A federal judge has given the District until 2009 to reform a welfare system that a court said “jeopardizes the health and lives of thousands of children.”
Since 1991, the District has remained under court oversight to fix its child welfare system and has negotiated with the New York-based Children’s Rights organization to have the order lifted.
“The District has made real progress, but there are still significant problems that need to be addressed,” Children’s Rights Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry told The Examiner on Wednesday. Children’s Rights, a national watchdog organization, advocates on behalf of abused and neglected children.
The oversight was a result of a 1989 federal class action lawsuit, now known as LaShawn A. v. Fenty. The suit is named for a 4-year-old girl stuck in the foster care system for nearly three years.
The District has only met 40 of 105 court-enforced goals, Lowry said. The District still does not provide enough appropriate places for foster children and the youth have to moved from place to place, Lowry said. There still is not adequate supervision over the private agencies used by the city, she said.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan approved Tuesday the new plan that requires the city to reform the remaining areas by Dec. 31, 2008.
New Mayor Adrian Fenty welcomed the extension.
“For too long we have not been able to comply with outstanding court orders and to serve effectively our most vulnerable citizens,” he said in a statement. “We are going to change that, and this new consent order is the first step.”
