Concern about negative stigma attached to foster parenting

Boy's Death Attaches Stigma To Foster Parenting
Area Agencies Struggle To Recruit Prospective Parents
WLWT, March 24, 2008.

CINCINNATI -- Efforts to recruit foster parents in three southwest Ohio counties have foundered since the death of a child who was bound and left in a closet.

Tough background checks were instituted to weed out bad risks, but the increased scrutiny also led good prospective foster parents to walk away.

"There's been a negative stigma attached to foster parenting," said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. "A lot of people have gotten out of it because of that; they don't want the extra scrutiny."
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Some background checks have uncovered serious offenses, such as child endangering or felonious assault; others show minor traffic violations. The checks have spooked people with any sort of record, Gregg said.

Hamilton County has contracts with about 260 private foster homes, about one-third fewer than two years ago, Gregg said.

Background checks came about after the August 2006 death of Marcus Fiesel, a 3-year-old developmentally delayed boy who was placed by Butler County with a couple in Clermont County. Both counties border Hamilton County.

The boy died when he was bound and left in a closet while his foster parents, who were convicted of his murder, attended a weekend family reunion in Kentucky. Investigators later found the couple's background should have raised numerous red flags about their fitness to be foster parents.

A year ago, Hamilton County created a system to compare the names of foster parents, and those who applied to be foster parents, with police and court records. The system was expanded last fall to include national databases.

To make up for its shortfall, Hamilton County kicked off a $1 million campaign in January to recruit 100 new foster homes. The TV ads show ordinary people in tights and a cape performing everyday functions, like washing dishes or taking out the trash. It calls them "Everyday Heroes" whose status is confirmed by their willingness to take foster children into their homes.

The agency also is setting up recruiting events at libraries, coffee shops and adoption fairs, and is doing some direct mailing.

So far, 157 people have responded to the ads, Gregg said. But it takes four to six months to get through the process of becoming a foster parent, so it's too early to say how many will end up being certified.

The Clermont County Department of Job and Family Services has scheduled a series of public presentations through May to attract foster parent prospects.

"We know many people in Clermont County have thought about becoming foster parents but are concerned about how it will affect their lives and families," said department Director Tom McCartney.

Butler County Children Services is running television spots and a mail-in campaign aimed at prospective foster parents, hoping to reduce the number of children sent to other counties.

"Our first priority is the kids, and staying close to home is what's best for them," said Director Mike Fox. "It enables us to serve them better."

Fox said the shortage of local placements predates the death of Marcus Fiesel, and that about 70 percent of Butler County children living in foster care are sent out of the county.

Gregg said Hamilton County has about 850 children in foster care on any given day, and that about 30 percent of them must be sent outside the county.

Recruiting foster parents is a statewide problem, he said.

"Everybody's having trouble recruiting," said Karen Jorgenson, executive director of the National Foster Parent Association based in Gig Harbor, Wash. She said reimbursement is a problem, particularly in Ohio.

"It's not just because of the scrutiny," she said. "It's the cost of living, of two parents working, although, indeed, negative press does have an impact."

She said Ohio's reimbursement rate is way below the national average of $501 a month for a school-age child. Ohio's basic rate of $275 a month, regardless of the child's age, she said, while the true cost of care is $727 – and more for a teenager.

"We are working with Ohio, advocating a change there," Jorgenson said.

"We're not in it for the money. But we at least want our cost covered."