This article originally appeared in the November-December 1998 Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children.

San Francisco advocates push parent-friendly reforms

by Rupal Shah

Sandra Stewart knows from experience what it's like to be on welfare and to have a child placed in foster care. Now project coordinator for Family Rights and Dignity (FRAD), a project of San Francisco's Coalition on Homelessness, Stewart says, "People already have a lot of stress when they're on welfare, and CalWORKs can complicate that."

Difficulties meeting work requirements or finding child care, lower income from welfare-reform penalties or time limits—all these experiences might increase the risk of child abuse or neglect and involvement with the child welfare system. Parents whose children are in foster care, says Stewart, usually have a list of tasks they must accomplish before they can be reunited with their children. Sometimes those tasks conflict with welfare-to-work requirements.

So over the last two years, FRAD has helped convene regular meetings where staff members of the San Francisco Department of Human Services, meet with representatives from community groups including California Youth Connection, National Center for Youth Law, and Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth. The meetings have already produced some changes:

• The group has developed a handbook for parents, A Parent's Guide to Child Welfare Services, to help them understand regulations and services.

• The child welfare division now arranges visits between parents and their children in foster care in the evenings and on weekends, so as not to interfere with the parents' CalWORKs work requirements.

• The group is currently working to create a parent-peer support program, in which parents who are new to the child welfare system can get support and guidance from parents who have successfully been through it.

• The group is working with the Department of Human Services to provide more services to parents who are facing the new, shortened deadlines for reunification in the 1997 federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (see below).

Meanwhile, Stewart herself is working directly with some parents who are working to reunite with their children. She provides such assistance as helping parents find better lawyers, meeting with a private social worker, or simply mediating communication with the Department of Human Services. In addition, she hopes that the kind of parent advocacy she and her organization are providing will become a part of the parent-peer support program. This program would hire parents to work 10 to 20 hours a week with two families at a time for as long as needed. For the peer supporters, the work would count toward their CalWORKs work requirements.

The Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform (CEWR), which includes FRAD and other San Francisco advocacy groups and service providers, is also concerned that CalWORKs staff members will be looking more closely at the lives of welfare recipients in an effort to move them into jobs. Advocates fear that more detailed questioning and home visits will mean more reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, leading to possible removal of children from their homes.Martina Gillis, coordinator for CEWR, says her organization successfully advocated for a policy requiring CalWORKs staff members to consult with their supervisors before referring a client for investigation of child abuse or neglect. CEWR is monitoring the county Department of Human Services to make sure that CalWORKs sanctions do not result in automatic child welfare investigations.

In another welfare-child welfare issue, advocates say CalWORKs clients are not taking advantage of CalWORKs drug and alcohol treatment or mental-health care because they fear that if they do, their children will be placed in the child welfare system. Jennifer Friedenbach, project coordinator for the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, says, "If you cop to your issue," substance-abuse and mental-health treatment "can be considered a CalWORKs work activity and you can also get child care" while in treatment. "But parents are not copping to it because of fears around Children's Protective Services."

Because of these concerns, CEWR developed protocols on confidentiality and communication, which the county Department of Human Services has agreed to. The protocols require CalWORKs staff members to be knowledgeable about the new CalWORKs work requirements and to communicate those requirements clearly. They also state that if the parent is up-front with CalWORKs about a substance-abuse or mental-health problem, an immediate referral to the child welfare division should not be made.

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