Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Foster Kids - Shocking Facts About Hispanics in U.S. Foster Care


With the heavy news coverage about the children crossing into the U.S., many may be (mis)led to believe that certain pieces of information are fact. Publicity experts will tell you that everyone (yes, even us) has an agenda so before you jump on a band wagon, it's always good to have some clarity about what is fact and what is hyped to look like fact.


Case in point - all the children who are suddenly crossing into the U.S. Really? Are they "suddenly" crossing into the U.S.? Actually no. Children and their families have been crossing into the U.S. in larger numbers since last year. We may never know what event finally pushed this issue into the spotlight, but clearly something happened so that the news media has jumped on this story and is working it for all it's worth. That's not necessarily a bad thing, either.




Whether you agree or disagree with local, state or federal policies and the handling of these families and children, the bottom line is that this situation is only now front and center. If nothing else, it's a crisis for politicians who don't want to appear as if they are relaxing in their offices.


Some organizations have done a great job of highlighting where these children are coming from, and it isn't Mexico.


The three dominant countries as identified by ESRI ( Economic and Social Research Institute) and CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and based on May 2014 figures from Border Patrol apprehensions are Guatemala, San Salvador and Honduras.




And if you think that the U.S., the largest economy in the world, is struggling to get a handle on this matter, just image how Mexico is reeling from having these tens of thousands of children, often without an adult, crossing the southern border of Mexico and again flooding Mexico's northern border cities.


In the same vein of exposing faulty perception for reality, let's address a common perception about foster youth of Hispanic ancestry. As soon as many people hear "Hispanic" and "foster kids," their minds immediately go to "undocumented immigrant children." This thought goes hand in hand with the belief that Hispanic foster children are really Mexican citizens. If these thoughts have crossed your mind, here's an important finding about U.S. foster children of Hispanic descent.

"Children born to Hispanic immigrant parents [in the U.S.] are less likely to end up in foster care, while children of 2nd and 3rd generation [U.S.] Hispanics are MORE likely to end up in foster care."
~ The Urban Institute, 2005

The study found that as generations of Hispanics assimilate into the U.S. culture, they also start to give up or move away from certain aspects of their Hispanic heritage, mainly the close tie to family. Researchers found that parents of these 2nd and 3rd generation children started to pick up bad habits such as gambling, abusing a spouse or the children, and engaging in illicit activities, which can lead to an unsafe environment where CPS (Child Protective Services) has to step in and remove the children.


It's been said before that nothing is as it seems. This couldn't be truer than when it comes to foster youth or even for those children crossing into the U.S. from Central America. It's good to sometimes step back and recognize that few things are direct and simple. Many issues are really not quite what they seem especially when it comes to our foster children. 

Do it for the children,

Richard Villasana
  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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