Improve options for children in state care

Before the Joint Select Committee on Social Services on Wednesday, acting director of the Children's Authority Sharon Morris-Cummings called for an increase in funding.

Ms Morris-Cummings said the increase in cases coming to the authority is overwhelming its capacity. When it was conceptualised, the authority’s caseload was expected to run to 2,000.

An average of 4,000 cases per year is now the norm.

Not only is there a shortfall in investigative capacity for new cases, but concern has now rightfully been raised about what happens to children in state care.

Ms Morris-Cummings noted the "placement crisis" the authority faces, but glossed over the convoluted and intimidating process facing potential foster parents.

Citizens can participate in the care of abandoned children through foster care, guardianship and adoption.

In September 2021, Anjuli Tewari-DeFague, who leads the authority's Foster Care Unit, explained that most people want to adopt and prefer young children.

In addition, fear of a broken attachment leads eligible households to reject temporary foster care and leaves hundreds of children of all ages in homes. Most people can't care for a puppy without getting attached, so it's unsurprising that they are cautious about the emotional consequences of providing temporary foster care. Also, many of these children’s parents are unable to care for them, but refuse to give permission for their adoption.

Ms Tewari-DeFague called for "a village" to care for these unplaced children, hoping to attract more families to participate in the authority's foster care programme. But the authority faces a massive gap in the number of unplaced children and the availability of households to care for them. There are 56 approved foster care providers in the country; in 2021, only 78 children were in official foster care.

That same year, there were 700 children in 40 children's homes in TT.

In 2018, the authority announced plans to regularise foster care, supporting caregivers who are already delivering foster care through extended families.

It's an idea that should be pursued more vigorously. Children should not age out of the group home system without experiencing a family environment.

No system to manage adoption, guardianship or foster care safely for children will ever be perfect, but the systems in place are slow, dysfunctional and need streamlining and improvement.

If it takes months for potential foster parents to qualify, there should be an ongoing procedure to encourage, coach and sensitise suitable applicants.

Creating a village of committed care that meets the needs of children of all ages, and caregivers who are given the best chance to create safe and supportive homes, should become part of any thrust to improve the future of children taken from unsafe or inadequate homes.