Giving Troubled Families a Say in Child Welfare

Jamie Rose for The New York Times
A mother, Misty, left, and her children met with social service workers in
McMinnville, Tenn., to discuss custody of her children.

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By LYNETTE CLEMETSON
Published: December 16, 2006
McMINNVILLE, Tenn. — In an effort to correct dysfunctional foster care
systems, a growing number of child welfare agencies around the country are
reaching outside their ranks to involve troubled families and the people in
their lives in wrenching decisions about where endangered children should
live.
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Jamie Rose for The New York Times
Social workers from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services are part
of the team approach to resolving Misty’s child welfare case.
Some agencies find that by enlisting help from grandparents, church members,
school counselors and sports coaches, they can reach faster, safer and more
lasting decisions that result in fewer children languishing in foster care.
Under the practice, known as team decision making, a group is assembled
within 24 to 48 hours after a state agency is called into a crisis situation

Programs exist in at least 21 states. Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee have
adopted the team-approach statewide, while other programs are run at the
county level. Officials in Denver County, Colo., credit the team approach
for a 32 percent drop in out-of-home placements since 2002. In Cuyahoga
County, Ohio, the program has reduced the number of children in foster care
by more than half since 2001. Tennessee has reduced the number of children
in state care by more than 1,000 since March 2004, when there were 10,600 in
the system.
Methods differ, but the philosophy is the same: that even families under
scrutiny from state agencies can help make positive decisions for their
children.
Some advocates for children say the strategy gives negligent parents too
much sway. But many child welfare officials believe the team process works.
Historically, “agencies called all the shots and told families everything
that was wrong with them,” said Viola P. Miller, commissioner of the
Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, who instituted her state’s new
model.
“But kids don’t exist in isolation,” Ms. Miller said. “If we are really
going to keep families safe, we need to do that in the context of
communities and family.”
In this rural outpost between Nashville and Knoxville, 12 people gathered
recently to decide whether Misty N., a 26-year-old single mother of four,
whose children were taken into state custody last February, deserved to get
them back.
“Let’s start by acknowledging Misty’s strengths,” said Carrie McCrary, a
group facilitator with the state, welcoming “Misty’s team.” The group
included Misty, her mother, the children’s court-appointed guardian, a local
Head Start coordinator, her older children’s school psychologist and several
social workers. One by one they offered affirmations.
Misty (who asked that her family members’ last names be withheld to protect
their privacy) had moved from a homeless shelter into a two-bedroom trailer
with her mother. Though Misty has mild retardation, she was absorbing newly
learned parenting skills, yelling at her children less and offering more
positive reinforcement. She was also providing nutritious food during visits
with her children.
And it was clear, everyone agreed, that she loved her children: Ramon, 6;
Domiann, 5; Roberto, 4, and Pedro, 2.
“We need to talk about the sex offenders,” Rachel Kirby, the children’s
court-appointed guardian, said, shattering the mood.
Misty had been living with a sex offender when her children were taken away.
She had a brief involvement with another.
“We just need to be clear,” Ms. Kirby said to Misty. “When you’re standing
in court, if there is a sexual offender in the home, that throws all the
other good work out the window.”
Around the country, where similar strategies are in place, a group can meet
for as long as two years, helping social workers assess whether families can
be reunited or whether children should be moved toward adoption or legal
guardianship, with relatives or an outside family. Groups sometimes continue
to meet after a placement to monitor children’s progress.
Child welfare agencies maintain ultimate power of approval, but deference is
given to the collective wisdom and recommendation of the team.
No comprehensive long-term studies have been conducted to assess whether the
team approach reduces incidents of child abuse. But in Cuyahoga County, Ohio,
which instituted its program in 1994, Jim McCafferty, director of the county’s
Department of Children and Family Services, credits team meetings with helping
reduce the number of children in the system to 2,702 this month from 6,237 in
2001, when the county’s largest city, Cleveland, was rebounding from a crack
epidemic. The number of children re-entering the system within 18 months dropped
to 9 percent in 2004 from 16 percent in 1996.

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