Do kin background checks hurt kids?

State child protective services managers and case workers don't like the situation either, and they are conducting the checks as fast as they can. The extra step before placement is a by-product of the new Adam Walsh Child Safety Act passed by Congress in 2006 and state lawmakers taking a better-safe-than-sorry approach when drafting a bill implementing the act earlier this year.

A legislative subcommittee is figuring out how best to undo the tighter regulations and make recommendations to lawmakers in two weeks.

Child protection reform advocates, who have been watching Utah's system as well as the plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against the state 14 years ago, are calling Utah's action "more of the same" and "a disappointment," especially considering the number of important reforms that have been implemented in Utah.

Adding kinship background checks for emergency placements is "a blunder, plain and simple," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform in Alexandria, Va.

None of the other 49 states seem to have a problem with implementation, Wexler said, noting that neither his nor any other other advocacy group has found another state having the same problem.

"At a minimum, Utah jumped the gun and amended state law based on a misunderstanding," Wexler said, "with tragic results."

Several studies have found levels of abuse of children in foster homes with strangers and in institutions far higher than reflected in official figures that involve agencies investigating themselves. In contrast, research shows that kinship placements are not just more stable and better for children's well-being, they also are, on average, safer than what should properly be called "stranger care."

State Division of Child and Family Services Director Duane Betournay told lawmakers earlier this month that the state is not anti-relative placement, as some claim.

"We don't have a bias against kin; we have a bias toward the safety of kids. It's a trade-off between safety and risk, and lawmakers will have to determine what that is.

"Some people are rightfully very upset," he added. "If I were kin or kid, I would be. No amount of time is acceptable away from loving parents or family."

The grandmother in Davis County couldn't agree more.

"They said he was being endangered by being exposed to drugs," she said. "The damage that has been done because they took him into custody isn't just a risk, it's real. I don't know if he'll ever get over this. I know I won't."

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com