State finds problems with tribe's foster care

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota human services officials have given the Spirit Lake tribe until the end of March to correct problems in foster care administration.

The tribe has agreed to correct deficiencies in how it handles the cases of 36 foster children, The Forum newspaper reported Wednesday. Officials said case plans for the children did not exist, were incomplete or were not up to date. A state review also found other problems, including inadequate health and education records for the children.

The tribe was given a 30-day deadline for corrective actions but Tribal Chairman Roger Yankton successfully argued for a 45-day window, saying in a letter to the state that the tribe's two foster care case managers each work with 39 children.

“The extremely high caseloads provide limited time for these workers to address compliance issues,” Yankton said. “Secondly, the sheer number of deficiencies for each of these cases reviewed requires many man hours for corrections to be completed.”

A state review team inspected the tribe's foster care case files in January after it became aware of deficiencies flagged in a yearly review of the tribe's social services programs by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Funding for the foster care program is split, with some children's needs paid by the BIA and others paid by money passed through the state to provide financial support for the foster homes. Last year, payments to support the 36 children totaled $633,000.

During the 45-day corrective period, the tribe will have to pay for food, clothing, transportation and other needs of the 36 children, said Tara Muhlhauser, children and family services director with the North Dakota Department of Human Services.

“We made it very clear that is the tribe's responsibility,” she said.

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Information from: The Forum, http://www.in-forum.com