Families suffer when residential group homes get a bad rap

As we enter a new decade, there is no shortage of discussion about the future of our child welfare system.

The Florida Department of Children and Families is working on a plan to shorten the amount of time kids spend in the foster care system while, at the same time, trying to find solutions for places like Hillsborough County, where a significant number of youth refuse foster care placement. We have serious challenges ahead that will require bold policy solutions and different ways of thinking about child welfare reform.

Adding to the challenges we face is the implementation of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, which, as a result of the law’s restrictions on using residential group homes, is making it harder to place children in safe environments. Without additional reforms, it’s easy to foresee our child welfare system getting worse — with a growing shortage of placement options, siblings being split up and more children being left in dangerous situations.

These are not hypothetical scenarios. We received a call not long ago from a sheriff in North Florida who asked if we could accept four siblings in his county who had been taken into the state’s care. We were ready to accept them, but the local communitybased care agency in charge of foster placements said they were discouraged from placing children in group homes.

These kids were split up into different homes. The main source of stability for these kids — each other — was taken away when there was a more suitable option available. Dividing brothers and sisters causes emotional and developmental problems, which is why Florida statutes require DCF to make every possible effort to keep siblings together.

The reason this is happening is because some child welfare advocates throughout the country believe group homes are harmful for children, even though there is no credible data to support that claim.

As a result, legislation like Family First eliminates funding for states to place children in quality residential homes like the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches. Kids who need to be removed from their home must either be placed in a foster home or admitted to a treatment facility designed for more serious mental health issues. Both options are necessary in certain cases necessary, but they have limitations. While foster care plays an important role in helping at-risk children, it has its own share of problems.

For years there has been an ongoing struggle to recruit and retain quality foster families. The system is overloaded, and the emotionally exhausting nature of the work leaves many foster parents burned out after their first placement. This causes kids to be shuffled around with no stability, which can be devastating to the development of any young person.

In some cases, older kids are refusing to go to a foster home because they’ve been forced to move so many times. Hillsborough County is considering lockeddown facilities for kids because the group home option has been taken off the table. Family-style group homes with high standards of accountability and quality care have built-in support services that foster families do not have. They have successful track records, financial stability, extra resources for children, and the ability to care for large sibling groups who typically don’t do well in foster homes.

Critics of group homes will point to select examples of poorly run facilities throughout the country and conclude the entire model is flawed. However, there have been multiple cases of abuse, misconduct and the lack of accountability within the foster care system, yet no one is calling for the elimination of foster homes.

DCF is afraid of losing foster families, yet it continues to turn away from quality residential group homes as a viable option. It is frustrating and heartbreaking to see an overcrowded system continue to get worse while the Youth Ranches and similar organizations have open doors and warm beds waiting for children in need.

When sheriffs founded the Youth Ranches in 1957 with the help of the Florida Sheriffs Association, their goal was to provide loving, safe and family-like programs to help meet the needs of children. This in turn would help prevent juvenile delinquency and reduce the need of having law enforcement involved when all that was needed was a loving home environment.

Our sheriffs had it right in 1957, and they still have it right today.