Monday, September 15, 2014

Foster Kids - Why Search for a Foster Child's Relatives in Mexico



If you have read any of our past blog posts (and if you haven't, I invite you to do so), you know that we focus on the challenges for children who are in the U.S. foster care system. We also talk about what happens when foster youth age out of the system and what can be done to help them before they are forced out. When and why do the foster child agencies ask us to step in? What is the connection between the foster child and Mexico?


The other day Gia Heller, social media marketing guru, asked about the name of our Facebook page, Family Finding MX. She knows that we work with Mexico, and Gia spent three years living there. She wrote:
"When I read it [your website - www.FindFamiliesInMexico.com], it made me immediately question, "Why only Mexico? Why can't you also help children in the states find family members?"
Gia's questions are much more complex that they may appear so let's first talk about how the foster care system works. When a child is placed into the foster care system in the U.S., social workers will question him/her. One purpose of the interview is to gather information about adult family members: grandparents, aunts, and cousins who can be notified that their child relative is now in foster care. This is the beginning of the process called "family finding." Case workers will give a similar interview to the parent(s).






The interview goal is to get the names and contact information of many family members up to 60 adults. Once the agency has this data, the staff either sends out notification to these relatives or they hit the U.S. databases to search out and locate family members.



Success Rate of Finding Relatives in U.S.

With access to several national databases, U.S. foster care agencies have a search and find success rate of up to 85%. The people who normally can't be found are criminals, folks who purposely live off the grid, people who have recently moved, and those relatives that no one knows about such as an uncle or third cousin. In general, the foster care agencies don't face too many challenges in trying to find the child’s relatives unless they happen to live in another country like Mexico. That's when the agencies turn to our organization.







Helping U.S. Foster Youth

So who are the foster children we help? Those who have been placed in a U.S. foster care program. Surprised? Confused? You may be, and I understand if you are. Here's the deal. As soon as people in the U.S. hear "Mexico," their brains short circuit, and an avalanche of ideas pop out. The truth is that we are:


"Not bringing kids from Mexico to the U.S."

"Not looking for kids in Mexico."

"Not trying to find foster parents for children in Mexico."

"Not trying to help people adopt children from Mexico."

"Not working with foster kids in Mexico."

When foster care agencies come to our organization, Find Families In Mexico, they have done their search and have found no living U.S. relatives of the foster child, but the agency knows of at least one relative living in Mexico. Our task is to find that relative and restore a much needed family connection.






So let's answer the first part of Gia's question, "Why Mexico?" We are the leading international, non-governmental organization that has been locating people in Mexico for more than 20 years. We have guided more than 6,500 families to find their relatives living in Mexico. U.S. agencies that have used our services include the Ninth Circuit Court, the Department of Defense and many offices of the Department of Human Services. Even People® Magazine has asked us to help them find someone in Mexico.


Bottom line: We're the best at finding people in Mexico, our area of expertise. When an agency needs to find a foster child's family members who still live in Mexico, they come to us.




Smart Questions Being Asked

Before I answer the other part of Gia's question, I want to be clear - these are not idle questions. These questions show that as an organization, we still need to work on how we communicate with the public and potential donors about our work. (Any volunteers?) We were just fortunate enough that Gia cared enough to ask what others have probably wondered.

Rose Perkins of Radiant and Youthful asked a similar question, "So does Family Finding MX help all foster children or just ones of Hispanic decent?" Short answer... mostly Hispanic although we have searched for U.S. parents who went to Mexico, usually because of their criminal past. We have also searched for relatives who recently came to Mexico from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. There is no simple yes and no, right or wrong, or "one size fits all" answer. If there is any field with lots of gray, it's foster care.









We Help U.S. Foster Children

Now let's answer the second part of Gia's question, "Why can't you also help children in the states find family members?" Well, we do. Almost all of the cases we handle involve U.S.-born children. All of the cases that foster care agencies bring us involve children under their care.

A large percentage of foster youth of Hispanic descent are second and third generation Americans. The Pew Research Center describes second generation as a person having one parent who is a U.S. citizen. Third generation is where both parents are U.S. citizens but one grandparent was not originally born in the U.S. This family tree probably describes more than 60% of all Americans. Surprised?


No matter their ancestry, foster children are simply innocent children. The goal of foster care is to get these kids out of the system as soon as possible. The first step to making this happen is finding a foster child's relatives even if it means looking in Mexico.

We have a 95% success rate finding relatives in Mexico. Interestingly, once an agency talks with these family members, they will often share information on the whereabouts of other relatives who live in the U.S. whom foster agencies either couldn't find or didn't know existed.






When you think about it, is it really strange that U.S. families have relatives in another country or two? Many families have relatives in two or more countries. Just think of all the Asian-Americans who have grandparents, uncles and aunts living in Japan, the Philippines or Vietnam. What about those Americans with family in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Canada? My family has hundreds of relatives in Europe. I could go on, but you get the point.


Bottom line: We help U.S. foster care agencies find a foster youth's relatives so the child can move out of the system and into a forever home. We only help children in the U.S. by finding their family members who just happen to live in Mexico.

This is clearly not the last word on this topic. If you have questions, leave them in the comment section below. If you have expertise that could help our organization better explain what we do and who we help, call me at 619-886-4760 or email me at info@findfamiliesinmexico.org.

And keep those questions coming.

Regards,

Richard Villasana
  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. Got questions? Have an opinion? Want an simple way to help foster children? Share your thoughts below.

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