To the Editor:
Re “When a Foster Child Runs Away, the City’s Solution Is Often Arrest” (news article, Dec. 7):
Aside from the fact that leaving a foster home is not a crime, the use of warrants and arrests actively undermines the work of foster care providers. When youths leave their foster homes, they are often running to a place that is familiar and comfortable as they try to cope with the trauma and instability inherent to placement in foster care.
Issuing a warrant for this noncriminal behavior contributes to the systemic criminalization of young people of color, and says to this vulnerable population that whether or not you commit a crime, you can still be arrested and sit in jail. There are other options.
Missing persons reports, which are already filed every time a child leaves foster care, trigger a specialized team within the New York Police Department to conduct an immediate search for the youth; but warrants supersede missing persons reports, and transform the case from protective to punitive.
Youths in foster care need and deserve a system that responds with treatment and hope, not criminalization and incarceration.
Elizabeth McCarthy
New York
The writer is chief executive of Sheltering Arms.
To the Editor:
Your article describes why New York’s draconian policy of issuing arrest warrants for vulnerable children is a bad idea: Cuffing and locking up children who run away from foster care is cruel and pushes young people away from the care and services they need. It causes unnecessary trauma, and leaves them vulnerable to physical and emotional harm.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Other states have figured out how to keep children safe without involving the criminal justice system. Take Tennessee, where an innovative program bridges the gap between law enforcement and child welfare agencies.
The state trains regional staff; monitors runaway trends and data; and, once youths are found, ensures their safe reintegration into an appropriate placement with vital services. If other states are finding better ways to protect the children in their care — without criminalizing them in the process — why not New York?
Sandy Santana
New York
The writer is executive director of Children’s Rights.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | Foster Children Who Run Away
Opinion | Foster Children Who Run Away
To the Editor:
Re “When a Foster Child Runs Away, the City’s Solution Is Often Arrest” (news article, Dec. 7):
Aside from the fact that leaving a foster home is not a crime, the use of warrants and arrests actively undermines the work of foster care providers. When youths leave their foster homes, they are often running to a place that is familiar and comfortable as they try to cope with the trauma and instability inherent to placement in foster care.
Issuing a warrant for this noncriminal behavior contributes to the systemic criminalization of young people of color, and says to this vulnerable population that whether or not you commit a crime, you can still be arrested and sit in jail. There are other options.
Missing persons reports, which are already filed every time a child leaves foster care, trigger a specialized team within the New York Police Department to conduct an immediate search for the youth; but warrants supersede missing persons reports, and transform the case from protective to punitive.
Youths in foster care need and deserve a system that responds with treatment and hope, not criminalization and incarceration.
Elizabeth McCarthy
New York
The writer is chief executive of Sheltering Arms.
To the Editor:
Your article describes why New York’s draconian policy of issuing arrest warrants for vulnerable children is a bad idea: Cuffing and locking up children who run away from foster care is cruel and pushes young people away from the care and services they need. It causes unnecessary trauma, and leaves them vulnerable to physical and emotional harm.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Other states have figured out how to keep children safe without involving the criminal justice system. Take Tennessee, where an innovative program bridges the gap between law enforcement and child welfare agencies.
The state trains regional staff; monitors runaway trends and data; and, once youths are found, ensures their safe reintegration into an appropriate placement with vital services. If other states are finding better ways to protect the children in their care — without criminalizing them in the process — why not New York?
Sandy Santana
New York
The writer is executive director of Children’s Rights.
Source: Read Full Article