A Community Conversation About the Safety of Children in Foster Care - Additional Reports

In addition to the report "A Community Conversation About the Safety of Children in Foster Care", which was published in May of 2009, companion reports were written.

Click here for more detailed information about best and evidence-based practices that enhance the safety of children in foster care.
Click here for more detailed information about what key informants had to say.
Click here for more detailed information about what caseworkers had to say.
Click here for more detailed information about what biological mothers had to say.
Click here for more detailed information about what foster parents had to say.

Safety of Children in Foster Care - Report Released

Did you know that…

• As of December 31, 2008, there were 2,638 children in out-of-home care in Milwaukee County?
• On that same date in 2008, there were 680 active, licensed foster homes in Milwaukee County?
• There were seven children in 2008 in Milwaukee County who were victims of maltreatment in court-ordered kinship care?

The Planning Council has released its report on keeping children safe in foster care in Milwaukee County. This study, which was commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Bright Futures Milwaukee Fund in memory of long-time child advocate James R. Ryan, was undertaken to engage the community in a discussion about the safety of children in foster care. To learn more about the current status of children in foster care, best practices for keeping foster children safe, and strategies for enhancing the safety of children in foster care in Milwaukee County, visit our website at www.planningcouncil.org and click on the report titled “A Community Conversation About the Safety of Children in Foster Care.” Additional information about best practices and more detailed information on what key informants, caseworkers, foster parents, and biological parents had to say will be coming soon to our website.

Click on the following link to view an article about the foster care study written by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/46266767.html. The following link is an article about the study written by LaToya Dennis of Milwaukee Public Radio http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=4613.

Note: If you visited the Planning Council or Ombudsman Website prior to May 8, 2009 to review the Office of the Milwaukee Ombudsman for Child Welfare’s 2008 Annual Report, please be aware that some corrections were made to the report. Please use the following links to access the corrected documents: 2008 Annual Report or 2008 Executive Summary.

Release of Report on Keeping Children Safe in Foster Care

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Milwaukee Youth Arts Center
(Located at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Walnut Street.)

The Planning Council will release its report on keeping children safe in foster care. The study was commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Bright Futures Milwaukee Fund in memory of long-time child advocate James R. Ryan.

Please join us for a community conversation from 4:00�5:30 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. Space is limited. Please contact us for an invitation.

Agency to study Milwaukee County foster care

News article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/37680404.html

By Crocker Stephenson of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 15, 2009

The safety of children in Milwaukee County's foster care system is the focus of a study to be conducted by the Planning Council for Health and Human Services Inc., the agency's executive director, Kathleen Pritchard, announced Thursday.

The Nov. 11 beating death of 13-month-old foster child Christopher Thomas has raised questions about the quality and oversight of foster care in Milwaukee County, according to a statement issued by the nonprofit agency, and points to the need to identify programs that are working in other communities.

"We want to know how we can improve the system going forward," Pritchard said.

"The intent is to make sure this doesn't happen again."

The study was commissioned in honor of the late Jim Ryan, a former social worker and a longtime advocate for child welfare, who died in November 2007. Ryan was mayor of Hales Corners for almost 20 years, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, as well as president and CEO of Penfield Children's Center.

Funding for the study, expected to be completed in March, has been provided by an anonymous donor through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation's Bright Futures Milwaukee Fund.
Pritchard called the gift "a fitting way to commemorate Jim's commitment to vulnerable children."

- Crocker Stephenson

For complete archived coverage of the story of the death of 13-month-old Christopher L. Thomas Jr., click here.