KY's foster care system botches another case...

A story from Deborah Yetter in the C-J-- sad on many levels but presumably in this one case and for what it might yield in the future...

In an unusual rebuke to state child welfare workers, a Jefferson County family court judge has removed a teenage girl from their care and granted temporary custody to her foster parents.

Circuit Judge Stephen George last month took that step, over the objections of state workers, after the workers reneged on an agreement to let the 17-year-old remain in the Bullitt County foster home where she had been thriving, said the girl's lawyer, Christopher Harrell....

George's actions remove the state's authority over the teen.

Jim Grace, head of Kentucky's child protection services, said in an interview that he can't comment on the specifics of the case because of confidentiality laws. But he said that, in general, state social service officials try to return children to their family homes when it's in their best interest....

The girl, Harrell and others involved in her case agreed to talk to a reporter about the case because, they said, they are outraged by how state workers handled it, starting with the decision earlier this year to try to send the teen back to the troubled home they removed her from last year....

The girl said she believes her case is similar to that of Julian Tweedy, 18, of Oldham County, whose situation was profiled Jan. 23 in The Courier-Journal. In that case, too, the foster parents agreed to keep him at their own expense while the matter was pending.

After the newspaper report, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services reversed its decision and allowed Tweedy to remain in foster care....

Although the judge ordered the girls' parents to pay child support to the foster parents, it's only about half the financial support the state pays for foster care. And the state immediately cut off the girl's Medicaid coverage, leaving the foster parents scrambling to find health insurance for her.

Thanks to the Ms. Yutter for pursuing this!