Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Sunday, February 18, 2007
Proposals would make strict changes to foster parent licensing
ST. PAUL — Fingerprinting and broad criminal background checks are just some of the new requirements proposed for Minnesotans who want to be foster parents.
The changes, part of a $1.2 million-a-year overhaul of the foster parent system, are being proposed partly to comply with federal standards designed to keep sexual offenders from preying on children. Wisconsin would see similar changes.
Background checks are currently done in Minnesota, at the county level. The proposal would have the checks done centrally, through the state. Advocates welcome the change, but warn that computer databanks won’t necessarily protect kids.
For example, it’s unlikely the changes would have flagged Perry Wayne Pfitzer, who has pleaded not guilty to molesting his two foster daughters, ages 4 and 6, last summer. Pfitzer, 50, obtained a state foster-care license in 2005 despite a 1982 conviction for indecent exposure involving a minor in a Blaine department store, according to state and county records.
There were two problems: When Anoka County checked his background, their search didn’t show the “involving a minor” part because the incident was old, and Minnesota laws make it hard for counties to refuse a license based on old misdemeanors. Those laws won’t change.
“Is there still room for improvement? Yes,” said Bill Pinsonnault, Anoka County’s director of community social services and mental health. “This will clearly give a greater depth and breadth to the background. It’s much more likely to catch blind spots — and there are blind spots.”
Currently, if a Milwaukee man moves to Dakota County and wants to be a foster parent, authorities would check his criminal record in Minnesota and Milwaukee County. They do not check counties neighboring Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s statewide database or the FBI’s national database, unless they find a red flag.
Under the changes — outlined in the budgets of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle — all those records would be checked. In addition, the prospective foster parent would give his fingerprints, to be compared to a national database.
In Minnesota, a team of about a dozen workers would do the checks.
“It’s just simply a better way to do it,” said Tim Wilkin, assistant commissioner for operations in Minnesota’s Department of Human Services. “As a parent, it’s a huge deal to make sure we protect kids from what we should have known if someone has a bad background. It’s worth it.”
Examples of molestations by foster parents are rare. Of Minnesota’s 14,723 foster children in 4,465 licensed homes, 15 — about a tenth of a percent — were found to have been sexually abused by a foster parent or worker in 2005.
Some people don’t like all the changes. Dakota County wants to loosen a requirement that no child can be placed with a relative until after a background check.
“A lot of kids will be going to shelters while we await the results on someone they’ve known their whole life,” said Joan Granger-Kopesky, deputy director of Dakota County children and family services.
Some foster parents need help with issues such as sitting down for a family meal or taking children to medical appointments, said Gail Chang Bohr, executive director of the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota.
“I’ve seen foster parents who don’t think it’s their role to do that. Licensing should just be your first piece,” she said.
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