Foster Children Impact San Diego Businesses

San Diego Business Owner

We all know that companies are in the business of making money. Without profits, a business won't last too long. With all the activities of marketing, sales and operations, it's easy for companies to overlook other costs that can and do impact their bottom line as well as opportunities to generate more sales and profits.

A commentary in San Diego's The Daily Transcript provides more shocking statistics about foster kids and touches on their financial impact on businesses. "On any given day, 3,500 children are living in foster care in San Diego County. Some children enter the foster care system and... never leave until they come of age."

The cost to support one foster child in California for the average stay of three years is $190,000. That's tax dollars at work including those of companies. The commentary hits on several costs that impact businesses, both in California and nationally.

"The cost of supporting foster children carries through into adulthood, which means increased social services. Unfortunately, crime is a byproduct of foster care, as is an uneducated workforce, due to the poor academic performance and dropout rate correlated with foster children."

By the way, that cost for increased social services has been estimated to be $300,000 over the lifetime of just one foster youth. Reports say that nationally 24,000 foster teens age out each year. Crunching the numbers taxpayers will pay a staggering $7.2 billion. Next year, 24,000 more foster kids will age out for another hit of $7.2 billion.

Let's put this amount into perspective.

2014 budget: $2.8 billion 2014 budget: $4.1 billion

The cost to communities and businesses for the 24,000 foster kids who aged out in 2013 is more than the 2014 budgets for both San Diego and Houston with a combined population of 3,272,122.

The commentary gives many suggestions as to how businesses can support children while in foster care and once they age out. However, one critical activity was omitted, that of supporting efforts to find family members of foster youths.

Several studies reveal that foster kids do better when they are connected with family members whether a grandparent, aunt or adult sibling. Many of these children can be reunited with a birth parent who was not responsible for the child being placed in foster care.

The solution to helping foster children is not to simply feel sadness or pity for them. Businesses can and should take an active role in helping these children. Not only will these kids benefit greatly by the effort, but savvy companies can promote their efforts to develop and increase goodwill with consumers in the community.

Business involvement can help reduce criminal activity committed by aged out foster youth. Otherwise, companies can lose financially by having to pay for expensive security products, systems and personnel, increased insurance rates and the direct cost of vandalism and theft.

Businesses could do much worse that to help foster children and create a win-win for everyone.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. Like and follow us on Facebook for more information about foster teens.