Putting the Children First : County agency must be cautious in trying to boost adoptions

That sure was a fine family Ward and June Cleaver had on the television screen, so devoted to Wally and Beaver. Or how about Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and their two boys, David and Ricky? Truth be told, life’s not always like that, as Orange County’s social workers know all too well.

For years the county’s Social Services Agency has emphasized holding families together. When men and women lacked parenting skills or couldn’t quite seem to function in one area or another, social workers tried to help. Parents were taught how to clean a house, or cook nutritious meals or shop for food. Counselors assisted with lessons on controlling anger. If children had to be removed, the emphasis was on keeping the separation as short as possible.

Now the agency is shifting its emphasis, cutting in half the time it spends trying to reunite parents with their children who are 3 years old or younger and who have been placed in foster care.

Rather than waiting a year before letting people adopt the youngsters, the county will wait only six months. That is a major change and one that must not be implemented without careful consideration of individual cases. Keeping families together should remain the agency’s top priority.

Clearly there is no quarrel with getting children out of a home where they have been abused, physically or emotionally. New laws have made it more difficult for parents with drug addictions or records of violent crimes to regain custody of their children. Those are sensible precautions.

It is also true that six months seems an eternity to a 3-year-old, especially one who has been taken from his or her mother and father. Getting the child into a permanent situation as soon as possible is a good idea.

It is not always easy to find people willing to adopt foster children, in those cases where adoption is clearly the best course of action. Matching children and parents can be difficult even when there are no legal barriers. That is especially true with minority children, who are more likely to be left awaiting placement first in foster homes and then with permanent adoptive parents.

The county will have to recruit adoptive parents more aggressively if it is to reach its goal of 468 adoptions this year, up from 241 last year. At the same time it will have to be sure that those wanting to provide a new home for foster children are qualified. That means rigorous background checks, despite the understandable wishes of those awaiting children that the process move more quickly. There can be no shortcuts when it comes to the children’s welfare.