The Board of Supervisors called Tuesday for changes to make it easier for foster families to manage visits by children’s biological parents.
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Michael Antonovich co-authored the motion, hoping to clear the way for more foster parents and relative caregivers to open their homes to children in need.
Courts often mandate visits by biological parents to help maintain family relationships and allow for possible reunification. Visits may be one to three hours long and can happen more than once a week.
That commitment keeps some potential foster parents from agreeing to take in a child, Kuehl said.
The motion asked Department of Children and Family Services personnel to come up with a plan for staffing, ride-sharing, family-friendly sites and other ways to make visitation work.
“Because we already ask so much of our current and prospective resource families, it’s important that the county be as supportive as possible to those who are stepping up to provide a temporary, safe and loving home for our kids,” Kuehl said.
Antonovich cited Family Connect Pasadena, a program run out of All Saints Church, as a model. The program recruits and trains church volunteers to monitor family visits at designated family-friendly sites. Volunteers are consistently paired with the same family.
Keeping biological parents involved is important, as research shows that ongoing contact helps build parenting skills, improves foster children’s social and emotional health and shortens the time in foster care.
“A major goal of the child welfare system is to reduce foster care placements and achieve permanency for children,” Antonovich said.
The median time to reunification in Los Angeles County is roughly 10 months, nearly double the national standard, according to the motion.
A report back is expected in 90 days.
–City News Service