Thursday, May. 06, 2010

Brady: Waiting for mother

May brings two important and related occasions, Mother’s Day and National Foster Care Awareness Month. On Sunday, we will thank our mothers for the love, nurturing and guidance they provide. We will celebrate the bond that ties us to the world and creates a sense of belonging. Mothers love us unconditionally, and therefore, we belong.

But Mother’s Day has a different meaning for the thousands of foster children across the state.

Today in South Carolina there are more than 5,400 children in foster care. More than 1,100 of those children are, or will be, available for adoption. They are waiting for the day they can celebrate the sense of belonging that comes with a loving family — the bond with a mother who will love and care for them. These children come from circumstances most of us could hardly imagine and face enormous obstacles before they will find a place, and a family, where they belong. They are our most vulnerable children, and yet they possess a great potential to succeed — if only they can find a place to call home.

Some of the obstacles to finding a stable and permanent home for these children are created by state law and can be overcome through legislation. In South Carolina, many children in foster care will stay nearly three years before they find permanent placement — well beyond the 24-month national standard. A significant amount of time can be reduced by removing certain barriers to permanency.

This year we are working to expedite the cases for those children who have endured the most extreme cases of abuse and neglect. On Wednesday, colleagues and I gave final approval to legislation that will move a child in foster care through the system more quickly if the child entered foster care because of severe abuse and neglect. The legislation also requires birth parents to demonstrate due diligence in their treatment plans before the court grants them more time to complete their rehabilitation. If approved by the governor, these changes will bring focus and accountability to how these extreme cases of abuse and neglect are handled in the child welfare system.

The bill also prohibits non-licensed entities from advertising adoption services in South Carolina, and enables our courts to retain jurisdiction to review the procedural and substantive aspects of adoptions, including costs, fees and expenses. We do not want our state to be an unethical market for baby shopping.

This legislation builds on the foundation started last year with the establishment of the Responsible Father Registry — which will shorten the length of time children spend in foster care by speeding up the adoption process. I’m proud that I was the lead sponsor of that legislation, which made South Carolina the 34th state with such a law. Forty-five percent of all births in South Carolina are to single mothers, with the dad acknowledging paternity for fewer than half of those children. Permanency for these children can be delayed, contested and disrupted when paternity is in question. The Responsible Father Registry will eliminate the expenditure of time, money and public resources currently used searching for fathers who do not want to be found.

As a mother, my job is to love and protect my children, and provide them with every opportunity I can. As an elected official, I have been challenged by my constituents to protect and secure those opportunities for all the precious children of our state. Mother’s Day will mean something more to me this year. I hope it encourages all of us to become aware of those children who are waiting for a mother’s love and need our support.

Rep. Brady represents Richland County and serves as vice-chair of the Joint Citizens and Legislative Commission on Children

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2010/05/06/1274523/brady-waiting-for-mother.html#ixzz0n9oL33IP