This morning I have considered the unfairly low board rate paid to Louisiana’s foster parents. Lousiana’s foster parents deserve a board rate that covers the full cost of caring for children. According to Louisiana Form 427, for a child up to 2 years of age, Louisiana will pay a foster parent a regular board rate…
In a recent conversation with a gentleman who works for an insurance company interested in managing behavioral health in Louisiana, I was asked, “What do you think about performance-based contracting? Would you be interested in trying it in Louisiana?” I explained that, as I understand performance-based contracting, child welfare providers who already have better outcomes…
Imagine sky diving with a torn ripcord. Would you? Perhaps a blindfold would help you feel better about it? At least with a blindfold, if the ripcord broke and your parachute did not open, you would not see your approaching doom. When I think of children “aging out” of foster care, the worst kind of…
Most Louisianans miss it, but the military understands the importance of child well-being. This evening as I read, “Retired military brass tell why 75 percent of Louisiana’s young people wouldn’t qualify for service” in The Advocate, I was reminded of a 102-year-old news article stored in my files. I found it. On February 9, 1916,…
An Open Letter to the Louisiana State Legislature Open Letter to Louisiana Legislature Regarding Children’s Services RE: Louisiana Legislative Audit, Access to Comprehensive and Appropriate Specialized Behavioral Health Services in Louisiana Friday, February 23, 2018 Dear Honorable Louisiana Senators and Representatives, The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a performance audit on February 14, 2018, titled, Access…
Child welfare professionals were delighted in 2013 when the Congressional Budget Office reported the number of children in foster care had been on a 10-year decline. The CBO published a report about foster care, adoption and kinship care which looked at the past and predicted the future. Based on the past and hopeful about the…
By Rick Wheat, Chief Executive Officer Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services I woke up curious. This morning I called the two kennels in my town and I asked what they are paid to board dogs. One kennel charges $24 per night and the other charges $28 per night. The average kennel in my…
The Bipartisan Policy Center asks, “Is America Under-Investing in its Young Children?” The short answer is “Yes!” And in Louisiana, which holds the average rank among the states of 49th for child well being, the answer is an even louder, “YES!” Clearly, we under-invest in our young children – not because we do not have…
I got side-tracked on the Louisiana Board of Ethics website recently. The site is at: http://ethics.la.gov Each year I visit the Board of Ethics website and take an online course in Ethics. This time, though, I explored the site a bit and became intrigued by its robust campaign finance section. With just a few quick…
Good evening, Friends! I attended the 2nd National Building Bridges Initiative this week so I missed some of the daily child welfare news I follow. This morning, while catching up on what I missed, I was excited to see this headline in The Atlantic: “America’s Child-Poverty Rate Has Hit a Record Low“! “Yes!”, rang out…
It’s hard to believe it’s that time again, but we are so excited to be preparing for yet another year of showing the youth in our care how much they are loved through all of our upcoming Christmas activities! One of the many things youth on our Ruston campus look forward to each year is…
An organization called Together We Rise donated 22 duffle bags to our Methodist Foster Care program. Each duffle bag contained a teddy bear, blanket, toothbrush/toothpaste and coloring book with crayons. Together We Rise is an organization determined to change the way foster children experience the system. Oftentimes foster children have had to carry their belongings…
Have you ever read an old document and, as you settled into it, you found yourself confused about whether you are reading something from the past or the present? Perhaps you felt a reader’s deja vu and had the sense the old document in your hands could have been written this morning! I had the…
During recent weeks, The Des Moines Register has published articles and public comment related to a managed care practice I call “half-managed care”. “Half-managed care” happens when a managed care organization interrupts care. In our experience in Louisiana, half-managed care occurs whenever a managed care organization (MCO) refuses to continue authorizing intensive residential care before…
I love our state flag! The central image on our flag is a mother pelican pricking her breast to feed her young with her own blood. That is commitment! The image is symbolic of our state’s deep commitment to our citizens. Rather than showing a pelican in flight above the waves, our state flag is…
