The stories were horrifying and heart-wrenching: a boy beaten bloody while in foster care; a 15-year-old girl tortured and starved to death by a mentally ill guardian; a 5-year-old fatally scalded by his mother after state officials removed him from a safe foster home.
It's no wonder such egregious cases of abuse and neglect have helped drive a 25-year-old lawsuit over how the Maryland Department of Human Resources and the Baltimore Department of Social Services care for the state's most vulnerable children and adolescents.
That's why the settlement announced this week between advocates for Baltimore's children and the city's foster care system represents a potentially tremendous step forward for the health and well-being of children in Maryland.
Some of the requirements:
1. The state must make sure children in its care have case plans and that they actually receive the health care, educational support and other services identified in those plans.
2. The agreement would allow the state to free itself from federal court supervision for the first time since 1988 if it meets dozens of specific goals and maintains that performance for an 18-month period.
3. Each caseworker will be responsible for no more than 15 children, and a single supervisor will be responsible for no more than six caseworkers.
4. The system has agreed to hire an outside expert with broad credibility in the field to monitor its progress and make periodic reports.
Full Article and Source:
A milestone for youths - Our view: Maryland now has a unique opportunity to fix its long-broken child welfare system; for the sake of future generations, it can't let that chance go to waste
It's no wonder such egregious cases of abuse and neglect have helped drive a 25-year-old lawsuit over how the Maryland Department of Human Resources and the Baltimore Department of Social Services care for the state's most vulnerable children and adolescents.
That's why the settlement announced this week between advocates for Baltimore's children and the city's foster care system represents a potentially tremendous step forward for the health and well-being of children in Maryland.
Some of the requirements:
1. The state must make sure children in its care have case plans and that they actually receive the health care, educational support and other services identified in those plans.
2. The agreement would allow the state to free itself from federal court supervision for the first time since 1988 if it meets dozens of specific goals and maintains that performance for an 18-month period.
3. Each caseworker will be responsible for no more than 15 children, and a single supervisor will be responsible for no more than six caseworkers.
4. The system has agreed to hire an outside expert with broad credibility in the field to monitor its progress and make periodic reports.
Full Article and Source:
A milestone for youths - Our view: Maryland now has a unique opportunity to fix its long-broken child welfare system; for the sake of future generations, it can't let that chance go to waste
This is good news for MD, but 25 years in the making? That part is outrageous!
ReplyDeleteYes, good newsw for society and for the state of Maryland but why did it take 25 years to iron this out? How many of these kids that survived their dangerous environments ended up taking their anger out on society in some manner?
ReplyDeleteHow many are drop outs?
How many are incarcerated?
Where are the abusers, now?
What's desperately needed is competent caseworkers. Without them, no program or law will work.
ReplyDelete