Lawmakers consider bill to lessen trauma on foster children

Monday, May 17, 1999 | 7:44 a.m.

The bill mandates joint state-county custody of foster children and provides for close cooperation between the state Division of Child and Family Services and local government agencies in foster care cases, said Sen. Maurice Washington, author of SB288.

"This speeds up the process by 12 months to terminate parental rights or reunify the child with their biological parents," added Washington, R-Sparks.

Washington said Washoe County now has primary jurisdiction over emergency placement when children are taken from homes because of suspected parental abuse or neglect. But within six months, if the family is not reunited, the child becomes a ward of the state.

Transferring the case means children already traumatized by being taken from their homes now go to yet another home, often shifting to a new school and getting new caseworkers, doctors and counselors.

"It's an atrocious way to handle placement of children," said Frances Doherty, a master in Washoe County's family courts.

Washoe and Clark counties are the only two counties in the country with this split system, Doherty added.

Recent changes in federal laws shortened the time the state has to find a permanent home by 12 months, and the bill is intended to move the state a step closer to complying with the 1997 Federal Adoption Safe Family Act.

"The federal law that's going to go into effect puts Nevada in a difficult position. We have to put children in permanent placement in a very short amount of time. That's something we can't do with this bifurcated system," Doherty said.

The bill establishes a pilot program in Washoe County that, if successful, can also be applied to Clark County in the future.

But Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, thinks the problems with the system are worse in the rural areas of the state and asked how this would benefit counties other than Washoe and Clark.

Supporters of the bill say that it's intended to be part of a broader effort to reform the state's foster care system. Two other bills - one by Dini - deal with Dini's concerns.

The bill will also end a disparity in foster care payments. Washoe County pays its foster homes $40 a day, while the state pays $13 a day. This leads to higher turnover in the state foster care homes in Washoe County.