In Arizona, family preservation and reunification is the ultimate goal in cases of child removal, with the exception of cases involving sexual abuse. Every resource must be used to attempt to achieve this goal. The State of Arizona prefers that the child is placed in the least restrictive environment. The following is considered least restrictive to most restrictive environments: parents, kinship, licensed foster placements, group home, and shelter care. Kinship is always encouraged to become licensed, because more resources are available to them and they are reimbursed significantly more than if unlicensed. If kinship is unavailable, they place children based on availability anywhere in the State of Arizona. A vast shortage of foster care homes is a tremendous problem and can cause many children to be placed far away from their homes.

When a child is removed, a team decision-making meeting takes place. The DCS employee and their supervisor, the parents and any of their support, and the outside agencies involved give their input and try to determine the best next step for the child or children. The child can remain at home or be removed after the team decision-making meeting. The child may be removed voluntarily, in which case the parents willingly allow the state to take temporary custody of their child for up to 90 days while they remedy their situation. Once children are placed in licensed foster homes, group homes, or shelter care, they are required within a certain time period to be taken to a medical and dental check-up. Children are automatically enrolled in the Comprehensive Medical and Dental Program (CMDP), in which they are provided coverage for everything but braces. Monthly child and family team meetings, which include service providers, take place to identify and assess any issues that the child may be having. If the child is having issues, they have access to therapy, family therapy, support groups, skill building, and countless other services. During this entire process, the child’s health and well-being is paramount.

The process of child removal is complicated and begins when someone suspects that a child has been abused or neglected. Mandated reporters, who include teachers, health officials, and others who work with children, must report any suspected abuse to the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline. From their report, officials determine the severity of the situation. P1 is the most severe classification and the response time is within two hours. Investigators interview school aged children at school and may remove the children at that time. They then immediately notify the parents of the removal. If they remove, they call PALS, which organizes placement for the children at Casa de los Niños or similar shelters, foster homes, group homes, or, ideally, with other family. Within 72 hours, the Preliminary Protective Hearing (PPH) occurs and the legal process ensues.

Sources:

https://www.azdes.gov/landing.aspx?id=9485

One of the most heartwarming and heart wrenching parts of volunteering at Casa de los Niños is seeing siblings interacting with each other. Most of the children admitted into Casa de los Niños have at least one sibling and some have many more. Siblings are separated into different age groups and are given time with each other every day. But throughout the day, when the groups see each other in passing, siblings will hug each other and proudly tell everyone, “ This is my sister/brother!” I have seen a new admit who was two years old say his sister’s name over and over again. At the most difficult time of this child’s stay at Casa de los NIños, his arrival, he was calling out for his sister, a 7 year old admit in a separate building, because she was the only person who took care of him at home. Later that day, when he saw his sister in a playground separated by a fence from him, they held hands through the fence and touched their foreheads together. It is scenes such as this that make me face the harsh reality about the children at Casa de los Niños: that they were disadvantaged since birth and that they will always face tremendously difficult circumstances as they grow up. For these children, it is a luxury just to spend time with their siblings.

I have witnessed many people with special needs in the child welfare system both at Casa de los Niños and at my home with foster people for whom my parents have provided care. Disabilities are represented disproportionately in the child welfare system because children with disabilities are 3.44 times more likely to be abused than children without disabilities. Within that group, children with different types of disabilities have different levels of exposure to abuse and neglect. Furthermore, abuse can often be the cause of a disability. From my experiences at Casa de los Niños, I have seen that children with disabilities must be treated differently than children without disabilities to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone. Although Primary Care Workers (PCWs) try to maintain a fair and equal environment for every child, they often must extend some flexibility to children with disabilities. For example, if a child with autism starts to throw a fit because they want a toy that no one else is allowed to have, they would most likely get their way and be given the toy. Otherwise, they might continue to throw a fit until they are a danger to themselves and other children. Despite this unequal treatment, all of the children at Casa de los Niños get along very well and they all seem accepting, to the greatest extent that a two year old can be accepting, of each other. Children with disabilities are given a tremendous amount of care at Casa de los Niños, not just from PCWs and nurses who are present 24/7, but also from specialists and external medical professionals. Everyone is aware of every child’s individual needs and behaviors.   

Sources:

http://www.thearc.org/what-we-do/resources/fact-sheets/abuse

An interesting and often overlooked aspect of the child welfare system is the cultural aspect. How are children from culturally rich backgrounds treated and taught? One way in which the law recognizes culture is with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. This law protects the interest of Native American families and tribal interest in their children. It mandates that Native American children placed in foster care must be placed in a member of the child’s extended family, a foster home approved by the child’s tribe, a Native American foster home, or an institution for children approved by the tribe. As each tribe has unique customs, so do they require unique boundaries in regard to this law. Historically, the United States government has forced a tremendous amount of cultural genocide on Native American people in forms of land seizure, boarding schools, and many other offenses. This law attempts to protect the future of Native American tribes. While I wholeheartedly agree with this law and its motives, I have seen some problems attached to it. I worked with a Native American child, an Eeyore with two siblings, since I began volunteering at Casa de los Niños. They lived at the shelter for at least five months, much longer than the 21 day maximum goal, because there were no available foster parents or adoptive parents from their tribe. Eventually, the court overruled the law and allowed all three siblings to be adopted by a non-tribal family. I understand the importance of this law and the historical precedent, but I feel morally uncertain when this particular situation occurs. Is the preservation of culture a significant enough cause to warrant a detriment to a child’s development?

Sources:

https://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/indianchildwelfareact.html

http://www.ncfs.navajo-nsn.gov/icwa.html