Minnesota's vulnerable kids stuck in revolving door

One in four of Minnesota's abused, troubled or neglected children bounced back into foster care within 12 months of being returned to their parents in 2009, according to new state reports, despite a multiyear effort to improve the stability of the state's child welfare system and to eliminate the harm that comes from failed placements.

The state's 24 percent reentry rate was among the worst in the nation -- far above the federal goal of 9.9 percent or less. The outcome is a puzzle, considering that Minnesota has met other federal goals and sharply reduced the number of children in protection because of parental abuse or neglect.

The high reentry rate reflects, in part, an unusually high percentage of children with behavioral problems of their own and Minnesota's preference to reunite children with their parents, rather than turn to adoption or other alternatives that might prove more permanent.

It nonetheless represents a significant problem for the state and its county-managed child welfare system. Beyond risking millions of dollars in federal fines for missing the goal, the state puts children at risk of suffering anxiety and trauma with each move to and from their parents' homes. Some children lose the bond with parents through repeat moves, studies have found, developing attachment disorders that have been linked to higher rates of crime, drug use and other problems.

"The impact of placement is not without trauma," even when removing children is in their best interests, said Erin Sullivan Sutton, an assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. "You are removed from everything you know."

Cutting the reentry rate has long been a focus for Minnesota child welfare authorities, but it gained renewed attention this year. Hennepin County is using a new report on the causes of foster care reentries to refine its child welfare practices. The county's citizen review panel is starting a study of the problem as well. Other counties have diverted funds to prevention programs to help distressed families, particularly those whose child neglect is due to job loss or poverty.

Multiple causes

"If they blow it, well then, that's another placement," Sullivan Sutton said.

A Star Tribune review of the latest federal foster care data confirmed that Minnesota has a high rate of children removed from home due to behavior problems. In the 2008 federal fiscal year, 34 percent of Minnesota's foster children were removed from their homes due to behavior problems. That compared to 15 percent nationally, according to figures from the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Even so, some child welfare advocates see that as a symptom of inadequate care.

Abused or neglected children are more likely to develop behavior problems if returned to homes that aren't safe or stable, said Denise Graves, a volunteer guardian-ad-litem who represents the interests of foster children in court.

"If we don't take care of them when they're young," she said, "then these kids become more and more damaged" and may enter foster care the second time due to behavior problems.

Mistrustful

Aaron Fernelius, 17, can attest to the damage caused by family instability. He can barely remember all of the moves he made by age 4, from a drug-addicted mother to foster homes and back. In all, he was moved to 27 different placements over a decade before he was adopted.

Fernelius now speaks to child welfare leaders and parents considering adoption about the impact of multiple placements, which have left him mistrustful of adults.

"Being dealt the hand that I happened to get," the high school senior said, "I don't want others to have to go through the same thing."

Over the past three years, the state's overall reentry rate has dropped steadily; it had exceeded 30 percent in recent years. Forty-nine counties improved their rates from 2008 to 2009, according to the state's annual child and community services performance report, which was released late last month.

The overriding concern is to assure permanent, stable homes for foster children, Sullivan Sutton said.

Behind the numbers

Some child welfare leaders believe Minnesota's preference to reunite children with their parents is causing the higher reentry rate. In the federal 2008 data, Minnesota discharged 66 percent of foster children to their parents, and only 10 percent to adoptive parents. Nationally, 19 percent of children discharged from foster care went to adoptive homes.

Randy Ruth, president of the Minnesota Foster Care Association, said counties may consider it easier and cheaper to return children to their parents than to pursue adoptions. "We return kids back to birth families or relatives that just are not capable or prepared," he said, "so they bounce the kids back."

Others believe the state's level of reunification is appropriate, but that the system moves children back before their parents have received the necessary training and counseling. When reunification is the goal, the state on average returns children to their parents in 4.1 months, according to the state's report for 2009. That bests the federal goal of 5.4 months.

However, moving children back too quickly can cause the same problems, said Annette Semanchin Jones, a researcher with the University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.

"Minnesota touts itself as doing well on that -- on getting kids home faster -- but there might be a flip side to that," she said. "You might be increasing their risk of coming back, creating a revolving door."

Part of the state improvement plan is an increase in the use of relatives to shelter children until their parents are ready for them. This so-called "kinship care" can smooth the return home for some children. The state also is trying more trial home visits for foster children before discharging them from the system.

Anoka County has responded by diverting some of its child welfare funding toward prevention programs, including the earlier use of family group decision-making to recruit parents, friends, neighbors and others to create reliable safety plans for children. The county has also earmarked emergency funds to help families in economic crisis with basic needs, which reduces stress and the potential for repeat neglect or abuse.

The county's reentry rate dropped from 34 percent in 2008 to 23 percent in 2009. County leaders expect a rate closer to 13 percent for 2010.