Today’s Guest Blogger is Hung Tran.
In 2015, BuzzFeed News investigation published the article, Fostering Profits, in which they examined the nation’s largest for-profit foster care company, National Mentor Holdings. What they found was that this was a company that has helped transform the field of foster care into a “cash cow,” with current placement numbers upwards of 4,000 children across 15 states. These numbers have helped National Mentor Holdings net millions of dollars in revenue. However, BuzzFeed argues that this was done with substandard service in order to increase profit margins. With Mentor’s push for profits, their regard for safety has become a concern. In fact, details of specific incidents emerged illustrating lax screening processes that resulted in allegations of deaths, sex abuse, and deficiencies in training and overseeing foster parents.
Although specific incident details are an important piece, as they describe the dire consequences of negligent practices, the inclusion of perspectives from former Mentor caseworkers is one of the article’s biggest strengths. Their statements describe the immense pressure of making targets while carrying a caseload, at times, twice as high as the generally recommended best practice. This pressure to place children to gain numbers and profits have resulted in cutting corners on expenses. For example, hiring people without foster care licenses and performing inadequate background checks. While these disclosures give insight into Mentor’s foster care business, it also brings up some important questions and concerns regarding the entire child welfare system.
It is certainly easy to vilify National Mentor Holdings. In fact, the BuzzFeed article raised enough concerns to prompt the U.S. Senate to investigate the matter even further. But what the article does not bring up is the fact that it is a bigger issue than Mentor’s misaligned values and wrongdoings. There is a larger systemic problem within the child welfare system. Today, hundreds of thousands of children increasingly enter the struggling system each year while child welfare agencies are unable to recruit foster parents to meet high demands. Keep in mind that this is not just a state issue but a national issue, in which the child protection system is being pushed to the brink in addition to being chronically underfunded. It is no surprise then that states are contracting with private foster care agencies to not only lift those burdens, but also come at a lower cost. Even with government oversight though, what’s lost in this process is the quality and accountability in these services.
Of course, solutions are difficult to come by in regards to foster care. However, what is known is that the tragedies that are illustrated in the article will continue to occur if legislators continue to ignore that it is a much bigger issue, the fact that it is a wide systemic problem within the child welfare system. While the public blame is always pointed towards state and private agencies, it should be understood that they simply do not have the capacities to do what is being asked of them. While the desire to be understood might just be a request of courtesy, the need for more funds must be demanded. Expanded services to ensure safety and added workforce will help protect vulnerable children but will the people in power come to understand that?
Work Cited:
Roston, A. (2015, February 20). Foster Profits. Retrieved from http://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/fostering-profits#.exyzM6abda