Columnist Sandra Thompson: There’s got to be a better child welfare way

Sandra Thompson

Sunday, Feb. 13, 2000 | 9:16 a.m.

On the day that 7-year-old Kemi Runsewe won the part of the fairy godmother in a play about Cinderella, a strange woman took her and her brother from school.

But they didn't go home. The woman was a caseworker who took them to Child Haven, the county's shelter for abused and neglected youths. Kemi and her brother stayed there for six months before being placed in separate foster homes. Kemi didn't know why they were taken from their mother. She didn't understand what was happening.

For the next 10 years, Kemi would live in four different foster homes and five group homes. The only place where she was happy was the Boulder City Children's Home. One of the cottage parents was like a father to her. But she was inexplicably moved from there. Then the home was closed by the Legislature. Ironically, lawmakers said the children would be better off in foster homes. They later found out there weren't enough foster homes.

Nearing her 18th birthday, when she must leave the system, Kemi says she's "so totally not ready to be on my own."

Neither is Chris Brooks, 18, who has been in foster care since he was 5. He has lived in 37 different places, one for as little as two days before he was uprooted again.

Kemi and Chris exemplify what's wrong with Nevada's child welfare system and why it's important to find permanent placements for kids who languish for years in foster care. The teens gave poignant testimony at last Thursday's legislative subcommittee hearing on changing the state's bifurcated system.

"We have an important perspective that's often overlooked by policymakers," Chris told the subcommittee.

Indeed, testimony in the three hearings to date has been from workers within the system, child welfare advocates, judges, consultants and others who do not directly benefit from -- or who are not directly harmed by -- the system.

Kemi and Chris spoke volumes about how information does not trickle down to them, the lack of opportunities to bond with people, the precious little time they spend with caseworkers and their fears about being booted out of the system without a safety net.

Both attend high school, but Chris says he has no motivation to get his diploma because he'll be "punished" for it. Once a foster child gets his high school diploma and reaches 18, he must leave the system.

Chris is in the Independent Living Program, which tries to help teens in long-term foster care prepare for living on their own. It's not enough.

Kemi attends school day and night to make up credits she needs to graduate. She works weekends, but does not make enough money to live on her own.

Neither Kemi nor Chris has any moral support from family. They will be totally on their own.

While they are apprehensive, they also project strength. Members of the legislative subcommittee praised the teens for what they have accomplished despite system failures. Although the state took over their parents' role, the system could not act as parents would in helping them grow into mature, responsible adults.

Of all his 37 different placements, Chris said he only felt like part of a family in two of the homes. "I had to depend on myself. That's what made me responsible."

Kemi said she has no time to feel sorry for herself. "There's no one I can depend on. I don't have time to sit around and wait for people to help me."

Instead of just complaining about the failures of the foster care system, Kemi helped form a youth advisory board for foster kids.

"Some day we'll march up to the president and say, 'We don't want to be known as numbers any more,' " she said.

If we are to truly reform the child welfare system in Nevada, we need to heed the words of Kemi and Chris. Don't move kids from place to place. It's not enough to feed and clothe them and give them a place to sleep. They need emotional nourishment as well. They need a chance to bond with families.

"The children we see everyday in court are represented by Chris and Kemi," Frances Doherty, Juvenile Court master for Washoe County, told the subcommittee. "Their resiliency is amazing. We need to allow them to maintain individual identities and sense of self. They have no sense of the last 18 years of their lives."

Therein lies the greater challenge of devising a model child welfare system. Yes, it will take a great deal of effort to work out details on what entity will control the system and how that will affect state and county workers.

But we must remember why the system needs to be changed. It's not for the convenience of caseworkers, administrators or government bureaucrats. It's for the benefit of kids like Kemi and Chris.