Women Leading in Central Mass: Child Activist Dr. Teresa Rafferty
Monday, May 13, 2013
Offering an alternative way to foster young children: therapist, activist, and mother, Dr. Teresa Rafferty
She has chaired the social work department at Anna Maria College where she created an acclaimed mentoring program matching college students with teens in the foster care system. The program was designed to help DYS kids have the confidence to apply for college.
Dr. Rafferty is also the founder of a pilot program called Baby’s Breath that aims to expedite the securing of permanent placements for young children who are too often shuffled from one foster home to the next. Now Dr. Rafferty is launching the Baby’s Breath Bill to address the shortcomings and dangerous practices inherent in the current foster care system.
She is seeking community support to pass this important bill.
SW: Young children do not currently fare well in the Massachusetts foster care system. Can you talk a bit about this?
TR: Twenty-five percent of all children in foster care placements in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are under the age of three. An alarming number of these young children suffer serious physical and psychological damage from the poorly planned and chaotic system currently administered by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCF). In fact, the situation is so dire that the advocacy organization, Children’s Rights, has filed a class action lawsuit, Connor B., et al. v. Hon. Deval Patrick, et al. in federal court. The lawsuit was necessary to address many long-standing failures by the DCF such as the frequent movement of very young children from one placement to another, the failure to secure permanent placements for children, and the return ofvulnerable children to abusive or neglectful home environments.The DCF has not lived up to its legal responsibility of ensuringthe safety and wellbeing of the children in its custody. Statistics show that approximately one in six children returned to their homes of origin suffer further trauma and neglect, which resultsin yet another cycle of foster care.
SW: What do you see your role to be in all of this?
TR: My goal is to partner with congress to help change the system so that the most vulnerable among us—young children who cannot speak for or defend themselves—receive the kind of safe, stable, and permanent care that will promote healthy development during their formative years. We want to help these kids to find permanency and a “forever home.”
SW: Your doctoral thesis led to your interest in this work and the development of Baby’s Breath. How did that come about?
TR: I had a baby in my mid-forties. Being a parent again and establishing that closeness with an infant triggered my desire to help young children in our current system. I went back to college and got my PhD in Public Policy at Union College. My thesis dealt with the need for consistency and predictability among children three years old and younger. I studied the importance of attachment to brain development and the ability to form healthy relationships throughout life. My studies led me to the conclusion that multiple foster care placements interrupt that process. Every time a child is placed and replaced it has a dramatic effect on a child's nervous system and their ability to attach.
SW: How did the Baby’s Breath Pilot Program come about?
TR: Instead of trying to solve each of the system's problems separately I decided to offer an alternative way to foster young children. I developed Baby’s Breath with strong community support and a powerful board of proactive men and women, leaders in the community, and we all made it happen. We raised over $500,000 to refurbish a home and provide a place that children under the age of three could be fostered with predictable, daily routines and caretakers.
SW: It seems according to the Baby’s Breath Bill that even greater change is needed to protect these children.
TR: The Baby’s Breath Bill seeks to address the shortcomings and dangerous practices inherent in the current foster care system. Building on Clinton’s Law, which was passed in 1999, this new bill outlines a plan of care to promote safe, stable, and eventually permanent placements for all young children in foster care. As things are now, children under the age of three are relocated to a new foster home every eight weeks on average. Imagine how terrifying and disruptive that is to a young child. Imagine how it must feel to a child to live in a world without the comfort and stability of such simple things as familiar smells, routines, meal times, and consistent caregivers. It is no wonder that a shocking number of young children in foster care develop serious emotional conditions such as attachment disorder and fail to thrive.
SW: Can you give us some specifics of the bill?
TR: The Baby's Breath Bill mandates that no child shall spend more than one third of its age in foster care before receiving placement in a permanent home. For example, a three year old could not spend more than one year in foster care before being placed in a permanent situation. In addition, no child under age three can be moved more than three times. This includes different foster homes and so-called "hot beds." The bill also seeks to establish a consistent path for moving a child from foster care to a permanent placement within a maximum of fourteen months.
SW: How can the community help?
TR: I want to form a coalition with community members from all walks of life in order to pass this bill in its entirety. When the Baby’s Breath Bill is presented to the legislature in its final version it will be highly visible. I hope voters will step forward to support the children of Massachusetts and urge the Commonwealth to live up to its responsibilities to its most vulnerable citizens.
SW: How has your work impacted you personally?
TR: I have learned how strong a voice we have as women and how important our roles as parents, educators, and activists are. I am also in awe of how many people are willing to step forward when asked. Their generosity and desire to make a difference just astounds me. I now know that with education, credibility, determination, and community, we can accomplish anything. I remember how everyone said that we would never get the Baby’s Breath Pilot Program open, but we did. Now when they say we will never get this bill passed, I just smile and think, “watch us!”
For more information on Baby's Breath, go to teresarafferty.com
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