Business School Crmlmued 1mm psge 2 engineers for technical jobs, t end up requiring them to ham manaqement duties as thev a Permanency Planning Key to Foster Care hen jle , ra promded through the ranks. "That's especially true w~th utility compan~es,"he said. I hire oracticallv all enoineers." the -hey "fwentv ve'ars aao"we wen ? lower by Cliff Johnson draw~naou; studenis from t h ~ quartet academ~cally,of the unlversltfs student body." Parker sald. "Now we're taklng them from the uooer ouarter And we've had to here has always been a problem ~n society "T about what to do wlth the chlidrrn when famllles dlsrupt:' says Dr Arthur Emlen Dlrector of PSUs Reg~onalResearch lnst~tute for Human Services [RRI) slnce 1973. TOOoften in the past. ch~ldren have been shuffled from foster home lo foster home wlthout knowlng when. ~fever, they can be settled in a place they can truly call their permanent home. The basis of the problem In America. Emlen says, has beco~ev&~s~ectiv(ien admlsslons) Alona wlth the School of Engineering, we probably have the hlghest admlsslons standards 1 1 lh- unlverslty." Parker sald the school is a! location. "We are sittlng in t h ~ mlddle of our laboratory.' he i Ideal sa~d, npanies referrinqto the numbei of cor based i? Portland and the metropolltanarea. He said thc . never a oroblem" conv~ncino Perhapsthat's because so many PSU graduates (Parker estimates 90 percent) have dec~dedto stay In or near Portland Along with Wlnnlngstad,they Include David S. Belles, executive vlce president of First Interstate Bank: Donald L. child& hive had anviormal preparation for what ihey're doing. NObusmess would run like that," Emlen charges. Recognlzlngthe harm to children's weil-be~ngand the expense to governments which underwrite the cost of care, Emlen and several key staff members at RRI have extensively researched potential solut~ons10the problem in recent years. They have srnce become leadfng natlonal advocates of a revtsed foster child care system based on establishing a clear plan for each chtld's future. Parllally as a ~ou~s~anaI~acifid Corn. country. Puning this clarity back Into Division and counterparts elsewhere foster care guidelines has meant in the muntry played key roles In revampingold practices, pol~ciesand shaping this important national laws at every organnational level, leglslatlon. and publicizing the newly-evolved Besides providing technical ouidellnes as extensivelv as assistance to states twina to reform The dean sa~dhe keeps track of the school's MBA candidates. For the most part. "they are doing very well: they are movlng up." he said. Parker likes to hear from school alumni, particularly their suggestions for improving curriculum. Recently. for instance, the department added a requirementfor oral presentations, an increasingly important blt of boardroom showmanship that graduates safd should be taught. Underuraduatesstudies have Fossibie. their foster care guideiln&, RRI has RRVs research efforts in the early trarned Californla's chlld welfare result of thelr work, a new catch-phrase. "permanency planning," denotlng the rev~sed conceot of foster care reform. has ilndlnos about the orlncloles and subscnders in order to reach all beauti filterina throuah the halls of ar meihcds of "~ermanencjrolannlna" levels of the soclal service system. become-broader than iust a training ~ncieas~nnaimber oi slate around the country, so that other" lncludlnq caseworkers, program for corporate executi Parker sa~d.There are sclenc arts and leners reouremente ; ves." :es and 3s well. ess slales coJd Inarn.abo~tO'sgon's adm~n~siralors~.oges.avers. new foster care reform proqam acaaemtclans and o~str~acnt omeys PJO,c Zlng Ihc research I nolngs SDreaC ng Ihe nen foster care orooe co RR nlo Ine forefront of an messaoe nas oro~ontaoaltlona ananern01to rounb out busln maiors begun In 1973 wlth the bregon' Children s Servlces Dlvlslon heloed lntens~venatlonwldeeffort to credlt 6 RRI~~~2nd the State of Perhapsthe maior trend in re-educate leqlslators concernlnathe Oreuon For example, 19 States both aqencles to focus on many of need to rewrlie old foster care already have changed their statutes s as lded. ant." he pol~cles.One notable outgrowth on the termlnatlonof parental rtghts. involved Congress' eventual passage Emlen belleves the change IS,to of the "Adontlon Assistanc~ and some deoree a result of RRl's sald ' And thev aet bhllt lit0 I Ch~ld~elf%eAct Zl980-whkh ;;tens~v~elforts to soread the about every cduise we teach' RWIinted from the OregmMn infosiercare'cases could be " Emlen calls "a permancy blueprint w o r d on permanency planning. for the revlsion of foster care RRI's work IS not "blue-sky theory" developed To be effective, RRI researchers au~del~net6sus"involved research to undertake and provfslonof services Currently funded about 90% by to famll~esto help avold the qrants and wntracts RRI wlll need hentlfv the actual Dumoses of foster care. "The central difficulty wlth the whole program has been this lack of clanty." Emlen emphas~zes.addrng that RRI has been part of a larger educat~onaleffort lnvolvina neccssti ol foslcr care o acemenls io dcvc oo new %!nos of foundal on The who e dea s lo prevent !he suppon to conllnue 11sworr nPcaJse unnecessa? a#sr>plonof lamllles one cf'ccl 01 lne urrcnl Qatona wnlch waoq lo the ncco 10. foslcr aomln slral on s frscal oo'lc es has care concludes Emlen notlna that been to sharolv reduck the number Portland States RRI, toaether-wlth of research do;ltracts avaliable from researchers elsewhere mihe Oregon's Children's ~eGices government
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