2008 Woodie Awards
Background checks among reasons for slow moving recruitment of foster parents
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: State
CINCINNATI - Efforts to recruit foster parents in three southwest Ohio counties have foundered since the death of a child who was bound and left in a closet.
Tough background checks were instituted to weed out bad risks, but the increased scrutiny also led good prospective foster parents to walk away.
"There's been a negative stigma attached to foster parenting," said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. "A lot of people have gotten out of it because of that; they don't want the extra scrutiny."
Some background checks have uncovered serious offenses, such as child endangering or felonious assault; others show minor traffic violations. The checks have spooked people with any sort of record, Gregg said.
Hamilton County has contracts with about 260 private foster homes, about one-third fewer than two years ago, Gregg said.
Background checks came about after the August 2006 death of Marcus Fiesel, a 3-year-old developmentally delayed boy who was placed by Butler County with a couple in Clermont County. Both counties border Hamilton County.
The boy died when he was bound and left in a closet while his foster parents, who were convicted of his murder, attended a weekend family reunion in Kentucky. Investigators later found the couple's background should have raised numerous red flags about their fitness to be foster parents.
A year ago, Hamilton County created a system to compare the names of foster parents, and those who applied to be foster parents, with police and court records. The system was expanded last fall to include national databases.
To make up for its shortfall, Hamilton County kicked off a $1 million campaign in January to recruit 100 new foster homes. The TV ads show ordinary people in tights and a cape performing everyday functions, like washing dishes or taking out the trash. It calls them "Everyday Heroes" whose status is confirmed by their willingness to take foster children into their homes.
Tough background checks were instituted to weed out bad risks, but the increased scrutiny also led good prospective foster parents to walk away.
"There's been a negative stigma attached to foster parenting," said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. "A lot of people have gotten out of it because of that; they don't want the extra scrutiny."
Some background checks have uncovered serious offenses, such as child endangering or felonious assault; others show minor traffic violations. The checks have spooked people with any sort of record, Gregg said.
Hamilton County has contracts with about 260 private foster homes, about one-third fewer than two years ago, Gregg said.
Background checks came about after the August 2006 death of Marcus Fiesel, a 3-year-old developmentally delayed boy who was placed by Butler County with a couple in Clermont County. Both counties border Hamilton County.
The boy died when he was bound and left in a closet while his foster parents, who were convicted of his murder, attended a weekend family reunion in Kentucky. Investigators later found the couple's background should have raised numerous red flags about their fitness to be foster parents.
A year ago, Hamilton County created a system to compare the names of foster parents, and those who applied to be foster parents, with police and court records. The system was expanded last fall to include national databases.
To make up for its shortfall, Hamilton County kicked off a $1 million campaign in January to recruit 100 new foster homes. The TV ads show ordinary people in tights and a cape performing everyday functions, like washing dishes or taking out the trash. It calls them "Everyday Heroes" whose status is confirmed by their willingness to take foster children into their homes.
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