Courts part of oversight in protecting children in Iowa’s foster care system

CEDAR RAPIDS - From local to state to federal levels, the Iowa Department of Human Services has many eyes on the decisions it makes.

One such oversight are the courts.

Various steps in a child welfare case are decided in a legal proceeding, including removal of a child from home, placement with relatives or with a foster family as well as termination of parental rights.

DHS officials interviewed for this series said their role is to write recommendations, not orders. It's the decision of judges, based on those recommendations, court-appointed advocates and attorneys, that put these motions into action.

'DHS does not work in isolation,” said former department spokesperson Amy McCoy, who is now communications director for Hy-Vee Inc. ' ...

we don't just go in and DHS is making a decision and that's what happens to that child for the rest of their life. A judge is very much involved in the case when there's a removal, and what happens next.”

For cases that have resulted in taking a child from the home, social workers make case recommendations to the court based on the progress of a family, and if they have reached certain milestones set by the department to have the child returned to the parents.

Even before a case reaches court, a social worker assessing an allegation writes a report that is reviewed by the local County Attorney's Office.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Matt Kishinami reviews reports completed by DHS on both accepted and rejected allegations of abuse that took place in Linn County.

These reports are completed and the decision on the case has been finalized by the time it reaches Kishinami's desk, he said. Kishinami said he has no authority to tell DHS what cases it should or should not accept.

'Without any independent knowledge of it, I'm not in any position to say, ‘I disagree with that,'” he said. 'If the (social worker) says, ‘Well, I don't think this is a concern,' who am I to say, ‘Well, I do?'”

However, that doesn't mean the local County Attorneys can't inquire on about specific cases they review.

'I could pick up the phone and I could send an email and say, ‘Hey, do me a favor, would you look at this again?'” Kishinami said. 'I can do that and they might do it ...

There's nothing stopping me from calling them, but at the end of the day, they don't have to do it.”

Judges - such as Associate Judge Deborah Farmer Minot, who rules on these cases in the 6th Judicial District in Eastern Iowa - approves formal decisions on aspects of a child's case, from removal to reunification with their birthparents or adoption by another family.

But at the same time, Judge Minot said the court's oversight only goes so far. The court does not train foster parents or monitor foster homes and it does not hire social workers.

'There are decisions the court has authority over and there are decisions where the court has more monitoring responsibilities as opposed to decision making authority,” Minot said.

In Minot's opinion, Iowa laws are sufficient to protect children.

However, she said the law is only one piece of it. Protection of children and their welfare rests in the hands of every person involved in their lives, from County Attorneys to social workers to foster parents to teachers.

'It's every person, who needs to be on the alert and committed to the safety and well-being of children, who has some opportunity along the way to intervene in the life of that child, and either does or doesn't,” Minot said. 'Often it's not the law, it's the alertness, it's the caring, it's the recognition and willingness of individuals to just do what they need to do. And it's often easier not to than it is to do the right thing.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com