Mecklenburg County says it will take steps to ensure youth in foster care receive required 90-day reviews involving their parents, caregivers and others connected to their case.
The move comes after an advocacy group surveyed local foster parents and found the reviews were not happening consistently, if at all.
Under North Carolina guidelines, youth in foster care are supposed to receive permanency planning reviews — or PPRs — every 90 days. The meetings are designed to bring together parents, caregivers, social workers and others involved in a child's case to evaluate progress toward a permanent home, whether through reunification, guardianship or adoption.
But advocates with the group Path to Permanency say many foster parents in Mecklenburg County reported those 90-day reviews were not happening consistently, or in some cases, foster parents were excluded from them.
In a statement to WFAE this week, Mecklenburg County acknowledged that some meetings "were not captured consistently or in alignment with the policy requirements."
County staff said Youth and Family Services has now implemented a new tracking process and assigned designated staff to coordinate and facilitate the reviews.
"Per State DHHS policy, caregivers, community partners, and Guardian ad Litem are expected to be present at the PPR meetings," the county said in its response.
Josclyn Reed, executive director and co-founder of Path to Permanency, called the county's response "a really big step."
"Our team is very encouraged and very hopeful that this represents that (the county) is interested in doing this and really taking our concerns seriously," she said.
Reed, who is also a former foster parent, said the lack of regular communication can create uncertainty for both caregivers and youth.
"Especially as the kids get older and they're starting to ask, 'What's going to happen?" Reed said. "You're like, 'I don't know, because no one's talking to me.' It's hard."
Still, Reed said advocates plan to continue monitoring whether the reviews are consistently happening.
"Time will tell. We'll see how it rolls out," Reed said.
The group will keep surveying foster parents as the county implements the changes.
