Safe and Timely Interstate Placement

Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act of 2006

For many years, there have been provisions in place to help children move through the foster placement system. Unfortunately, many of those children languished for months or even years and were not placed with families quickly and efficiently (Yancey, 1998). Foster children that were eligible for adoption waited much too long to find the forever homes for which they were looking, even if the people in those homes were actively seeking to adopt them. Originally, it also took a long time for the appropriate agencies to assess a home when it came to placing a child in foster care (Yancey, 1998). When these children would be crossing state lines to be placed into care, the delays could be great. Because of that, it was clear that changes were needed in order to make sure that it would be no longer than 60 days for assessment of a home that would be used as a foster home (HR 5403, 2006).

The Act discussed here was developed to avoid some of the problems that interstate foster placement caused in the past - most notably the length of time it took for a child to be placed with a family. Social security works in conjunction with this Act because it provides monetary incentive to take in foster children who have disabilities or other problems for which social security disability is paid. Some children who have lost their parents can also obtain social security payments to help them and provide them with some income, so some people who take in foster children make money by doing so. While social security offers that to foster children, the goal has always been to ensure that children who are placed in foster care are placed with families who want to care for them. Providing incentive payments, however, helps to get more children placed into families that can and will care for them properly.

Current Status of Policy

The Act took effect on the 1st of October in 2006 (HR 5403, 2006). Since that time, the policy has not been repealed or changed, and is still operating in the same way it was when it began. It provides incentives for people to adopt children who need a loving home, and it helps to ensure that people who want foster children can get a home visit and approval to be foster parents more quickly than they could in the past. That is good news for them, and also for the children who are in the system and who need loving homes. Whether those children are simply cared for as foster children or whether they are eventually adopted by their foster parents, providing them with a stable home is one of the most important things that can be done. Children need stability, and it is difficult to get that when they are not able to get into a good, long-term foster home that has been approved and where they will be treated well (Stone & Stone, 1983). Finding a good foster home means that a child can start to feel a sense of belonging that he or she might not have had in the past.

Now that the Act has been in use for several years, the current policy provides children with more options. That is due to the fact that the children who need homes will now have the option to travel to a different state to go to a foster home. That could have been done in the past, but it was much more difficult and often took months to arrange. Since it was so much trouble, many placement agencies would not consider it and the people who wanted to take in foster children focused only on children who were in the same state. Now the policy is that the home will be reviewed for foster placement within 60 days through coordination of the agencies between the two states (HR 5403, 2006). That improves the options and he odds for children who are in need of foster care and who are looking for homes that they can get into where they will feel welcome and safe.

Description of Policy

The policy has 14 main sections. The first two address the name of the Act and the sense of Congress. The third section is focused on the orderly and timely process that will be used when it comes to interstate foster placement, because that process was not as complete in the past. The fourth section details home studies. That section is particularly important, because it amends the length of time that can pass before a home study is done and a foster placement determination is made. Children who are waiting for foster placement should be placed as soon as possible (Sobel & Healy, 2001), and with the changes to the Act and the modifications that it brings to social security, that is more likely. Section five requests that state agencies cooperate with the court so that there is no hold-up when it comes to placing children with foster families. In section six, caseworker visits are addressed and it is indicated that a privately-contracted company can provide those visits, as long as it is approved by the state. Section seven focuses on the health and education records of foster children, who can see them, and how to expedite them when needed.