, 28–29
former foster kids’ views on, 56–57
incarcerated parents and, 139–41
permanency
attachment and, 35–37
baby Oliver and, 30–35
foster child’s view of failure and, 238–42
parents’ view of failure and, 235–38
“permanency planning goal,” 192. See also independent living
Pierce, Marchella, 27, 28, 271
Pittman, Kecia
attachment disorders in foster kids and, 144–46
biological mom and, 145, 147
group homes and, 135–36, 137, 146–47, 148–49, 155–56
importance of staying and, 155–56, 233, 247–48, 259
road to jail for, 146–48
Pleck, Elizabeth, 269
poverty. See also class disparities
attachment disorders and, 145
foster parent demographics and, 75, 280
historical social policy and, 85–87, 88–89
neglect and, 29
race and, 88–89
as risk factor for maltreatment, 63, 277
social reform and, 262
prenatal care, 65–66
prenatal drug exposure studies, 64–65
Preparing Youth for Adulthood (ACS pamphlet), 210
preventive social services
at ACS, 68, 271
family preservation as goal and, 51, 52, 274
funding for, 274
privatization, 165, 166–68, 290
promises to foster kids, 80, 114, 170
independent living and, 202, 204, 210–11
prostitution, 154–55
public education, 245–46
public opinion, and removal rate, 24, 25–26
Puritan ideology, 23–24
Q
queer kids, xv, 206–7, 268. See also Russell
Quiñonez, Christina, xiv–xvii, 167–68, 202, 215
R
race discrimination
foster care inequalities and, 61–64
in foster homes, 239–40
historical welfare policy and, 87–89
reporting and, xiv
Randolph Children’s Home, 130
removal of children
changes in, 2
62
historical reasons for, 85–87
investigator subjectivity and, 19–22
rate of, and public outrage, 24, 25–26
rights of biological parents and, 262
