H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°The state Senate will meet today to discuss several important bills, most notably two bills to reform foster care procedures.
The first bill would make the state compliant with federal requirements after recent amendments of the federal laws regarding child welfare. According to the bill, the state’s plan must meet certain conditions specified in the Social Security Act to qualify for adoption and foster care assistance, and this bill aims to update the state’s plan.
Carrie Kahn, spokesperson for Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, said the state could lose money if it does not update the statutes regarding child welfare. She added Ohio, for example, did not make the required changes and lost an estimated $8 million from the federal government.
Kahn said it is unclear how a federal reviewer would regard the state changes, but some reform is necessary.
“Looking at an example like Ohio, we obviously do not want to be in that position,” Kahn said.
Kimber Liedl, spokesperson for Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the Republican senator also plans to support the bill. She said the bill does not create a new law but rather makes technical revisions to the current law.
“The technical changes help to better protect children in Wisconsin,” Liedl said.
Liedl also said she expects the bill to pass, as it passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Children, Families and Workforce Development.
A similar bill also aimed to reform foster care would require all kinship providers, also known as relative providers, to be licensed by the state.
Kahn said the reason for the bill lies in the 2009-11 budget, which created five levels of foster care providers. The first of these levels is kinship providers, who are relatives caring for the fostered child.
Kahn adds the higher up in levels of foster care a provider is, the more training and background is required by the state.
Kahn also said this bill could earn the state a projected $6.5 million in federal funding under the Social Security Act.
“This bill does not create any new system,” Kahn said. “It fixes the problems within the current system to be federally compliant.”
Liedl said the bill is similar to the first, as it provides more protection for children in foster care and also passed unanimously in committee.
Another bill the Senate will see would create exceptions for certain restaurants for the liquor licensing quota.
This bill, introduced by Rep. Gary Sherman, D-Port Wing, would allow smaller golf course restaurants serving between 75 and 100 patrons, who currently do not have full liquor licenses due to a filled quota, to have full liquor licenses.
The bill seems to have bipartisan support, as Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, agreed exceptions to the liquor quota should be made.
“Restrictions on licenses make no sense,” Grothman said. “They should make an exception all around the city for as many people as they want.”
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One of the greatest complaints voiced by foster families is that they are UNAWARE of the problems the foster placements have.
CPS staff in many states are untrained, unqualified, and unhelpful.
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Wah wah wah lose money.. they dont need it as they are so busy taking children away from parents who have done nothing wrong and not doing something about the ones that have.. I for one am so sick of the lies being told and honestly I have no idea why there are no checks and balances that have to be done in regards to CPS. Guess they are not accountable huh?
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This is yet another example of how states are using budget excuses to continue violating the civil liberties of families while also threatening to keep children in out-of-home placements - which harms more children than should be acceptable to any one.
The legislative plan described in this article was rather undefined. Very little information about what is planned was offered here, except to hint at how the state will place more barriers to allowing relatives to foster children removed from their parents.
Until people become as outraged over the devastation caused to children and parents (and communities) when kids are unnecessarily torn from their homes and families (which is by far the vast majority of cases) as people are to the devastation caused when these overloaded systems miss real abuse and neglect cases (which are rarer, but need even more focus) then this monstrous agency will continue harming children and violating constitutional rights on both sides of these issues.
Consider how the state would not NEED the millions for foster care if it stopped removing children who could be served better in their homes. The legislator’s argument is a self-fulfilling prophecy that wants to continue funding a broken system. Also consider the words of Richard Wexler - executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (nccpr.org) when he reports that - regardless of intent - forcibly removing children from their homes (even troubled homes) has the same emotional affect for the child as a kidnapping would. Is this what we are supporting with our taxes? Is this the sort of legislation we want in the name of “protecting” children and “supporting” families? Probably not.
This bill should be opposed by all people interested in truly helping children stay safe. More foster care - and more money brought in to support that system - is not the answer to address the well-being of children. And the drive to make it even less likely for children to remain with relatives is truly backward. The arguments for any sort of regressive approach will always be to point out the rarer cases that whip up hysteria and incorrectly represent the real statistics. This is always done to justify the notion that the state is only concerned for the well-being of children. But don’t believe it. The reality is the vast majority of cases are not those that make headlines, yet the state itself is causing great harm to children and families by its punitive, adversarial, and uncaring approach to the children they take. If you remember nothing else, remember this: The state cannot nurture children. It can not love children. Families do that. The state can barely manage the children’s placement somewhere in a vast system that relies mostly on outdated forms and checkboxes. Would you want bureaucrats raising your kids? Of course not. And we shouldn’t think they can raise someone else’s.
If you are a family member who has experienced the brokenness of the DHHS/CPS system firsthand, consider joining other families like you by registering at the Family Advocacy Movement website and sharing your own story with us. Together we can help educate the public and push against regressive campaigns that essentially support making more orphans of children who already have families. FamilyAdvocacyMovement.com