Montgomery Co. Criminal Justice Information System is better than relying on self-reporting

Keeping track of foster parents vital
McCarty, Mary. Dayton Daily News, March 8, 2007, pg. A4.

What if Butler County Children Services had been aware that David Carroll Jr. had been arrested on domestic-violence charges several months before the death of his foster son, Marcus Fiesel? A merry-eyed 3-year-old boy might be alive today.

His death is already making a difference for foster children in Montgomery County. Since the beginning of the year, every arrest is checked against the names of foster parents licensed through Montgomery County Children Services.

In the past, a criminal background check would be conducted on every potential foster parent. But once parents entered the system, many months could elapse before Children Services learned of a fresh arrest.

After Marcus' death, then-Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Dan Foley vowed he would do something about that. He already had the tool he needed: the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Information System, a database that enables officials to access countywide records going back to 1999.

"In the past, foster parents were told they had to self-report — and that system is only as good as the people expected to do it," said Children Services spokeswoman Ann Stevens. "This will tighten things up."

Stevens said the agency received its first alert last week. "We'll review the charge and determine if it puts the child at risk in the home," she said.

Foley, now a Montgomery County commissioner, said the database so far only includes foster parents licensed through Children Services, rather than private agencies. He is working with fellow commissioners Judy Dodge and Debbie Lieberman to close that loophole, as well as to expand the database to Miami and Warren counties. (Greene County already has been incorporated.)

"Sometimes it takes a tragedy to get things changed," said new Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Greg Brush. The response here appears in stark contrast to what is happening in Hamilton County, where Clerk of Courts Greg Hartmann has been battling to obtain the names of 445 foster parents licensed through private agencies. Hamilton County Job and Family Services has refused to provide them.

"Thank goodness we haven't had that problem," Brush said. "Everybody is cooperating and participating. Nobody is being parochial and saying, 'Don't tell me what to do.' "

That doesn't surprise former Montgomery County Commissioner Vicki Pegg, the woman who initiated the criminal justice database eight years ago to track domestic violence cases.

"What makes the difference here is the combined human services levy," she said. "Agency directors know each other. If you communicate, you trust."

Children Services' Stevens has noticed another, more troubling development since Marcus' death: Fewer people have been inquiring about becoming foster parents.

"This is one isolated tragic case and on a daily basis there are thousands of kids who are doing great in foster care," she said.

While it's important for foster parents to be monitored more carefully, it's equally critical for good parents to step forward. "It's really other foster parents who can convince other people they can take on this challenge," Stevens said. "They're the best recruiters we have."