Participants: Lori Gray, Vendetta Dennis
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000210A
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00:01 Stay tuned to meet two women on a mission.
00:03 My name is Yvonne Lewis 00:05 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:30 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:33 My guests today are both from the southern region 00:36 of the Illinois Department 00:37 of Children and Family Services; 00:39 Lori Gray, regional administrator 00:42 and Vendetta Dennis, program manager. 00:44 Welcome to Urban Report, Lori and Vendetta. 00:48 Thank you. 00:50 Our program, 00:51 and I don't know if you had a chance to ever watch it, 00:53 but this program has testimonies, 00:57 but also resources 00:59 and we wanted to have you from DCFS today 01:02 to just kinda share with us 01:05 what's going on in the whole foster care field. 01:09 Why is foster care important first of all? 01:13 Well, it's so important because there are families 01:16 that need support and help 01:20 and children that need places to live um... 01:24 that's the minimum they need. 01:26 They need a lot more than that. 01:28 They need mentors and guides and parents 01:32 and people to help them recover 01:35 from things that have happen to them, 01:36 bad things that have happened. 01:38 So there's a lot of call for families 01:42 to come forward and help these young people... 01:46 be them...get their best life. 01:48 Yes, yes what would you say is a kind of a typical profile 01:54 of a child that comes to you, Vendetta? 02:03 Probably, a child 02:05 who has been neglected 02:10 as a result of substance abuse 02:16 where the parent has been unable to 02:20 properly parent him in the home 02:25 which has resulted in 02:28 him being neglected in terms of maybe food, clothing, 02:34 shelter, educational needs umm... 02:40 that's probably, that's one type. 02:43 We also have situations 02:46 where children may have been abused 02:51 also from substance abuse, 02:56 mental illness, physical abuse, 03:02 just about every societal ill so to speak, 03:09 touches the life of the children 03:11 that we serve. 03:14 How do people... 03:18 How do you find these children? 03:21 Because normally I know the children 03:22 wouldn't come to you. 03:24 How do you find them? 03:26 Every one actually hmm... 03:28 So state Illinois has a hotline, 03:31 24 hour hotline, 03:32 and anytime somebody suspects abuse or neglect, 03:36 they can call the hotline and that will create a report 03:40 and then, we do what is called an investigation, 03:43 and we make a decision at that point in time 03:47 whether the children are safe to remain with their parents 03:49 or if they are not, 03:51 then we remove them from the home. 03:53 That's actually not the largest part of what we do. 03:56 We do do services with intact families, 03:59 try to support families, strengthen them, 04:01 help them maintain at home with their parents, 04:05 that's our first goal always. 04:07 Removal is really less then 5% with the reports we get. 04:12 So those tend be the cases that get the most attention... 04:16 Okay. 04:17 But that 5%, that's a difficult population 04:21 and those are children 04:22 typically who have really suffered 04:24 pretty serious abuse and neglect 04:26 as Vendetta described. 04:28 So that hotline 04:29 and our programs goes around the country, 04:31 are they others that you know of other hotlines 04:34 around the country 04:36 for different child protective services 04:39 that people can call in and say I suspect that... 04:43 Is it anonyms or is it? 04:45 It is in Illinois. Okay 04:47 It can be in Illinois. 04:49 I'm not...I can't speak for the other States, 04:51 most...all state do have a hotline, 04:54 but you can also notify law enforcement 04:56 if it's something serious or urgent 04:58 or something like that, 05:00 but I'm not sure, I couldn't say nationally, 05:04 the rules regarding anonymity, 05:08 but in Illinois, you can remain anonymous. 05:10 'Cause I would think that there might be some calls 05:15 that are just not grounded in reality 05:20 and then some that are so, 05:22 you know, and then some people don't let it to be known 05:26 that they are the ones that called and, you know, 05:28 for retaliation purposes and all that. 05:31 So, I would think that would be an issue, 05:33 but I didn't know that that's really just 5% 05:37 that the children, that are abused 05:39 are really, maybe, just 5% of the children 05:42 that you deal with. 05:44 Well, let me clarify that. 05:45 The 5% number, the under 5% are the children we've removed 05:48 from their parents. 05:49 There a much larger number of children 05:52 that we have involvement with 05:54 in an effort to keep them at home 05:58 and to keep them in their home of parents, 06:02 and we try to provide services to the parents 06:05 and keep them there. 06:07 And see I love that because it's so, 06:10 no matter how uncomfortable unless there's abuse going on, 06:13 no matter how uncomfortable it is 06:15 that's still the child's home. 06:17 So it would seem to me that it would be so traumatic 06:21 to remove the child from the home 06:23 unless there's abuse. 06:25 If there's abuse, you have to do it, obviously, 06:27 but if not, it makes so much more sense 06:30 to strengthen that family. 06:31 So what kinds of things do you do 06:33 to strengthen the family unit? 06:36 What we have, what's what we call intech services 06:39 and those services are called families that we serve...we 06:42 assign a case manager, and we provide, 06:44 as Vendetta mentioned, substance abuse serve... 06:47 well, we refer them out for those services, 06:49 substance abuse services, mental health services, 06:52 we can do parenting again, home parenting classes with, 06:57 you know, we can help them get on their feet. 06:59 We actually have some funds available to help a family 07:02 who maybe is in poverty, 07:05 doesn't have housing or the ability to pay for food. 07:08 So there's a lot we can do in home, 07:12 and we would only remove a child 07:14 if those things could not, there was enough, 07:18 we could do in that way to keep them safe. 07:21 Explain what both of you do for DCFS. 07:24 What do both of you do? 07:26 I know you're the regional manager. 07:28 I'm the regional administrator. 07:30 So basically, I'm over the operations 07:32 in the bottom 34 county of southern Illinois, 07:34 so from the metro east, 07:36 St. Louis area down to the Alexander county Cairo area. 07:41 So I'm over all the follow-up services, 07:43 those are children who have come into foster care 07:46 and then, all the child protection investigations 07:49 that are also conducted in Southern Illinois. 07:52 What do you do Vendetta? 07:54 I am over the foster home 07:58 recruitment and retention 08:01 and the permanency, the permanency achievement, 08:05 excuse me, permanency achievements specialist. 08:10 The permanency achievement specialist are those workers 08:15 who work with a family at the beginning 08:20 of their involvement in the foster care experience. 08:24 We've trying to locate relatives 08:29 or what we call fictive kin 08:34 or any other support of resource to their family 08:40 that may be of assistance to their family 08:42 while their child or children are in care. 08:49 They also work with children who have been identified, 08:55 what we call step downs, 08:57 they have been in a residential placement, 09:00 and they are in now ready 09:01 to be in a less restrictive environment 09:06 meaning a specialized foster home 09:10 or a traditional foster home 09:16 or it may be even step home 09:19 or even be able to go home 09:21 to their biological family. 09:25 So they work with the case managers 09:30 that have those cases 09:31 to try to make sure that that happens. 09:34 So they involved at the front door 09:37 and also at the back door. 09:42 Of course, the foster care recruitment and retention 09:46 is pretty obvious a work with those individuals 09:51 that go out and recruit foster homes 09:56 and then work with the foster homes 10:00 to try to make sure that we are being supportive of them 10:03 so that we can retain them. 10:05 Right, right. So what the foster home... 10:09 Were you gonna say something? Oh! 10:10 With the foster homes, 10:12 what kinds of parents do you look for? 10:14 What kinds of families do you look for 10:17 to place the children in? 10:21 It's interesting that the children 10:24 that are coming in a foster care are very unique, 10:26 and so it's hard to kind of 10:29 summarize the needs of each individual child 10:33 'coz who knows what families are gonna work for what child. 10:36 Generally speaking, you know, you have to be 21 at foster, 10:42 and we require background check that they clear, you know? 10:45 No criminal history 10:47 or no history of abuse and neglect. 10:50 You know, we have minimum requirements for, 10:53 you know, a place to live and the foster child 10:55 will have some space 10:58 and so there are kinda of those minimum things. 11:01 Does it have to be a couple? 11:03 Can it be a single person? 11:04 Single person, civil unions. 11:11 We've had sisters that lived together 11:14 who fostered together. 11:15 We've had single people working, not working. 11:20 Actually, it's pretty much as long as you're an adult, 11:22 you can handle and can pass a background check 11:25 and we believe you can provide care, adequate care, 11:30 it's certainly an opportunity. 11:32 That's great and so, 11:35 there is some kind of remuneration for this, right? 11:38 The parents, the State will pay the parent. 11:42 What does that... how does that run? 11:44 How does that work? 11:45 So basically, so children in foster care, 11:49 we do pay for... it's basically their... 11:52 for their care, their board and we call it a Board Rate, 11:56 a technical term, but it's a Board Rate 11:59 and basically it's supposed to help with 12:01 food and clothing and those kinds of things. 12:04 Okay, but you can't give me any like... 12:07 Oh! 12:08 Well, it actually varies depending on the type of home. 12:11 So for example, many of our foster parents 12:14 are relative caregivers, 12:16 and so they actually receive a lower rate 12:19 if they are unlicensed 12:22 'coz a traditional foster parent, 12:23 which we have somebody a stranger to a child 12:25 let's say, they are considered a traditional foster parent 12:29 and so they are licensed by us 12:31 and then they receive a higher rate 12:33 which is somewhere for $475 or $486 a month 12:38 per child. 12:40 But a relative, for example, would receive a reduced rate 12:43 coz they are not licensed necessarily. 12:46 So, if the relative became licensed, 12:48 they receive the higher rates. 12:50 They receive the higher rates. Yes. 12:51 And how long is the licensing process? 12:54 It varies. 12:55 They are... 12:59 typically three to six months. 13:02 Yeah, right that would be about right, six months. 13:04 I think that would be fair. 13:07 So, usually, let's kinda walk me through this, 13:11 walk of yours through this, 13:13 so someone calls your agency and says, 13:17 "Little Johnny is being abused 13:20 by his mom and dad," 13:23 and so from that call on, 13:26 walk us through what happens to little Johnny. 13:30 So it would depend on where they called, 13:34 if they'd called, they should call the hotline 13:38 or they could call the police 13:41 and once they called the hotline, 13:44 there are workers that have been trained 13:48 to screen these types of calls, 13:54 to try to see if there is not evidence 14:00 but if there is a suspected possibility, 14:07 so to speak, 14:08 that there has been an abuse and neglect, 14:10 those workers will ask certain questions of the caller 14:14 and as Lori said, their identity is... 14:20 remains anonymous, 14:23 a lot of times, almost say a lot of times, 14:25 but some times people can figure out 14:31 who is making the calls 14:34 and that has something to do with someone like 14:38 with harassment calls, some times 14:41 and when people think that 14:42 certain people have called, they will, you know, 14:46 so they have been trained on how to try to 14:49 distinguish between those types of calls. 14:52 Right. Is it live or is it numberic? 14:55 Is it real or is it somebody with some agenda? 15:00 Right, right, exactly. 15:01 So when they make the determination 15:05 that it is lie, 15:08 they will assign that particular report 15:13 to a particular area 15:16 where that call is coming from to that office, 15:20 that serves that area 15:22 and it assigned to an investigator 15:26 and that investigator has up to 24 hours 15:30 to initiate that report unless it has been deemed 15:37 necessary for them to go out prior to that, 15:41 it could be as quickly as an hour. 15:43 It just depends on the nature of the allegation. 15:46 So if it seems as though 15:48 the child is in imminent danger... 15:49 Yes 15:51 Someone goes out within the hour. 15:52 Yes. 15:54 Wow and then, but if it's not like a sexual abuse 15:58 or something like that, 16:00 then it might be 24 hours or 48 hours 16:03 or something like that. 16:05 Yes, yes. 16:06 And a lot of that is based on age of the child, 16:10 what they are alleging. 16:12 Just as an example, 16:14 we consider an emergency response, 16:18 it was a young child in a home 16:19 that didn't have any heat 16:22 and the temperature was, you know, 16:24 one of those below zero night wind chills, you know, 16:26 and so something like that can create 16:28 an emergency response. 16:31 So even though that may be an allegation 16:33 that the house wasn't appropriate 16:35 and normally, we might take 24 hours to initiate that, 16:38 in that particular situation, it's an emergency 16:41 because we have a young child with no heat. 16:43 Right, Right 16:45 And it's a long night when you're cold. 16:46 So it does really just vary, and there's a lot of judgment 16:50 that plays into that when they make those decisions. 16:54 So the person has called, 16:56 the investigator has been assigned, 17:00 the investigator goes to home, 17:02 what kind of responses do you often get 17:05 when that person... 17:07 Well, first I guess they call to say that they are coming. 17:09 No, no, no. Oh! They just show up? 17:11 Yes. Oh, okay. 17:12 So then what happens? Wow! 17:14 Well, it varies, you know. Yeah, yeah. 17:18 Sometimes, I think people aren't surprised. 17:24 It depends on what the allegation is, 17:31 but often you are met with anger initially 17:37 because this is an outsider coming to your home 17:44 and is telling you that 17:46 they need to question you about something that you are 17:53 or not doing with your child so... 17:58 That's a very sensitive place 18:02 where a stranger comes to your home 18:05 and accuses you of doing or not doing 18:09 something with your child. 18:11 I mean, I can see how... 18:13 That's a dangerous job. 18:15 The investigator has a dangerous job 18:17 because there is gonna be typically, 18:20 I would think, some resistance, some anger and lashing out. 18:24 And sometimes, depending on the allegation, 18:27 it may be necessary that they have 18:29 the local police to accompany them. 18:33 Okay. 18:35 We don't ever wanna put our investigators in harms way. 18:38 Yeah. 18:40 If at all possible, so if there is 18:42 even an inkling that things may not go as smoothly, 18:47 as they possibly could, investigators will contact. 18:53 Well, I'll just add that investigators 18:56 don't call ahead or whatever, but what they can do 18:58 if it's a family they have concerned about, 19:02 they can call in talk the law enforcement, 19:05 you know, and ask questions about, 19:06 do you know this family? 19:08 Does this family have a criminal history? 19:11 Is there anybody in the household that I might, 19:12 you know, need to be cautious of? 19:14 And they can also call the person that reported 19:17 if that person provided their name and number, 19:20 they can call that reporter and say, 19:22 "You know, how do you think this family 19:23 will respond to me coming out? 19:25 I mean are they aware that you reported this? 19:27 There's an extra lot of people tell them, 19:29 teachers will say, "I'm calling in the hotline." 19:33 So some families do know, so they can do some pre-work 19:37 to avoid some of those situations. 19:40 But frequently, it's just a cold knock on the door. 19:44 Wow! Okay. 19:46 So little Johnny over in the corner some where 19:50 and the mom and the dad 19:52 opens the door, how did they... 19:56 What does the investigator say? 19:57 I know it's not everybody says the same thing, 20:00 but it must be some kind of general thing. 20:03 What do they say normally to the parent 20:06 that has opened the door, 20:08 and now they are gonna find out that 20:10 they have done or haven't done something, 20:11 they have been accused of something, 20:13 what does the investigator say? 20:17 I think the first thing is engagement, 20:20 and we have to go to the door with a, 20:22 you know, this is who we are, 20:24 and we just need to ask some questions 20:27 and get some information and this call has come into us 20:29 and somebody was concerned enough to call 20:31 about your child and so, you know, they're gonna... 20:34 most of our investigator are well trained 20:37 in the art of negotiating their way in the door. 20:41 I guess you could say. 20:42 So they have been trained in that way, 20:46 not every family is as receptive as some families. 20:48 It's interesting a lot of families are... 20:50 I think I don't know if it's shock 20:52 or, you know, somebody is at my door. 20:54 A lot of families are very okay, you know, 20:56 why are you here? 20:58 Like, I don't understand this or they know. 21:01 I know that happened and here's what happened 21:03 and so it's just a varying in degree of willingness, 21:09 but it is overly all about engagement 21:10 on the part of the investigator. 21:12 Well, that makes sense to me. 21:14 So the investigator is kind of 21:15 going on a fact-finding mission. 21:18 Yeah, exactly. 21:19 To determine whether not the allegation are grounded. 21:24 If there is no validity to it, 21:25 they write that up and then they are gone, 21:27 but if there is, what do they do next? 21:31 Well, it just depends on what the allegation is 21:35 and hopefully, we will ask them 21:42 if they would like to have services 21:44 'coz during the course of the investigation, 21:48 something else may come out of it 21:50 where the family is in need of some services 21:55 that will allow them to be able to function 22:01 may be better than what they were 22:03 before we walked into their life. 22:05 So they will ask 22:08 if they would like to have counseling, 22:12 could be a day care, 22:16 parenting. 22:20 Would they agree to do some substance abuse services, 22:24 if that was an identified issue. 22:26 So we kinda give them some options, 22:28 here are the things that you could do 22:30 to strengthen your family. 22:31 We'd like to help you do that. 22:33 Are these group sessions 22:34 or are these individualized family sessions? 22:38 In other words, if it's substance abuse, 22:40 do they go out to a program or if it's parenting, 22:45 do they go out to a parenting seminar? 22:47 Yes, however. 22:50 What's available. Right. 22:51 Both kinds of parenting I think. 22:53 Right, in home and out of home. 22:56 Okay, okay. 22:57 Here, we try to do what we call 22:59 individualized service plan with families. 23:04 We try to identify their strengths 23:07 and their opportunities for growth. 23:09 Nice 23:10 So and in doing that, 23:14 then we can set out a course to help them 23:18 to be able to navigate through the child welfare system 23:25 or to get out of the child welfare system. 23:29 Right, right, right. 23:30 So what steps should a parent take or families take 23:36 if they want a foster child? 23:38 What should they do? 23:40 And talk about the need if you would for 23:43 homes to take in, these children. 23:46 So foster, actually, nationally, 23:50 there is a need for foster parents. 23:54 We are... there's always gonna be a need. 23:56 We'd love to be at a business that's just the work we do, 24:01 but there's always gonna be a need for people 24:03 to be willing to take in young people 24:06 and help them grow. 24:08 You know, part of the national movement as well 24:11 is moving towards more of a, 24:13 looking at a less in fostering children 24:15 and may be fostering families 24:18 and what can families do to not just, 24:22 I mean, take a child into your home 24:24 but then support their birth family 24:26 and may be mentor them and do... 24:28 what we call shared parenting 24:30 which is where may be a foster mother is now 24:34 also in some ways mothering the parent 24:37 because what we know about trauma to families, 24:39 there is a lot of these parents, 24:42 they wouldn't unnecessarily parent it either. 24:44 That's right. 24:45 And so what we are trying to do is 24:47 give them the same support 24:49 and hopefully, be able to reunite them 24:50 with their children, 24:52 and if we can't reunite them with their children, 24:54 they will still have a relationship 24:56 with their children 24:57 that is kept between the foster family, 25:01 the family that's raising her child, 25:04 they can still know the birth family 25:06 and that's so important 25:07 because so many of the children in our system 25:09 are older youth who, 25:12 you know, they need those commitments, 25:13 they need those lives on connections 25:15 and that's who they want to know 25:17 when they are adults is those birth families. 25:18 Exactly. 25:20 I'm reminded of a family of five children 25:24 who were fortunately placed together 25:27 which is what we like to do 25:29 whenever possible to keep siblings together. 25:33 And they were in a foster home 25:35 that allowed the mother to come in 25:40 and bathe the youngest child every day, 25:46 to try to keep that connectedness 25:50 and also help the mother to recognize 25:54 that she was still a part of their life 25:59 and that the place where her children were 26:04 was a safe place 26:06 and it really help's particularly the older children 26:11 to be able to adjust to being without their mom 26:16 for the period of time that they were 26:19 and then, they eventually, they'll say, they went home 26:24 and the foster parents provide baby sitting for them 26:30 for the mother now 26:32 because the reason they came in to care was because 26:35 she was not providing adequate supervision, 26:38 so she was able to get that support system there 26:41 and...yes. 26:43 That's beautiful, that's beautiful 26:44 'cause you kept the family intact, 26:46 you know, the mother still had contact. 26:48 How can people get in touch with you 26:52 if they wanna become foster parents? 26:54 What do they... how do they reach you? 26:56 Well, DCFS has a website, 26:59 so it's DCFS.illinois.gov 27:06 and then, we have regionally, we have a local person, 27:12 and so if they call 618-583-2100 27:18 and ask for, if they are interested in fostering, 27:21 we will get them to who they need to talk to. 27:23 Wonderful! Thank you so much for being with us. 27:26 Thank you for having us, thank you. 27:29 You know, James 1:27 says, 27:31 "Pure and undefiled religion 27:32 before God and the Father is this, 27:35 'To visit orphans and widows in their trouble, 27:37 and to keep oneself unspotted from the world'". 27:40 While foster children may not be orphans, 27:43 they need homes, loving care and compassion from us. 27:46 We can train them in a way they should go 27:48 and give them the best gift that we have, Jesus Christ. 27:52 Well, we've reached the end of another program. 27:55 Join us next time 'cause you know what? 27:57 It just won't be the same without you. |
Revised 2024-03-13