MARCO’S CASE - PART III

PERMANENCY PLANNING

QIC MODEL ELEMENTS

Case exercise covers Elements 1.5, 1.6, All of #2; All of #3; All of #4.

Covers All Core QIC Skills

1. Entering the Child's World - how to engage with the child, learn their needs, guide them, and advocate for their needs while accommodating their stated interests consistent with your state law.

2. Learn to assess child safety according to the ABA Renne and Lund model.

3. Learn to facilitate an appropriate evaluation/assessment of the needs of the child and his/her family. How to evaluate an evaluation?

4. Learn to facilitate development of an appropriate case plan.

5. Learn to develop a theory of the case that is active (drive the bus), and forward looking.

6. Learn advocacy corollaries to meeting a child's needs that stress problem-solving and non-adversarial approaches – but which include traditional adversarial modes when appropriate.

Case Exercise Instructions

Facilitator introduces exercise:

Break up into small groups of 4. Please work through this scenario step by step in the next 20 minutes. What do you need to do next? In your group, please identify what considerations you would make and what you would do along the six QIC core skills. We will reconvene and compare notes and reasoning of each group.

DISPOSITIONAL COURT ORDER

At the Dispositional Hearing the court ordered:

  1. Marco’s father Hector Troy appeared by phone He admitted he had not cared for his son for over a decade and was not currently able to do so. His plea was accepted.
  2. Marco and Lily Williams remained under the jurisdiction of the court.
  3. Marco was placed in his mother’s custody under supervision of the department.
  4. Lily remained in foster care.
  5. Psychological evaluations are to be obtained on all the children and Ms. Williams.
  6. Ms Williams is to undergo a substance abuse evaluation.
  7. Ms. Williams is to participate in parenting classes.
  8. Ms. Williams is to participate in anger management classes.
  9. Child’s counsel is to pursue IEP for Lily.
  10. Visitation between Ms. Williams and Lily shall occur at least once per week as scheduled by the department.
  11. Visits were ordered between Marco and his paternal aunt Ruby Love as agreed by the department and Marco’s lawyer.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Assume that there have been three review hearings since the Dispositional Hearing and this case is now up for a Permanency Planning hearing. You must decide what position to take and advocate for at that hearing.

The twists and turns of this case have been very disappointing. You and others, who initially expected a reunification with Ms. Williams in a relatively short period of time, were surprised when it became apparent that her drug addiction was more long lasting and more severe than anyone anticipated.

After a first quarter of missing evaluations, drug screens and classes, Ms. Williams finally submitted to a substance abuse evaluation and a psychological exam. She was found to have a fairly long and clandestine history of alcohol and drug use and abuse. She tried to hide her addiction from her family and her children, with some considerable success. In the second quarter of this case the substance abuse evaluation recommended an in-patient treatment program which she began, only to drop out after one week. A month ago, she agreed to try the in-patient treatment again. Her progress has been spotty. She is still in the first level. She tested dirty just a few days ago. But she says she is making progress and hopes to complete the in-patient program in 3 to 6 more months and then move to an out-patient aftercare. If she can get employment again she would be able to set up a household for Marco and Lily and that is what she wants.

Marco initially remained in his mother’s custody but things deteriorated when the severity of Ms. William’s drug use became clear and it was discovered that Marco was again left alone and unsupervised much of the time. He was again removed from her care to a different foster home but in a different school districtwhich was hard for a 9th grader. Marco began visiting his Aunt Ruby and spent some very good time with his father when he was visiting from the Alaskan salmon fisheries.

At the first review hearing the court ordered that he move to his aunt’s home. Aunt Ruby’s home is in the same school district as foster home #2, so he fortunately did not have to switch schools again. He has done better in school and is up to grade level. Marco is smart and interested in attending community college after high school. His relationship with his mother remains very strained. He is angry with her and blames her for the fact that he and Lily are in foster care. In counseling he revealed that he knew of her drug use and tried to cover up for her. He had a rough first month at Aunt Ruby’s because she imposed structure on him that was quite unfamiliar. But in that relatively short time he seemed to adjust OK and now would like to remain living with his Aunt Ruby and to stay in touch with his father. Aunt Ruby says they like having Marco in the family, but they really cannot afford to adopt him. Can’t he just stay with us, she asks.

Lily was moved from her first foster home because the foster mother was pregnant but also because they had difficulty handling her behavior. Lily had a rough way for awhile. Lily’s stomach problems required medical care. The physicians thought that her condition probably had a psychological origin as a result of severe stress. Lily was in counseling for about six months. Her psychological evaluation showed she had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and recommended medication. You, as her lawyer, were very suspicious because of your view that medication is overly prescribed for many children. But upon consultation with the physician and psychologist, you agreed with the plan. Lily is getting average grades in school. She is also doing okay now in her foster home.

The agency subscribes to concurrent planning and has asked the foster parents whether they would be interested in adoption should Lily become eligible. They are in their early 60s and their two children are settled on their own. They are retiring soon and want to move to join friends in a retirement village in Georgia. They really aren’t sure about keeping Lily any longer than this current school year. She is a great kid, they say, but we cannot take on such a commitment.

Both Marco and Lily were very, very disappointed in their first six months in foster care because their mother missed so many visits with them. Lily often cried when the visits were cancelled; Marco got mad and acted out. In the last few months they have been seeing their mother once per week at the drug treatment program and those visits seem to go OK. Ms. Williams understands that the case is coming to the permanency planning hearing but she wants another 3 to 6 months to get her addiction under control and then she wants custody of both children.

You talk with the children separately. Both are interested in staying in touch with their mother but are nervous about the idea of returning to her custody. Lily, who is now 8, says she remembers being really hungry sometimes and very scared when her Mom left them at night. She also says she likes school now and does better because she can concentrate and pay attention. She doesn’t know about going to live with her Mom, but she definitely likes seeing her. She likes living with the foster parents, but idea of being adopted by them is a little scary. “What do you think about being adopted by somebody else?” you ask her. “I don’t know,” she says. That too seems scary and hard to even think about.

Mrs. Jefferson calls you and asks to be at the permanency hearing. At your suggestion she and Lily have had several visits and stay in touch by phone too.

A maternal aunt, Mabel Griffith, has been in touch with the agency. She is actually the ex-wife of the children’s maternal uncle. She is interested in keeping in touch with Marco and Lily. She says she is going to be at the permanency hearing. Marco remembers her and Lily has a vague recollection of her.

Case Exercise Instructions

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR PERMANENCY?

In your small group please work through the scenario step by step. What do you need to do next? Please identify what considerations you would make and what you would do from here? We will reconvene and compare notes and the reasoning of each group.

Of the six QIC Core skills we ask you to focus particularly on #1, Determining the Child’s Needs and Wishes; #4 Adopt and Appropriate Case Plan; #5 Theory of the Case; and #6 Advocacy Corollaries.

  1. Listen. How do you learn from the child? What are the child’s wishes and needs? To what extent do you accommodate the child’s wishes at this point?
  2. Listen: Safety Assessment. Will your client be safe? Please identify the elements you would consider in making the Safety/Removal decision. What will be your recommendation to the court?
  3. Counsel: Assess the Case/Evaluate the Evaluations: What are the needs of the child and family? How can you facilitate an appropriate assessment of the child and the family in order to diagnose and define the problem and thus give proper direction to the case?
  4. Counsel: How can you advance adoption of an appropriate case plan that addresses the properly defined needs of the child and family and addresses the child’s needs, including the needs for safety and permanency?
  5. Advocate: Case Theory: What is going on here? What is the “big picture”? Where is this case going? Drive the bus!
  6. Advocate: Identify Advocacy Corollaries.What steps should you take to address the child’s needs? Problem solve, negotiate, argue? What position do you take before the court?