Youth Perspectives on the Child Welfare System

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Have you ever thought about how your CASA child felt when he was removed from his home?

In a recent series of Focus Groups conducted by the California Youth Connection, foster youth from all over the state of California were asked about their experiences in the child welfare system. Statewide Coordinator Janet Knipe reports that, "More than anything else, the youth objected to the lack of information they were given about what was going on, why they were being removed, and what was going to happen to them." (Reshaping Child Welfare Policy: Youth Perspectives. California Youth Connection Focus Groups Report, 1997.)

Feelings about Removal

The youth felt that kids should never be driven away from home or school in a police car because it made them feel as though they had done something wrong. They also said that CPS should make more surprise visits to the home to check whether or not the kids were safe -- but not to the school. While some youth felt they could talk more openly about their families at school, many did not want to have their friends see them talking to a social worker or police person. (Some children even dread having their CASA come to their school.)

CYC youth gave useful advice to social workers and anyone else who wants to learn how a child really feels: always interview the child when he is alone. He will be inhibited and may even lie if a parent is around. They also suggest that social workers and police need more training so that they can tell when a child is lying -- which, they say, the child is likely to do, even when he knows is unsafe with his family.

The youth in these focus groups wanted professionals to help them tell the truth about their families, or at least to be sophisticated about when children lie. They also wanted the professionals to tell the truth to children. They would prefer to know what is really happening so that they can prepare for the future, whatever it may be. As one youth said, "After all that has happened to us, what you have to say to me is nothing. I can handle it."

Implications for CASAs

• Be honest with your child and talk with him or her in developmentally appropriate ways. Don't talk down to him and don't "double talk."
  
  
• Create a context in which the child can be honest with you.
  
  
• Be aware of the child's sensibility -- if he is ashamed to be seen with you, don't take it personally. He doesn't want the world to know he's "in the system."

Feelings about Court

The youth in the focus groups felt that they were generally left in the dark about the court process. Specifically, they felt that their opinions were not taken seriously, that their attorneys did not represent their interests in court, and that they lacked information about what was going on. They also felt that no one involved in the court made any effort to consider how the process affected them, and that they were left out of the whole thing.

Ms. Knipe writes that those few foster youth who were given information had "a sense of control over their lives that others … did not feel." (P. 7) Only one of the youth in these focus groups had a "court representative" who acted as "a strong advocate for her wishes." We hope that person was a CASA!

If you have ever doubted the need for CASA programs, the words of these youth should assure you that even with competent social workers and dedicated attorneys, kids need help understanding what is going on. They may have no clear idea of the role of the court, but the court will nonetheless determine their future! They should be informed enough to choose whether or not to attend hearings. They should have the chance to let the judge know how they feel about their own lives.

Your job is to speak for your child in court. He can be told very clearly that you will tell the judge what he wishes could happen, but that the court will have to put his safety first when it makes decisions about placement or reunification.

—Libby Colman, Ph.D.