Increased oversight regarding foster care placements

Proposal draws on Marcus' life
Jennifer Baker, Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 6, 2006.

Law would require stricter oversight of foster parents
HAMILTON - A legislator is proposing a law to require stricter oversight of foster parents, aimed at avoiding another case like Marcus Fiesel's.

"Hopefully this short life will have a positive impact on all of us and save many, many children. One lost child is too many," said state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Ross Township, who is proposing the legislation.

"We sadly recognize the fact that we can't protect all the children, but we can make it easier for them through counseling, through education and through services that provide safe harbor for our children."

The changes were suggested by Rawnica Dillingham, executive director of the Mental Health Matters Inc., and would require:

-Foster parents to register with a statewide information center where all local police agencies could report criminal activity about any foster parent.

-Access for foster care placement agencies and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to check background databases and systems.

-Lying on applications to become foster parents would be a felony.

-Foster parents to report any major changes in circumstances that could affect the well-being of a child in their care, such as an additional adult moving into a home. If they fail to do so, they would be subject to losing their foster care license.

Marcus, a developmentally delayed 3-year-old Middletown boy, was in the custody of the Butler County Children Services Board.

He was placed in a foster home through Lifeway For Youth, a private agency the county pays to place and monitor foster children.

His foster parents, Liz and David Carroll Jr. of Clermont County, are accused of killing him and then making a false missing-persons report.

"The best way for Marcus Fiesel to be remembered, the greatest tribute we can offer to his memory, is to let Marcus know that his three short years on this earth made a lasting difference to all of the children of Ohio," Dillingham said.

Combs said the proposal will be reviewed by a lawyer and tweaked as it is drafted into a bill.It will be presented after the first of the year, once the newly elected House convenes.Ohio counties collectively pay hundreds of millions of dollars to almost 11,000 foster parents.

What the bill would do
The bill proposed Thursday would:
-Make it a felony to lie on an application to become a foster parent.

-Require foster parents to report major changes in circumstances that could affect the well-being of a child in their care. If they do not, they would face losing their foster care license.

-Grant foster care placement agencies and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services access to informational systems and require all foster parents to be registered with a statewide information center, where all local police agencies could report criminal activity pertaining to any foster parent.

-Establish a "right to treatment" for any abused, neglected or mistreated child under the jurisdiction of a child protection agency for any emotional or mental trauma, disorder or illness resulting from such circumstances.

-Make it a felony for any mother to recklessly use illegal drugs while pregnant. The mother would be charged only if a child is born with traces of illegal substances in his system and the mother has refused participation in a drug treatment program during pregnancy or upon the birth of the child. If she accepted treatment, she would not be charged.