Foster Care Controversy
According to the President of the National Authority for Child Protection, Bogdan Panait, measures to modify the existing legal provisions for foster care are the concern of social and non-governmental organizations in this field. In the process of amending the draft law, it has been stipulated that the validity of the certificate will be reduced to two years, and the foster carer must have completed at least ten school grades.
Bogdan Panait said that he wants the foster carers to be trained as real professionals, and for foster care to no longer be seen as a hidden form of adoption. He also states that foster carers should no longer be able to adopt the children in their care.
In yesterday's article, I presented the basis of this draft law to amend the statues regarding foster care, and today I will present views for and against this act from the President of the National Authority for Child Protection (ANPDC) and Danut Fleaca, Director of the Department of Social Assistance (sector 1).
Bogdan Panait: "Two years of foster care at the most."
It is very important that the individual plan for the child involves being re-integrated into their family or extended family. If this is not possible, and I'm referring mainly to children under two years, then national adoption must be sought. In cases where this cannot be done, it is necessary to promote more substitute families which can form a stage between foster care and adoption. It won't be a compulsory stage. The child will remain in foster care for a maximum of two years in order to force authorities to make a professional decision about the child. We promote long-term family subsitutions in cases where an adoptive family cannot be found.
I do not agree with such adoptions because the foster carer is a professional, qualified in their respective field. Often, authorities and foster carers consider foster care a hidden form of adoption. The foster carer needs to be a professional who understands how to prepare the child for re-integration into the natural or extended family. When the foster carer adopts a child, he withdraws from foster care, and becomes just like any other person or family.
I haven't included this in law, but personally, I don't think ...
that will be a choice that
local authorities will make, but personally I think that he will no longer be able to demonstrate the qualities for this profession. I consider that I have a contract with a particular person who is prepared for a particular job. At the moment at which they choose a different role, then certainly you will have to reconsider their position in the contract. But I repeat, this is not a definite decision and I think it will be left to the local authorities to decide. A large number of foster carers may opt for family substitution. We will give a reasonable deadline for current contracts to be completed according to the current law, after which recruitment of foster carers will have to be in accordance with the new law.
Danut Fleaca: "How many foster carers have completed 10th grade?"
Among directors, it is considered good to create these professional foster carers for children with disabilities, where it would actually be desirable to have college graduates. But if a child is normal, with no psychological problems, and without disabilities or sickness, what prevents a woman of 45, who meets all the other criteria but only completed 8th grade, from taking care of this child? And then comes the question: 'If I don't find that foster carers have at least a tenth grade education, do I sack all the foster carers in the country? How many of these foster carers have completed 10th grade?'
At the moment, the Romanian state pays 75% of the cost of childcare. This means that 75% of children in foster care are from families with two, three or five children. From this point of view it would have been desirable to have national programs that support families and the re-integration of children.
To say now that something must be done, and that keeping children in foster care for a maximum of two years will resolve the Directorate's problem sounds very nice, but it is unworkable. It is pointless for the law to say that children will stay for no more than two years and then go back to their family or for adoption. Let me point out that even if the age of the children to be adopted reached up to five years, there are many children over this age who won't be adopted by anybody.
It is necessary to create a national program of support for natural families and for substitute families, in a way that might even make it a little profitable for those families who can take two children to look after. Anyway, that would be cheaper than finding a foster carer which means a cost of more than 10 million old lei each month.
www.ziua.ro
Read more articles like this.
|
