INDEPENDENT FOSTER CARE REVIEWS SET

Anchorage Daily News

The problem of children lingering in state foster care is about to receive new attention from independent advocates who aim to get the children quickly into safe, permanent homes. It's one of many child-welfare reforms under way in Alaska.A statewide citizens board has been named to oversee children in foster care -- seven years after a law went on the books to require the reviews.

Until now, a panel operated only in Anchorage, and it could get to only about one-third of the children in state custody here. The new board will coordinate new and expanded local panels that will monitor the children.

But no one predicts the reviews will guarantee a safe and lasting home for every child. Last week, 2-year-old Janessa Aguirre was killed by blows to the head that Anchorage police say were inflicted by her foster mother, who planned to adopt her. The Anchorage citizens' panel reviewed Janessa's case in May and didn't find any problems with foster parents Marcias and Michael Reinhold, according to Steve McComb, the acting administrator of the regional Division of Family and Youth Services office. Police said Friday that the abuse appears to have occurred over only a few days.