SENATOR PROMOTES LEAVE LEGISLATION: FAMILY SERVICES UNIT EXPANDS

Officials with the local Division of Family Services announced Friday an expansion of their Family Preservation services, a program to help keep families together.

U.S. Sen. Christopher S. Bond also met with the group to discuss his proposed family leave bill.

The proposed legislation would allow up to 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave per year for an employee. The leave could be used for the birth or adoption of a child or a serious illness of the employee, their child, spouse or parent.

Small businesses with less than 50 employees would be exempted. Bond said 5,700, or 5 percent, of Missouri employers would be affected and 1.1 million Missouri workers would be covered by the legislation.

"This legislation would keep workers employed, rather than putting them on the street, while they take care of their families. Instead of being added to the unemployment rolls and forced to find a new job in the middle of a family crisis, workers would have their jobs protected," Bond said.

Bond said the bill has passed the Senate and is proceeding to the House.

"Some administration spokesmen have said the administration will veto this again," Bond said. "I will encourage the president to look at it again."

He added that at this time, "We have enough votes, on paper, to override a veto in the Senate."

The Family Preservation Service has expanded its scope to accept referrals from several state agencies, including the Department of Mental Health, the Division of Youth Services and the juvenile courts.

The program uses intensive counseling and education to help families stay together. Those who qualify have at least one child in "imminent risk" of being taken away from the family and placed in foster care, in a psychiatric facility or in a group home.

Dennis Reagan, with the Division of Family Services in Cape Girardeau County, said, "What we're hoping to happen is to get more referrals so we can get more counselors."

He said Cape Girardeau could serve up to 24 families in a year. In the past 20 months, 17 families have been served.

Reagan said success with the program has been good. "Those 17 families involved 43 children, and only four children were placed outside the home."

"The success rate is very high," Reagan said. "We think we can expand that success by expanding this program."

Barb Mayfield, who coordinates the Family Preservation unit in Southeast Missouri, said, "Family Preservation's chief goal is to prevent the unnecessary placement of a child outside the home.

"We believe with some new education, some crisis intervention and some new skills building on the strengths of the family, they can get through the crisis."

It is a short-term (four to six weeks), intensive program, Mayfield said.

"Each therapist has just two families," she said. "And they spend up to 10 hours a week with each family." Therapists are on call to these families 24 hours a day.

Almost all the work takes place in the family's home or in the community.

"With the interagency cooperation, now more people can be referred to this program."

While not every situation is right for this type of intervention, Mayfield said when it's appropriate it has worked well.

Since the program began in February 1989, 62 families have been involved; 47 families have not had any placement outside the home.

"That's a placement prevention rate of 77 percent," Mayfield said.