Editorial: No secret caretakers
Identities of foster parents should remain on records open to public scrutiny
Columbus Dispatch, May 17, 2007, pg. A8.
Otherwise laudable legislation aimed at improving the foster care of abused and neglected children in Ohio is marred by a provision that would undermine the intent of the law.
Bills in the House and Senate mandate FBI-level background checks for prospective foster parents and increase coordination among child-welfare agencies, both steps that reduce the risk of putting children in danger. But the measures would take away an important safety check by hiding the names of foster parents from the public.
Proponents of making the names secret claim this is necessary to avoid discouraging potential foster parents and to protect them and the children from biological parents angry about the placement.
But the benefits of publicly identifying potential foster parents far outweigh any drawbacks. Most important, it allows anyone who knows some reason that a person would be unfit as a foster parent to come forward with that information.
Counties rely on many private agencies to screen candidates for foster parenting. The best way to hold those agencies accountable for that critically important task is to put the results before the public.
The plan for secrecy probably was inserted into the legislation as a reaction to The Cincinnati Enquirer's request for the names and addresses of every Ohio foster parent.
The state refused the request in October, and the newspaper has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear arguments on whether the names should be public.
Those opposed to public accountability hope to make the issue go away by enshrining the refusal in state law.
But lawmakers who understand the importance of public oversight, especially of something as important as caring for children in need, should work to remove this provision.
Other measures within the bills could improve substantially agencies' ability to spot potential problems. Now, authorities have little means of knowing whether foster parents with previously clean records have committed crimes that should disqualify them. The bills would create a database of foster parents' fingerprints so that if a foster parent is arrested for any of a designated list of offenses, state and county agencies would be notified automatically.
More-extensive background checks also are mandated, as is more training for foster parents. A pilot program would be launched in 10 counties to match the needs of foster children with the capabilities of the people who might care for them.
Legislators should enact the valuable safeguards without cutting public scrutiny of foster parents out of the picture.
