New Effort Begins to Find Permanent Homes for More Foster Kids

As part of an effort to help Georgia’s foster children make a “lifelong connection,” the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Family and Children Services (DHR DFCS) is partnering with a nationally-renowned private foundation that specializes in helping child welfare agencies find permanent homes for more children.

Seattle, Washington-based Casey Family Programs is investing several million dollars over the next few years to strengthen DFCS’ ability to find permanent homes for some of its most difficult child welfare cases. Children who are older, have developmental disabilities or behavioral illnesses, or who belong to large sibling groups often face serious obstacles when trying to find permanent homes. Casey has a track record for helping states develop best practices that overcome these barriers.

“Permanency is something we’ve always done,” said Mark A. Washington, DHR assistant commissioner who oversees DFCS. “Since 2004, we’ve helped more children find a permanent, loving home. But the reason some of these youth are still not home is that there are major road blocks for them. Now we’re building new bridges. Working with Casey, we’ve developed an attack plan that targets each case and finds a solution for permanency.”

DHR began its partnership with Casey in spring 2008 to identify strategies for placing more foster children in permanent homes. Later, DHR and Casey escalated their work to help DHR settle a legal dispute on December 11 with Children’s Rights Inc. While that agreement begins with foster children in Fulton and DeKalb counties, DHR expects to apply the “permanency” strategies it was already developing with Casey throughout Georgia. Those strategies emphasize several options for foster children, including reunifying them with their existing families, placing them with relatives or legal guardians, or finding them adoptive homes.

“Different solutions work for different children,” Washington said. “But our goal is a lifelong connection for every child. We look forward to working with private providers to help make that connection.”

DHR is working with Casey Family Programs to conduct case reviews, called “Permanency Roundtables,” to determine the specific barriers a particular child faces to a permanent home solution. The Permanency Roundtable is a Casey best practice that unites child welfare case workers with other stakeholders to create a comprehensive strategy on a case-by-case basis. In addition, Casey is helping DFCS hire “master practitioners” – highly skilled workers whose sole focus is examining permanency strategies for youth – and create reporting measures to track efforts. DHR is also establishing a Permanency Unit that coordinates efforts to find more permanent solutions for more children.

DHR’s latest efforts build on years of work to transform Georgia’s child welfare system. Since 2004, DHR has added new case workers and reduced the number of Georgia children in foster care by 21 percent. Each year, more children leave foster care than enter it. And children are spending less time in foster care than before (in 2003, the average stay in foster care was 22 months before permanency. Today, the average stay is 19.9 months). Five years ago, a child seeking adoption waited 44 months on average to find a new home. Today, the average wait is about 38 months.

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Snakes Move In As Foreclosures Mount

(NAPSI)-As if the home-foreclosure mess wasn't bad enough, now there's a new twist to worry about: snakes.

Communities in states like Florida, California, New York, Virginia and Ohio have seen sharp rises in the amount of wildlife-everything from snakes to rats to bees-infesting abandoned properties since the home mortgage crisis began playing out. That's because as people lose their homes, the abandoned properties often go unmanaged. As a result, walls become moldy, swimming pools sit untreated, grass and weeds grow wild and animals soon move in.

And with some analysts predicting that as many as 2.8 million homeowners could wind up losing their homes to foreclosure by the end of 2009, the problem is only likely to get worse.

"Anything that's not maintained creates a potential attraction for a lot of opportunistic wildlife," Scott McCombe, general manager for Critter Control of Northern Virginia, told The Washington Post regarding the problems he's been seeing.

In Brevard County, Fla., for example, 235 new cases of overgrown, abandoned lots have left remaining residents deeply concerned about potential danger to their families.

"I've got grandkids-I have to worry about a snake biting them," says Sara Peterson, who lives next door to one of the foreclosed and abandoned houses. "It's really sad."

Meanwhile, California residents have been warned about a growing risk of West Nile disease as abandoned pools on foreclosed properties become mosquito breeding grounds.

Clearly, part of the $300 billion housing bill recently signed into law by President Bush is intended to address the situation. A total of $3.9 billion was specifically earmarked for communities to fix up foreclosed properties causing blight.

So what's a homeowner to do if confronted by a snake?

"Stay alert and stay away from the snake-don't try to capture or remove it," advises Dr. Rutherfoord Rose of VCU Medical Center and director of Virginia Poison Center in Richmond, Va. He offers these additional tips:

• If you're bitten, contact your local poison center at (800) 222-1222 for advice on hospital care. Immobilize the limb and keep it elevated until you get to the closest hospital.

• In high grass or areas with debris that snakes may be hiding under, make noise so you don't surprise them.

• Wear high-cut boots and long pants for protection when doing yard work.

Finally, never try to suck snake venom out of a wound since it's only likely to make things worse.

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Memorial Tree-Planting Honors Fallen 3rd Infantry Division Troops

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Deborah Mullen and Army Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, commanding general, 3rd Infantry Division, visit Warriors Walk, a memorial grove on Fort Stewart, Ga., June 11, 2008. The garden memorializes 3rd ID soldiers killed in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Three additional trees were planted here today (June 11, 2008) along Warriors Walk, bringing to 411 the number of Eastern redbud trees in the memorial honoring fallen 3rd Infantry Division soldiers who died in Iraq.

Family members and fellow 3rd Infantry Division soldiers gathered for the somber ceremony as Army Command Sgt. Maj. McArthur Dixon, the rear detachment command sergeant major, called out the fallen soldiers' names. Army Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, the 3rd Infantry Division commander, remembered the soldiers as heroes who sacrificed for the country.

Army Pvt. Kyle P. Norris, 22, died May 23 after an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle as it patrolled in Balad. Two of the soldiers died in Iraq of noncombat injuries: 25-year-old Army Pvt. Ronald Harrison died April 22 at Forward Operating Base Falcon, and Army Spc. Mary J. Jaenichen, 20, on May 9 in Iskandariyah.

The simple tree-planting ceremony took place along Cottrell Field, a parade ground that was a site of celebration recently when 3rd Infantry Division soldiers returned from their third deployment to Iraq.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrapped up a visit here yesterday strolling through the grove alongside Lynch. They walked slowly through the grounds, pausing frequently to reflect on the small granite markers at each tree bearing a soldier's name. U.S. and unit flags at the base of each tree blew in the wind, and wind chimes dangling from many of the branches sent soft tinkling sounds through the grounds.

Mementos left at each tree told the personal stories of the soldiers honored. Two miniature motorcycles and a golf ball rested under the tree for Army Staff Sgt. William J. Beardsley, who died in February 2007 when an IED detonated near his vehicle in Diwaniyah.

Two wind chimes, a pinwheel and a flower arrangement graced the tree honoring Army Spc. Adam Harting, a 21-year-old who died in Samarra in July 2005.

A plaque engraved with a photo of Army Sgt. Nathan Bouchard carried a message of inspiration: "Greater love hath no man than that a man lay down his life for his friends. RECON." Bouchard was among four 3rd Infantry Division soldiers killed Aug. 18, 2005, when an IED detonated near their Humvee following a mine-assessing mission in Samarra.

Other tokens rested at the bases of other trees: a pack of cigarettes, a bottle of beer, a religious plaque and a crystal angel among them. Each night, a miniature spotlight casts a glow on each tree.

After walking through Warriors Walk yesterday, Mullen stopped to reflect, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked down the long rows that began with 34 trees planted during the 2003 dedication ceremony.

Garrison Commander Army Col. Todd Buchs said it's fitting that the division's heroes are honored in a way that will allow future generations to read their names and know of the sacrifices they made.

When the trees bloom each April, it's a tribute to the achievements the brigade made – and losses it suffered -- in April 2003 when it led the drive into Baghdad during its first deployment to Iraq, he said.

Army 1st Lt. Oscar Blasingame, whose legal services office sits directly across the street from Warriors Walk, said he visits it frequently and attends the tree-planting ceremonies "to remind myself of why I'm here."

Blasingame is an Army reservie soldier from Florida who volunteered to serve with the 3rd Infantry Division because of his strong family ties to the storied unit. Sitting on his desk is a photo of his grandfather and the victory medal he earned serving with the division in Marne, France, during World War I when it earned the motto, "Rock of the Marne."

Warriors Walk, he said, provides a reminder of the sacrifices 3rd Division soldiers continue to make, he said.

Army Pvt. Jonathan Goad, who joined the division last month, visited Warriors Walk with a friend just back from Iraq during his first days at Fort Stewart. "He lost a couple of friends there, so it was a very emotional day," said Goad, who expects to deploy with his new unit late next year.

As he walked among the trees, Goad said, he felt a sense of brotherhood with the fallen soldiers, knowing that he is taking up the cause they fought and died for. "I felt a sense of pride and a sense of unity with them," he said.

Goad said he recognizes that he, too, will go into harm's way serving with the division. But after feeling the terrorist threat personally at a young age, he said, he feels it's his duty.

A last-minute schedule change saved Goad's mother from being at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., when it was bombed in April 2005. Goad remembers his sixth-grade class music trip into Oklahoma City getting disrupted as rescue workers rushed to the scene to search for survivors.

But the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks were the clincher, convincing Goad to join the military.

"I pretty much felt the call to serve," he said. "I've always felt that we should have a sense of pride and a willingness to make this country a better place and a safer place."

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service