There’s no quick solution to foster care problems

Then-Gov. Nikki Haley started a campaign to increase foster homes after the Children’s Rights’ lawsuit, but they aren’t the holy grail to our state’s struggling foster care system.

In 2015, the advocacy group Children Rights helped 11 children sue Gov. Haley and Susan Alford, director of the Department of Social Services, for the inhumane treatment they received while in DSS custody. In the final settlement, Haley promised to improve South Carolina’s child welfare system by reducing caseloads for DSS workers and drastically reducing the number of children being placed in group homes and other institutions.

Although Michelle H. et al. v. Haley and Alford was well overdue and needed to expose the abuse happening to children while in foster care, there was very little in the settlement that would improve foster homes.

Shortening the foster care licensing process in order to rapidly increase the supply won’t fix the underlying problem of children being abused in all types of DSS placements. About half of the plaintiffs reported being abused in foster homes, so we cannot turn a blind eye to the abuse that happens there.

Alford has started a campaign to hire more case managers, which would reduce caseloads. Then face-to-face visitations could occur, and caseworkers could better monitor children in foster homes and group facilities. No one solution is more important than the next. While foster homes replicate a home environment, group homes are also useful, because they can implement different behavioral models that can help children overcome their traumatic experiences.

Foster homes need to be held to the same standards as group homes, with random inspections and continued support and licensing requirements, even after the child has been placed. South Carolina owes it to these children to explore all possible options and work tirelessly to fix our broken foster care system.