HELP FOR FOSTER PARENTS AND DRUG USERS

DYFS Reform Boosts Stipends And Adds Treatment Opportunities

The state would raise the monthly allowance for foster parents by more
than 40 percent and provide 2,200 new drug treatment openings for
addicted parents over the next five years under the latest draft of
its plan to overhaul the Division of Youth and Family Services.

Teenage foster children -- the most often-overlooked segment of the
child welfare population -- would see a boost in services to help them
find permanent homes and prepare for life on their own when they reach
adulthood, according to the plan.

State officials have privately estimated the first-year cost of
court-ordered reforms at the troubled child protection agency at more
than $125 million. The latest draft of the plan, dated Monday and
obtained by The Star-Ledger last night, puts the cost of expanded drug
treatment at $57 million and the additional services for teens at $10
million, but it lacks many other specifics about costs.

Acting Human Services Commissioner James Davy said yesterday the plan
is still very much a "fluid" document, and with a week to spare before
its Feb. 18 due date, "we will use every minute to get it done." He
declined to comment on specifics of the plan before it is completed.

Davy did offer a progress report on ongoing changes he's making within
the agency. He said it has closed 2,056 of a backlog of 6,000 cases
involving children identified as being in safe hands and no longer in
need of state intervention. DYFS also has licensed 126 new foster
homes in the past month and an additional 200 potential foster parents
are undergoing home reviews and training.

Gov. James E. McGreevey's administration agreed to overhaul the $550
million agency to settle a class-action civil rights lawsuit on behalf
of foster children brought by Children's Rights Inc. of New York. The
settlement last summer requires the state to present a reform plan to
an expert panel monitoring the reforms.

Highlights of the draft plan include:

* Significant raises in the monthly stipends for foster parents
as well as for relatives raising orphaned or mistreated children. For
the first time, relatives would earn the same amount of money as
nonrelated foster parents.

Currently, the "board rate" paid to foster parents starts at $420 for
the youngest children and rises to $500 for teens. "Kinship homes," in
which children are placed with relatives, receive a flat $250 per child.

The plan calls for gradual increases in those rates, the first in six
years. The rate for the youngest children, for example, would rise to
$594 a month -- a 41 percent increase for foster parents, and more
than double what relatives now receive. The plan also leaves room to
adjust the monthly fees higher over time.

Doing so would "more accurately reflect the cost of raising a child in
New Jersey," according to the plan. "People willing to consider foster
and or adoptive parenthood should be respected, honored and supported
throughout the process."

* A dramatic expansion of drug treatment programs for addicted
parents, as well as teenagers under DYFS supervision.

Davy last week announced a $10 million push to add 760 outpatient and
inpatient beds this year, but the administration's long-term plan goes
much further. The plan proposes adding 1,420 additional long- and
short-term treatment beds over the next four years. The plan also
contemplates adding 125 inpatient and 625 outpatient openings for
teenage drug users over the next five years.

* Expanded services for teenagers under the care of DYFS.

DYFS officials would keep teenagers' cases open past the age of 18 if
they choose, automatically enroll every teen leaving the system in
Medicaid, and develop 200 transitional living units over the next five
years. Every DYFS office will train several workers to specialize in
adolescent care and make a concerted push toward finding adolescents
adoptive homes "until at least their 16th birthdays." Those willing to
adopt teens would qualify for a one-time tax credit, respite care and
mental health services in the home.

"Like many other child welfare systems, New Jersey is reluctant to
acknowledge adolescents' abuse and neglect, and to permit them to
enter the system even when they desperately need to -- thus consigning
them to situations that can include homelessness, drug and alcohol
addiction or dealing and prostitution," the plan says.

The DYFS plan, as previously reported in The Star-Ledger, also
includes hiring 1,100 new employees to reduce caseloads.

Human Services officials also envision changing the way caseworkers
investigate abuse and assist troubled families. Some workers would be
assigned to investigate abuse and receive extensive forensic training,
while others would focus on "permanency," assisting birth, foster and
adoptive families in providing stable homes.

"Separating the protective and permanency functions will also improve
our ability to coordinate with law enforcement and medical providers
in cases of severe maltreatment which may require criminal
prosecution," the report said.

Those few who have seen the draft plan generally praised the
effort.

"I am impressed with the scope of the plan," said Cecilia Zalkind,
executive director of the child advocacy group, the Association for
Children of New Jersey. "It seems to touch upon the relevant issues
and makes connection with other systems that seem important.

In particular, Zalkind said she supported the expansion of drug
treatment services and separating out investigations. "Caseworkers
cannot be both the policeman and support worker," she said.