(LEX 18) — Yelling about the state foster care system is what 80-year-old Charles Ransdell hoped he wouldn't be doing decades after his retirement.
Reports of children in state custody sleeping overnight and, in one case, weeks in an office building were the catalyst to fire up the former state social worker of the year.
"When I was a social worker in Jefferson County, I had to stay all night in my office and sleep in a chair at a desk," said Ransdell. "I got to think nothing's changed in the last 20 years. 25 years."
Ransdell questions why the state continues to see a shortage of foster parents and what has been accomplished over the years to improve the system for children.
"When Governor Beshear had said there's a big surplus of money this year, but nobody has said let's spend a little of it to help recruit foster parents," said Ransdell.
When asked about that specifically, the governor's office did not respond directly. They instead pointed to the Governor's comments during his Team Kentucky Address last Thursday.
"Every child deserves a forever home. As a dad, I believe every child is a child of God that deserves a forever home and every child should be free of abuse and neglect. Sadly, we live in a tough world where many of the kids that come under the state's care have been abused in horrific ways and have undergone trauma that most of us can't imagine. It's then the responsibility of the state to do everything that it can. I don't want a single child to have to spend a single night in an office building. It is important though to know that the world we live in and it's tough and it's complicated and these social workers are doing their very best and they face at least two difficult issues that sometimes result in these very short-term stays."
Gov. Beshear said the first issue that causes children to stay overnight in offices is timing because says sometimes kids are released late at night and takes time to appropriately place them.
"It's the best option they have available at the time and it's an awful option," said Gov. Beshear.
He said the second reason is some children with behavioral issues have been harder to place in housing.
"We have to be very careful about placing them because we don't want to place other kids in the foster care system in danger," said Gov. Beshear.
He says the state really needs foster parents willing to take the tougher cases like those and older teenagers.
What Has Changed:
Legislation related to foster care has been passed throughout the last several years.
2023 - SB 48
2022 - SB 8, SB 229
2020 - SB 40
2018 - HB 1
2019 - HB 158
2012 - SB 213
$41.5 million was given to providers and foster care agencies just this year.
"More funding is always helpful but it's never the full answer. That $41 million ought to help but there's likely more that's going to be needed in the future," said Gov. Beshear.
Looking Ahead:
Gov. Beshear says the state needs more options.
"We need to look for more providers, providers that will expand their services to ensure that we will have a place for them. We need more options, about the one-night or two-night stay if someone is removed from a home later," said Gov. Beshear. "But I think what we all have to recognize is there's this level of abuse and neglect, we're going to have these challenges. It's not a magic wand that we wave that just means there's a place for everybody to go. It's a battle that we go through every day to make sure that kids are not neglected or abused in the first place".
He added the earlier the state can be involved with families at risk through early intervention the better.
The state has fewer kids in foster care than the uptick two years ago.
Addressing the Social Worker Shortage:
The Department for Community Based Services currently has 1,019 Social Service Worker staff and is funded for 1,246 workers.
Gov. Beshear talked about adding 350 new social workers to fight abuse and neglect as a part of his 2022-2024 Executive Budget as well as loan forgiveness. But those are proposals.
Shannon Moody, chief policy and strategy officer for Ky Youth Advocates says their organization believes money alone is not the only solution.
"I think it's yes investments, but also a structure that supports a workforce that does very hard work that generally is underappreciated and under-supported at times," said Moody.
Moody says KY Youth Advocates believes pouring into social workers will help with recruiting and retaining foster homes by giving workers more time and resources to offer families more support.
"Helping potential foster families understand what support is there and making sure it's being followed through with," said Moody.
Moody expects conversations to continue during the upcoming legislative session and believes the issue is a priority.
"I don't know if that means investments plus potential policy change," she said.
As of July 2, there were more than 8,400 children in out-of-home care in the state.
