Reimagining Foster Care in NJ to Keep More Families Together

Laura Jamet, Assistant Commissioner, NJ DCF Division of Child Protection and Permanency

Over the past decade, there has been an evolution among child welfare agencies, and the NJ Department of Children and Families is leading the charge.

While child safety remains our number one priority, we are reducing the use of family separation as the primary safety intervention, and instead, we’re supporting more families in their homes and in their communities, keeping them intact and building upon their strengths while finding creative and constructive ways to address their needs.

Research shows that children do better in every area of life when they can stay with or connected to their birth parents and “first family.” Therefore, whenever safely possible, we are pivoting from placing children in foster care and toward providing more customized in-home services, allowing them to stay with their loved ones in the home.

A parent may need help accessing substance use intervention or assistance finding and securing affordable housing. Our DCP&P caseworkers meet with and listen to each family to understand their specific needs and customize assistance so that, as long as a child’s safety is not compromised, more children can stay with their parents.

The numbers speak for themselves: in 2015, more than 4,500 children in NJ entered out-of-home foster care placements. In 2021, that number was safely reduced to 1,523.

In those cases where separation is necessary, we first look to relatives and extended family members, close family friends, or community mentors like a teacher, neighbor, or coach who already have a relationship with the child to provide “kinship care.” Children living with kin can maintain ties to their culture, religion, community, and family traditions, which minimizes trauma and further promotes family healing. Importantly, these kinship care families receive the same stipends, same training and same supports and oversight as traditional foster care families.

Resource, or foster, families are not just helping the young person in their care, but they are able to act as a resource for the biological family and the broader community, as well. We’re inviting interested families to “join the village” – become a registered resource family and be a part of our collaborative approach in meeting families’ needs.

For decades, foster care was viewed as a pathway toward adoption, but foster care and adoption are truly different mechanisms towards supporting the family or the child.

Resource (foster care) placements are intended to be brief and temporary, to allow the immediate safety of the child to be addressed while the family heals, but with the ultimate goal of reunifying the family once they’re ready to come back together, stronger than they were before.

Adoption is a pathway to a permanent, loving family for a child when there is no safe path back to their biological family.

While we expect some adoptions will continue to be necessary, our primary goal, as a family-serving system, is to achieve family reunification. Resource parents should see themselves as temporary caregivers who take care of a child while the birth parents access the resources and help they need to provide a safe, stable, and loving home.

When families stay together, everyone wins – and DCF is committed to using all our resources to achieve family unity whenever possible.

• NJ.com: 4 babies surrendered already this year as awareness of N.J. ‘Safe Haven’ law increases – DCF has observed an increase this year in new parents safely surrendering their newborns at Safe Haven Sites around the state. The Department continues to educate the public about Safe Haven sites through social media, as well as new curriculum standards about Safe Haven through NJ schools.
  
  
• Chalkbeat Newark: ‘Girls know what they want’: New Jersey girls expand programming to support local youth – DCF’s Division on Women funded a unique program that allows teens to participate in allocating $90K of Rape Prevention Funds to establish youth programs throughout the state. The teens observed the inner workings of government and non-profit sectors and learned leadership skills along the way.
  
  
• Patch: YMCA of Greater Monmouth County Marks 10th Anniversary of Bayshore Family Success Center – The Bayshore Family Success Center opened its doors in the wake of, and in response to, the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy to the Jersey Shore. It became a place where Bayshore families could find much-needed relief and support services to rebuild their lives. Ten years later, the center continues to be a source of strength and hope for families in need across the Bayshore community, from Keyport to Highlands.

Last month, Casey Family Programs released a nationwide report of state statutes surrounding definitions of child abuse and neglect. Through their analysis, they argue that non-specific definitions of neglect can contribute to “unnecessary CPS interventions” through an “overly wide ‘front door’” into child welfare system involvement with unanticipated negative consequences.

Recognizing the potential harm that may come from unwarranted investigations, several states have taken steps to reexamine their reporting procedures. The State of Colorado recently launched the Mandatory Reporting Task Force to reexamine whether mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect has actually led to more positive outcomes for families. This, along with newly required training for New York’s mandatory reporters, is part of a growing national conversation on the high number of reports of child maltreatment that are based in race and poverty.  In many reported cases, the family may simply need resources and in-home and in-community supports, rather than systemic intervention and surveillance by child protective services.

DCF relies on a robust network of resource homes that help support children and families in times of need.  These include kinship resource homes.  Research and child welfare practice has shown that children who must be removed from their first family due to safety concerns fare better when they are placed with kinship caregivers.

A kinship caregiver can be a relative, close friend, neighbor, or anyone who has a close bond with the child.  Kinship resource homes help maintain a child’s family/sibling connections, cultural and community ties, minimize trauma, ensure the child’s overall wellbeing, and support the entire family while they work toward reunification.  For more on kinship care visit, https://www.nj.gov/njfosteradopt/kinship/.

NOTE: DCF is currently recruiting for the next cohort of members for the DCF Youth Council! If you know a young person with experience with our system who wants to get involved, please direct them to this flyer, and encourage them to apply! Deadline for applications is June 15.

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