Judge calls for change in adoption system

The probate judge would like to see deadlines set to speed up adoptions.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County Probate Judge Thomas A. Swift says the new Ohio law enacted to combat problems in the state's adoption system isn't the last word on the problem.
Swift, president of the Ohio Association of Probate Court Judges, was part of a work group that shaped Senate Bill 238, which was signed into law June 21 and goes into effect Sept. 19, 90 days after its passage.
Chief among its targets is a state adoption system that allowed a Huron County couple to adopt 11 children with ailments such as autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and HIV and keep them part of the time in chicken-wire cages. Authorities removed the children from the home Sept. 9, 2005, and the couple, Michael and Sharen Gravelle, of Wakeman, were later charged with child endangering and other crimes.
One aspect of the new law is a requirement that an assessment be done whenever considering an adoptive family placement in a family with five or more children. Another is required sharing of information between county child welfare agencies.
Judge Swift is also a member of an Ohio Supreme Court advisory committee that studies issues pertaining to children and families. This committee, which meets quarterly, met recently in Columbus to discuss additional changes to the system.
Judge Swift pointed out that milestone adoption legislation -- the Adoption and Safe Families Act -- was passed by Congress in 1997. Congress passed the law as a way to speed the pace of adoptions so that orphans would not languish in the nation's foster care system.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data show foster adoptions increased 64 percent nationwide in the five years since the legislation was enacted. The Associated Press has reported foster adoptions increased 43.5 percent in Ohio in the same period.
But in light of the Huron County case, many Ohions have questioned whether a chief component of the act -- using money to increase the number of adoptions -- has led to some bad adoption policies, Judge Swift said.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act paid state agencies $160 million in adoption bonuses in the first five years. The money has been called a bounty by critics, who say paying agencies to increase adoptions has led to many bad adoptions.
Current problems
In the case of the Huron County couple, they also had a financial stake in adopting -- receiving government adoption subsidies and disability payments for the children.
Other issues remain in Ohio, Judge Swift said, such as taking minority children from their birth parents prematurely.
"The current system doesn't take into effect the culture of the minority," Judge Swift said, explaining that in many cases, case workers are young college graduates from middle-class homes who may make poor judgments about the lifestyles of people different from themselves.
"Not everybody lives the same way," Judge Swift said. "Putting four or five kids in the same bedroom doesn't necessarily mean the kids are being neglected. You have to look at all of the family."
An example, he said, is that a crack-cocaine baby might go into the child welfare system and the rights of the biological family might be terminated very quickly when, in fact, a grandparent might be very capable of taking responsibility for the child.
"Don't rush to judgment in terminating parental rights," Judge Swift said. "Don't rush to judge all members of the family because there is a disruption in that family."
On July 12, Judge Swift proposed to the Supreme Court's advisory committee that some steps can still be taken to speed up adoptions -- without offering money. He said Ohio law doesn't currently set deadlines for completing custody hearings involving adoptions, and his proposal would set a 90-day deadline.
Local authorities
In Trumbull County, adoptions are handled by the Children Services Board and private agencies, Judge Swift said, though he said the local CSB does a good job. In some other counties, the job is handled by the Department of Job and Family Services.
Judge Swift said his research suggests that many adoptions take too long because there is no limit to the time between the filing of a petition and the date of the hearing. Judge Swift said he believes setting deadlines would speed the work on evaluations and other tasks that have to be done before the hearing takes place.
"By setting a standard, everybody would know what the standard is, and it would become more uniform," he said.
Another simple item that could speed the process is a mandated checklist, he said. The list would simply contain all of the important elements of an adoption case. Such a requirement would eliminate unnecessary delays, he said.
Robert Kubiak, Trumbull County CSB executive director, said a new law won't affect his agency much because it is already sharing information with other counties and doing most of the other things.
"These are practices we've been following," he said. "The changes are for the most part good."
runyan@vindy.com