There is a shadow system of foster care, the so-called "hidden foster care".
Hidden Foster Care describes the practice of child protection agencies either separating children from their parents or placing restrictions on families without the involvement or approval of a court. Children are subjected to the trauma of family separation but there is no meaningful check on agency decision-making, leaving families deprived of supportive efforts to stay together or reunify. Even where a parent is truly unable to care for their child, hidden foster care deprives relatives of access to kinship stipends and supports.
How do children land up in hidden foster care?
Parents who are under investigation by Child Protection Services are told that they have they can enter into a "voluntary safety plan". This plan entails that parents agree that their children be placed with relatives or friends instead of being removed and placed in formal foster care.
Under the guise of a voluntary agreement, parents are told that if they don't agree their children will be immediately removed into foster care. This option is presented to parents in a domineering and inappropriate manner.
Although it might seem to be a better option than the removal of children into legal custody, it's not necessarily the case. No support is given to the child or the temporary caregiver. Also, no reunification plans are put in place. The goal should always be the reunification of the children and the parents as soon as possible.
Child Trends refers to these informal arrangements as “the most common out-of-home placement, with approximately half of children removed from their homes ending up in a diversion arrangement.” Little is known or tracked about the children and families impacted by hidden foster care because these placements are not part of federal reporting requirements. It is challenging to determine a precise number, but a Child Trends analysis estimated 100,000 to 300,000 children are diverted from foster care in this fashion per year.
What can be done about this?
The Parental Rights Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted a coalition statement to the United States Senate Finance Committee on 4 June 2024.
This statement urges the committee to urgently call for the tracking of data regarding families and children that get divided by "hidden foster care".
Since the adoption of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (FFPSA), the Child Protection Services have sought to reduce the number of children taken into formal foster care. This was accomplished by sending children to rather live with relatives.
FFPSA also allows federal dollars to be spent on programs for the prevention of foster care.
When the Family First Prevention Services Act was passed, Congress could not foreseen that "hidden foster care" would be one of the outcomes.
The statement to the Senate Finance Committee emphasizes this inconsistency and that it's Congress’s responsibility to examine the law and it's effects on families.
In order to examine those effects is to require states to gather data about families being separated. This data can be gathered by getting answers to the following questions:
How many families were thusly separated last year?
How many of them were later reunited?
How long were the children out of their parent’s care?
Was the parent ever substantiated for abuse or neglect?
The Parental Right Foundation and their 24 coalition partners know that this statement won't bring the necessary change as it's not a bill but it was an opportunity to present their concerns to the US Senators. Hopefully, sooner than later, a stand-alone bill will follow to address these issues.
Thank you for reading.
https://www.unitedfamilyadvocates.org/hidden-foster-care
https://www.casey.org/hidden-foster-care/