STOP-PAYMENTS TO FOSTER FAMILIES RAISES CONCERNS FOR CHILDREN

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By Miriam Raftery

February 16, 2009 (San Diego) — A letter sent by the County of San Diego last week to foster parents warned that the State of California planned to halt payments to counties for foster parent services immediately. While County officials joined with 23 other counties to file a lawsuit against the state, the prospect of losing funding to care for needy children has sparked concern among local foster parents.

”My wife and I have 12 foster girls under our supervision and the letters from the County were horrible,” Herb Cawthorne, head of community relations for Viejas Enterprises, told East County Magazine. “These children are already without the normal family relationships - fathers gone, mothers in rehab or jail or incapable of good parenting, brother and sisters scattered across the county and, wham, this letter comes saying that they may not be able to stay in the places where they have become accustomed.”

Cawthorne added, “It’s a very sad commentary on the state of the state. These children are caught in the tug of war between ideologies and fiscal responsibility. They don’t understand the big picture. They just know that, once again, society is abandoning them. It breaks your heart.”

Supervisor Dianne Jacob, a Republican, blasted state legislators over the issue during last week’s State of the County address. “Apparently, state legislators see nothing wrong with collecting their paychecks, while aid checks to more than 63,000 `at risk’ San Diego children hang in the balance,” said Jacob, who revealed that the state plans to delay some $100 million in aid payments to foster families, disadvantaged children and their parents.

A County government insider, who spoke off the record, confided fears that some foster families may be forced to return children to the County because they will be unable to care for the children without the County payments, which are funded by the state.

Meanwhile the State Legislature remains deadlocked, unable to approve the Governor’s latest proposed budget without at least one Republican Senator. East County Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, a Republican, remains opposed to the budget and has refused to support any tax or fee increases to restore solvency. San Diego Democratic Senators Denise Ducheny and Christine Kehoe have consistently voted in favor of budget proposals over the past several months to raise revenues in order to assure funding for critical services including foster care payments.

But Cawthorne observed that years of “smoke and mirrors” budgeting, not the current partisan divide, has contributed to the current crisis. “They are all responsible for this.”


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Comments

foster kids

This is terrible. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.