Between 2008 and March 2013, the State placed 59 boys and 64 girls in foster care. Approximately 50 per cent needed to be fostered as a result of abandonment or death of relatives, said Clifton de Coteau, Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development, who delivered the feature address at a stakeholders’ consultation on draft foster care standards at Capital Plaza, Port-of-Spain, on Thursday.
“Of those children with foster care providers, 21 were awaiting adopting, 58 were placed in groups, 20 were traditional placements with a care provider and 14 were placed on respite due to emergencies,” de Coteau said. He said for the same period, there were 12 children who “aged out” of the foster care system when they reached 18, and 29 were reintegrated with their families.
In 1994, de Coteau said, Cabinet began a pilot project for the formal fostering of children up to age 18 under the purview of the Ministry of Social Development. “That project catered for children who were considered to be at risk, that is neglected, abused or abandoned. The project was officially launched in 1995 and originally catered for a maximum of 25,” de Couteau added. Saying there were still challenges to be ironed out, he said these included:
• the small pool of foster care providers
• limited providers who are suitable for the care of children and adolescents who are disabled or otherwise challenged
• adequate training for foster care providers in child care and records management
• the need for increased staff to effectively monitor children and foster care providers as well as group residences. This includes visits to homes to ensure the continued adequate provision of the child’s health, educational and welfare needs
• cases where children placed in homes have been victims of abuse, both physically and financially where the stipend provided was misappropriated, thus depriving the child of basic amenities
• unauthorised communication between relatives and children placed in foster care which could further endanger the child.
In moving forward, de Coteau said, the following must be considered:
• increased staffing to facilitate the appropriate assessment and monitoring functions
• establishing clear standards of care and record keeping of all foster care providers
• recruiting and training new and current foster care providers to evaluate the standards of care
• establishing functional collaborating protocols among social agencies dealing with vulnerable children and foster care providers.
On the Children’s Authority, de Coteau said this was expected to be fully operational by mid-2014 with the proclamation of the Children’s Community Residences, Foster Care and Nurseries Act, 2000.