Strengthen state services to protect keiki

Skilled, compassionate foster parents are so essential to the state’s social safety net. Without any doubt, they deserve a system that recognizes their value to Hawaii families, especially its children.

The series of articles by Honolulu Star-Advertiser writer Rob Perez, which last week traced how things go so tragically wrong with the care of some of these children, plainly illustrated how far the state needs to go to strengthen that part of the safety net.

Some of the victims’ names and faces became prominent in the public consciousness owing to the high profile of particular cases. Peter Boy Kema, the 6-year-old who went missing in 1997, is an especially iconic, sad example. The series also reviewed, among other incidents, the fate of Zion McKeown, 4, who died from injuries allegedly stemming from violence at home. The child’s father and his girlfriend are facing murder charges.

These children must not be forgotten, and the quest to prosecute their killers must be pursued. There is no statute of limitations on murder, so the imperative to find justice remains.

But the welfare of many other children still in the state’s care demands that attention be paid to the way government fulfills its charge. The lawsuit arising from the 2009 death of 14-month-old Brayden McVeigh offers a rare insight into the workings of the state Department of Human Services, the agency that intervenes in such cases.

Circuit Court Judge Gary Chang ruled in August 2013 that DHS shared the blame for his death with the baby’s Navy father, Matthew McVeigh. Chang cited missteps by the child’s case worker, coupled with "the inaccuracy and sloppiness of DHS record-keeping" and the agency’s "deplorable state of documentation and communication."

At issue in many cases are the warning signs of trouble that are either missed or overlooked. The policy that encourages family reunification that has been in effect at DHS has its inherent weaknesses, especially when the agency workload per social worker is so high.

Department Director Pat McManaman defends the work of DHS, bolstering her argument with a supporting statistic from 2012, when 1.9 percent of Hawaii children exiting foster care suffered maltreatment within a half year. That’s the fourth-lowest rate in the U.S., where the national average sits at 5.4 percent.

That may be true, but increasingly there’s recognition that reunification can be wholly inappropriate and that having a robust foster care network is crucial to minimizing risk to children in troubled households. And Hawaii is plainly relying on reunification to a greater extent than other states. State and federal data show that about 70 percent of Hawaii children who left foster care were reunited with their families during the 2013 fiscal year, compared with 51 percent nationally. And while the rate has declined slightly elsewhere since 2005, Hawaii’s has jumped by nearly 19 percent over that same interval.

That trend seems to be heading in the wrong direction, an observation underscored in a February ruling by the state’s Supreme Court. The justices found that the DHS 2005 policy favoring family over permanent placements of foster children was inconsistent with state and federal law, which make the best interests of the child the standard.

If the state is to rebalance the disposition of child-protection services as it should, its leaders must strengthen the alternative course: placing children in foster care. The foster parents who provide that service must be made true partners in the mission of safeguarding these vulnerable children.

The most experienced among these parents derive fulfillment from their work and don’t do it for the money. Enlarging the corps of foster parents is necessary, but must be done with careful screening to find candidates with the right orientation and skill set.

That said, these are people who should be given adequate financial support from the state, and while reimbursements for board expenses and clothing allowances have been improved, more should be done. A lawsuit challenging current reimbursement levels is still pending.

Beyond the dollars and cents, these providers also require a system for seeking such assists that is easier to navigate than the current bureaucracy. There are state programs providing supplemental services and respite, but if there are too many hoops involved in accessing them, foster parents may not realize they’re available.

Even more critically needed by these parents is better communications with DHS — ostensibly, their "partners" — on the needs and condition of the children in their care. Some have reported that their input about prospects for family reunification is shrugged off, and that officious attitude toward these service providers needs to end.

McManaman has pledged to dispatch her staff on listening sessions with foster parents statewide to learn more about the challenges facing foster families, and that pledge must be fulfilled. These are people who form the bulwark of the state’s protection for vulnerable children, and the state has much to learn from them.