Vol. 1, No. 2 • Summer 1997

North Carolina
General Assembly
Addresses Child
Welfare Issues
by Julie Rehder

Many people think the legislative process is both complicated and closed to the average citizen. This assumption is not true. Anyone can have an impact on public policy. All it takes is a willingness to learn about the issues and the determination to get involved. Legislators want to hear from constituents so they can make informed decisions. They rely on adults to speak for children who are unable to speak for themselves.

This legislative session in North Carolina (1997) there are two identical bills of interest to anyone involved in child welfare issues. House Bill 943 and Senate Bill 760 provide a three-part strategy to secure safe, permanent homes for abused and neglected children in foster care. The bills address the need for additional foster care and adoption social workers, the expansion of the Families for Kids initiative, and funds for a kinship care demonstration project.

While North Carolina's average ratio of child to worker is 34:1, the nationally-recognized standard in foster care and adoption is 15:1. On any given day there are more than 12,000 children in the custody of county Departments of Social Services. HP943 and SB760, introduced by Representatives Debbie Clary (R-Cleveland County, NC) and Ruth Easterling (D-Mecklenburg County, NC) and Senators William Martin (D-Guilford County, NC) and Jeanne Lucas (D-Durham County, NC), will help address these problems.

The legislation calls for funds to add 139 new social work positions statewide. By lowering the child to worker ratio to 20:1, the bill sponsors believe social workers would be better able to provide more direct services to children in the child welfare system. Additionally, expansion of the Families for Kids (FFK) program from 8 to 16 counties is designed to build on the initial success of FFK as system reform "through the eyes of the child." In its first year, the Families for Kids initiative reduced the number of children entering care by 15 percent--compared to 3 percent for counties not involved in the initiative.

The third part of the bill, funds to establish a kinship care demonstration project, would assist relatives who are currently unable to provide care for children due to financial hardship. Kim who assume legal guardianship of relative children would be eligible to receive a subsidy in selected counties. Children would benefit by remaining in a familiar environment with continued contact with family members and the community.

The bill sponsors are facing an uphill battle in the appropriations process because there are so many competing interests for ever-decreasing state revenues. So far, the Senate has appropriated $1 million from the Social Services Block Grant to support the child welfare bill, but this amount falls short of the approximately $8 million needed to fund the total package.

If the bills do not receive full funding this year, the issues they address will continue to be important in efforts to obtain safe, permanent homes for children.

Julie Rehder is Program Director and Legislative Liaison at the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute in Raleigh.

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families