We’re Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas and we care about children in this great nation, especially in foster care. One New Hampshire foster family is speaking out.
Foster parents Dylan and Jaime Remenar take in children in crisis and are trusted with some of New Hampshire’s most challenging cases. Recently, the Belmont couple spoke out against believed ill-treatment of foster parents by New Hampshire’s Division for Children, Youth and Families.
Dylan Remenar spoke to the House Children and Family Law Committee, stating, “I am speaking […] as an advocate for all foster parents, especially [those] who have contacted me […] to share stories similar to mine, but were too afraid to speak…”
He opened testimony regarding HB 1562, which would create a foster parent bill of rights, and HB 1234, which provides foster parents the right to intercede in legal actions pertaining to the custody of children in their care.
The bills’ sponsor, Rep. Sean Morrison, R-Epping, said there’s a great deal at stake. The supply of foster families has been declining as the demand for these families’ services surges.
Without change, the availability of foster homes could be significantly affected, according to Morrison. Leaving the hundreds of children exiled by the opioid epidemic with nowhere to turn.
According to the DCYF Annual Progress and Services Report, by 2016 the number of available foster homes had dropped to 593 from 896 in 2010. While the number in 2017 has gone up to 737, it’s still not another.
“It is my [argument] that, if the treatment of foster families continues […], that the numbers will go down once again,” Morrison stated.
Dylan Remenar had stated, “We initially had some great years working with DCYF and fostering children, but the past year has been the worst year of our lives […] because of DCYF’s incompetence.”
After caring for a child for a year and a half, the Remenars were told by DCYF workers that a judge had approved them for adoption. Dylan said this was shared with all parties involved, including the child’s biological family. They celebrated excitedly, only to find out months later that the DCYF made a mistake and had misunderstood the court order.
What followed was months of misunderstandings and legal battles. The Remenars were told once again they were approved, and then again that they weren’t.
More heartbreaking was the end result. Dylan stated, “After the child spent every night with us for over two-and-a-half years, DCYF […] scheduled to have him transition back to his family on Mother’s Day. Choosing this date was […] cruel to my wife after she raised the child as her own and was told by [the] DCYF she would [get to adopt]. My family has been devastated […] and we are […] in counseling and struggling to find a way to continue life as we once knew it.”
The Foster Parent Bill of Rights would require foster parents to be given notice about child placement decisions. It would allow them a voice in court and in planning visits between birth parents. And, it would give foster parents deliberation if adoption becomes the primary goal.
Additionally, it would guarantee “freedom from coercion, discrimination, and reprisals for voicing concerns about a child in the foster parent’s care.”
Dylan stated the couple was assured by newly-confirmed DHHS Associate Commissioner Christine Tappan, managing child protection services, that they could speak freely with no fear of retaliations.
A petition by the New Hampshire Foster and Adoptive Parent Association (NHFAPA) for a bill of rights has gained over 1,000 signatures. But Morrison upholds the NHFAPA has been taken over by the DCYF, and this is seen in what he stated was a “weaker proposal.”
A legislative subcommittee, led by state Rep. Mariellen MacKay, R-Nashua, is trying to resolve the opposing documents and create a single suggestion for the legislature.
If you see issues regarding your local foster care system, report it on the Kathey and Rob Raskin Stop DHR site. Then, contact your state officials and hold them responsible for giving our foster children the homes and funds they greatly need.