Ashtabula County Children Services staff has child’s best interest in mind
By Warren Dillaway, Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services</td> |
Ashtabula County Children Services is unique in that it is fortunate to have its own in-house legal advisor as well as a commissioned
Attorney
DiGiacomo said more than 200 children in the county are involved in court proceedings through Children Services.
The more serious cases the agency handles usually require legal attention.
DiGiacomo said when a child abuse case goes to court, she is responsible for presenting clear and convincing evidence that a child is abused, neglected or dependent.
During their initial risk assessment, if a case worker finds sufficient evidence that a child is at risk, DiGiacomo will then become involved. She will go before a judge or magistrate and ask that the child be put in the agency's custody.
The court will then determine if there is probable cause to issue an ex-parte order, she said.
"It happens a lot in the drug busts we've had lately," DiGiacomo said.
A court hearing has to be held within 24 to 72 hours of the case being opened. Evidence is presented during the hearing and the child's parents have a right to an attorney as well, she said.
"We try to avoid taking custody," DiGiacomo said. "If we're asking for custody, (the situation) is bad."
Once a child is taken out of the parents' custody, a case plan is developed. The parents have to follow the case plan before the child can be returned, she said.
Parents also have the right to appeal the court's decision.
If the child is taken out of the parents' custody for a substantial period of time and the parents are not complying with their case plan, a plan for the permanency of the child is developed, which provides for permanent placement of the child.
"We want people to comply with their case plan so they can get their kids back," DiGiacomo said.
Det.
Some of the cases Rose investigates are cases that CSB has "screened out." If it is someone living outside of the child's home who is responsible for the crime and there is no immediate danger to the child, the case will not be "screened in" and it will be handled by Rose, he said.
Rose has a lot of experience and a number of outside agencies recognize for that experience and contact him for assistance, he said.
Rose said unfortunately it is hard to prove a sex abuse case.
"There are different standards of proof," he said. "You have to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt."
Rose said that is difficult to do as physical evidence is only 4 percent of cases.
"It's a very serious situation," he said. "You don't want to take away a person's livelihood based on a bunch of might-be's."
Rose said he works out a lot of plea bargains so the cases won't go to trial.
"This way the children don't have to take the stand and testify," he said.
Rose also is affiliated with the
Whenever possible, Children Services will place an abused or neglected child in the care of a family member rather than a foster home. When family members are willing to care for a child,
Hopson works on what is called Kinship Care. She helps families obtain food assistance, medical insurance for the child, clothing, etc.
"Sometimes they just need support," she said. "We offer a kinship support group."
Hopson said the family member providing care could be the child's grandparents who are living on a fixed income.
"They've never had to apply for a medical card before or maybe they don't even have a bed (for the child)," she said. "We jump in and help because we know that's the best place for that child."
If a child is placed in CSB's custody, it will ultimately be place in a foster home. CSB has a team of case workers who work with local families to become licensed as foster homes.
Foster parents must go through state-mandated training before becoming licensed, said
Each person must go through a background check and have references. They must also complete a series of home studies, she said.
"The core of the home studies is to get to know the families," she said. "We want to see their day-to-day activities so we can make the best match we can when kids come in and need to be placed."
Weaver said the goal is to keep the child in one home and not move them around so it is important to select the family that will be the best match for the child's needs.
The process to adopt a child is similar to that of becoming a foster parent, she said.
"Most of our foster homes are approved for adoption and most of our foster families have adopted," Weaver said.
When children are in permanent custody, the biological parents' rights are terminated. The case is then transferred to the adoption team.
"Typically we will look at foster families first," she said.
There are currently 30 children in permanent custody with CSB, 11 of which do not have adoptive plans. All of those 11 children without adoptive plans are over the age of 10, Weaver said.
"We're not saying there isn't a family out there for them," she said. "Sometimes it's just a little more difficult to find one."
Weaver said just because a family expresses interest in a particular child, even if they are the only family to express an interest, if CSB doesn't feel they can meet that child's needs, they will not put together an adoptive plan.
All adoptions go through
"We always need foster homes," Weaver said. "It's frustrating when we don't have a foster home because the group homes are all outside the county and we are moving these children further away from their friends and schools."
Weaver said it also puts an additional financial hardship on the agency as placing children in care outside the county costs more.
When CSB has a child that needs to be placed in a foster home, the foster parents are notified and always have a right to say no.
"We always call," Weaver said. "We never just show up with a child."
CSB also always tries to keep siblings together when placing them with a foster family.
"Sometimes it gets difficult," she said. "If you have three or four kids they might get split up, but it's never intentional."
The number of children placed in CSB's care is growing. Last year, there were 57 babies born to mothers with a drug addiction.
"We want to combat the idea that we're trying to put kids in foster care so we can get more money," she said. "It costs us more money. There's an emotional cost to the kids and a financial cost for the agency."
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