New York's highest court strikes down state's Host Homes program after calling it a shadow foster care system' | amNewYork

A state’s highest court invalidated a program that would let struggling families temporarily place children with people who are not licensed foster parents. The court found the agency lacked legal authority to launch the program because it undermined the legislature’s foster care system. The program was viewed as bypassing key safeguards, including attorney representation for parents and children and placing foster children in state custody so the state bears responsibility for their well-being. The court noted there was no requirement for judicial involvement, so counsel would not be assigned during placements. The agency argued the program would provide temporary childcare without requiring custody transfers and would offer guidelines for families lacking friends or relatives, but the court treated these features as part of the problem.

"The state's highest court struck down on Thursday a controversial state program that would allow struggling families to temporarily place their children with people who aren't licensed foster parents, citing concerns that it would strip parents and kids of necessary legal and safety protections and that the state lacks liability if something were to go wrong."

"The Court of Appeals ruled the state's Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) did not have the legal authority to launch the program, called Host Homes, because it undermined the state legislature's carefully designed foster care system. It does so, judges said, by sidestepping critical requirements, such as providing kids and parents with attorneys and placing foster kids in state custody so the state's on the hook for their well-being."

"The Host Family Home program purports to relieve its participants from some of the most important protections in the foster care system, wrote Judge Anthony Cannataro in the decision. There is no requirement of judicial intervention of any kind, and therefore no assignment of counsel to parents or children at any point during the placement."

"OCFS had argued that a state program that didn't require families to give up custody of kids would serve as a positive alternative to the state's voluntary foster care system. The agency argued that it would offer temporary child care to families going through a rough patch who didn't have friends or relatives to look after their kids. Moreover, the OCFS added, families are already handing their kids off to others, so this program would establish baseline guidelines for the process and open that opportunity to parents without those connections."

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