(published
in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jan. 26, 2005)
Parenting
and protecting
A chance
for us to do a better job
By Kurt Senske
Special to the Star-Telegram
If
the state of Texas were a parent, it would stand
accused of severe neglect of those it should be
caring for: abused children.
The
state is guilty of withholding funding for programs
that would have:
•
Prevented abuse.
•
Provided sufficient resources to investigate allegations
of abuse and neglect.
•
Adequately and fairly compensated those who care
for and treat children who have been physically,
sexually and emotionally abused and neglected.
The
state's failures have been thoroughly investigated,
documented and publicized. Emergency action is
required.
And
now, like the parents who are held accountable
for their misdeeds and are given the opportunity
to rehabilitate themselves, Texas has before it
an action plan to get back on track.
The
$329 million reform plan for Child Protective
Services proposed by Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas
Health and Human Services Commission is a significant
step forward.
The
exhaustive proposal by the governor, as well as
legislation filed by lawmakers such as state Sen.
Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, and Rep. Suzanna Hupp,
R-Lampasas, advocate thoroughgoing reform of a
terribly dysfunctional system.
Texans
should be heartened by the fact that the proposals
being submitted are significant, not mere Band-Aids
to cover up a festering problem.
Lutheran
Social Services is privileged to care for 1,000
foster children throughout Texas every day in
foster homes. LSS also cares for more than 200
children with such severe emotional and behavioral
problems stemming from past abuse and neglect
that they must live in 24-7 secure, residential
treatment centers.
As
the largest provider of children's residential
services in the state, we see the toll that the
state's shortcomings are taking on our most vulnerable
and fear the impact it will have on our state's
future.
We
support proposals that call for increasing pay,
training and resources for the overworked and
underpaid Child Protective Services staff. We
applaud the move to focus the Texas Department
of Family and Protective Services' resources on
licensing, monitoring and regulating providers
to ensure that children in the foster care system
are safe and receiving the highest quality of
treatment and care available.
We
endorse proposals to privatize all direct care
programs, shifting those functions to organizations
like LSS, Catholic Charities, Buckner Baptist
and Jewish Family Services, which can access community
resources and provide personalized, exceptional
support to foster children and foster parents.
We
urge legislators to restore the rates that the
state pays to those who care for abused and neglected
children at least to the level they were before
the 2002 cuts went into effect. Failure to do
so will render all other steps meaningless.
Parents
in the foster care system who want to reunify
their families must commit to a multi-step plan
to make their families healthy and whole. The
79th Legislature has the opportunity to do the
same for our children.
The
steps are clearly outlined; now our elected officials
must follow through.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurt
Senske is chief executive officer of Lutheran
Social Services, which cared for more than 2,600
abused and neglected children in foster homes
and residential treatment centers in 2004. www.lsss.org
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