Foster Children - Foster Kid Statistics Reveal Failure of Aging Out Preparations

Recently we shared foster care statistics about the fate of teens who age out of the system. Everyone is shocked when they hear that 90% of foster children who age out of the system become homeless or addicted to drugs, don't continue their education, or end up in prison all within just a two year period.


Here are some of the comments we have received about these stats.

"It's hideous to think of those kids becoming homeless." Dianna Whitley

"These stats are really disturbing." Steven H. Poulos

"The reality of these facts is very sad." Rose Perkins

As you may expect, people then start to talk about possible solutions to help foster teens once they age out. Some, such as Marlene Krueger, will ask about improving access to independent living support. Other talk about training tied to a jobs program. One solution that is picking up greater acceptance is raising the age at which foster teens are forced out of the foster care system from 18 to 21. Almost half of the states have adopted this new age limit.

As noteworthy as these ideas are, these combined solutions have failed to help more than 10% of the thousands of foster youth who age out yearly. Hundreds, if not thousands, of organizations are putting out their best effort to help foster children once they age out. Yet this year alone, 24,000 teens will age out with only 2,400 avoiding the horrific future described above. By most standards, these results mean that post-age out efforts are a failure.


Boyd Johnson said it best, "Prevention is always better than looking for the cure." Probably the most far-reaching federal program is Chafee Grant. This program offers assistance to help current and former foster care youths achieve self-sufficiency. The program:

"identifies children who are likely to remain in foster care until 18 years of age and to help these children make the transition to self-sufficiency by providing services such as assistance in obtaining a high school diploma, career exploration... job placement and retention, training in daily living skills, training in budgeting and financial management skills... "

Yet again, based on the foster care statistics above, it's clear that Chafee has a very limited impact on those children who age out. And as Brenda Cook reminds us, "An 18 year old is still a child regardless of what the calendar says."

So is there a time-tested, viable solution that will reduce the number of foster teens who leave the system or that gives these kids the best support possible? Fortunately, there is such a solution.

Finding a foster child's family members is the single most beneficial action for the youth with the exception of reunification with their birth parents. As we have said before, there are several studies, all reaching the same conclusion: placing a foster kid with a relative generally leads to more happiness, better health, physically, mentally and emotionally, compared to those children who are in either foster placement or sent to a group home.


Children in relative placement do better at school. They graduate at a higher level than their foster peers. A higher percentage of these kids with family support attend college, graduate and have a higher rate of both getting a job and succeeding at it.

For full disclosure, yes, our organization, Find Families In Mexico, provides this relative location service to foster care agencies throughout the U.S. We do this because of the overwhelming evidence that has proven time and again that a foster child does much better with relatives than with strangers. And our services are pro bono (free) to government agencies.

We understand that there is no one perfect solution. Even with relative placement, bad things can and do happen to children. Yet until another process comes along that shows such positive results, we urge everyone who asks the question, "How can we help these children?" to either volunteer their time and talent or give a financial contribution. It's that simple.

Take a step toward helping a foster child. It'll do your heart good.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - BBQ Sales Help Foster Kids

National foster kid statistics reveal that there are 400,000 children in U.S. foster care. Colorado is reported to have 4,000 foster children. With hundreds of these kids waiting to be adopted, one couple decided to take matters into their own hands, one bottle of BBQ sauce at a time.


Alison and Andrew Wiltzius had adopted a little 22-month old boy who got the nickname "Bubba." The couple, who live in Windsor, Colorado, decided they could do more to help other foster youth waiting for adoption. So they create Bubba Shane BBQ.

Creating a new food product is no small feat. Yet this couple has succeeded in creating two varieties of the sauce. For now, the BBQ sauce is only sold online. The couple is working with local farmer's markets to get a wider distribution of the product.

During an interview with ABC Channel 7, Alison Wiltzius explained why they started this charitable venture.

"These [foster] kids deserve a taste of home. If you're not called to adoption, but you have a passion for this, everybody eats BBQ. So buy some BBQ sauce and help out."

Certainly having a news segment on ABC should help boost the product's profile. For each bottle sold, these foster parents will donate $1 to a local non-profit, Donate Colorado Kids, that helps with adoptions of foster kids.

Adoption is one of many resources available to help get children out of the foster care system. Other than returning a child to their family, experts agree that finding relatives of foster children is the best solution. Research on kids put in relative placement consistently shows that the children do better across the board not only while they are in school but also once they go out into the world on their own. However, in those cases when family members are unable or unwilling to take in a child relative, adoption is the next best solution.

Like the Wiltzius, we are also looking at ways to help more foster youth. We are in the planning stage of launching a crowdfunding project in the Fall. This will allow people to participate in changing these children's lives forever as we locate family members so more foster children can have a forever home.

Supporting our work will be a little easier than starting a BBQ sauce empire, just maybe not as tasty.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Kids - Burke County Non-Profit Putting on Fundraiser to Help Foster Children

Children in foster care are placed in either a kinship care home (with relatives), foster home or group home. No matter with whom they are living, foster children, like all kids, have lots of needs that go beyond having a place to sleep and food to eat.


Foster youth usually have few changes of clothes and certainly not the latest hot sneakers, jeans or jackets. They also lack basic school supplies so they often feel out of place among their classmates. Fortunately, one organization in North Carolina is focused on helping foster kids feel more normal.

The non-profit, Homes for Hearts Inc., is once again preparing to host a fundraiser so they can provide for Burke County foster children. The goal for this upcoming event is to have money so that 82 local foster kids can have school supplies. Linda DuBry, one of 20 board members, explained that many parents take their children shopping every year for new school clothes and supplies, whereas foster youth aren’t always able to get those things. It's this lack of essentials that can make foster kids feel isolated from their peers.

The organization has been actively supporting these children since 2002 when they incorporated as a non-profit. DuBry shared in an interview that:

“We do fundraisers during the year. We’re always thinking of other ways to help the foster kids. Homes for Hearts became an organization because we felt there was a need to give these kids the extra things that other kids have.”

Add to this that some foster youth have special needs beyond notebooks (the ones you write in) and pencils. And just like their peers, these kids play sports or are in Advanced Algebra requiring appropriate sneakers or calculators. DuBry says that it's these little things that help a foster child to feel less like an outsider and more like your average kid.

DuBry reminds people that foster parents don't receive a lot of money, especially when foster youth are placed with family members. This group gets the least amount of financial support yet every child still has basic needs that extend past school such as medical and dental care.

The positive impact that Homes for Hearts, Inc. is having on county foster children is starting to be measurable. A past study highlighted that many of these kids were not graduating high school much less going on to college. Recent foster care statistics of the youth that the organization has supported reveals that not only are more children graduating high school, many are winning scholarships and attending college.

Organizations such as Homes for Hearts, Inc. are vital to the well-being of foster kids. These non-profits step in to fill the void left by the foster care system. Government agencies simply aren't known for supporting supposed "luxuries" even if those happen to be a baseball glove, backpack or school supplies.

For anyone who wants to help a foster child, it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. It can be as easy as eating pancakes.

Now will someone please pass me the syrup?


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - Foster Child's Birth Father Notified of Pending Adoption

Children enter foster care for a variety of reasons. The hope is that the foster kid will be returned to their parent(s) or placed with relatives. Sometimes a foster child is put up for adoption. At this point many state laws require that foster child agencies locate and serve papers to an absent parent letting them know of the pending adoption. This can be challenging when a parent lives outside the U.S.


A family law attorney with the Booker Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas needed to locate a biological father. The foster kid's mother, living in the U.S. and divorced from the father, had filed an adoption request for sole custody of their daughter with the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas.


Adoption can be a complicated process when foster care agencies have to go outside the U.S. in search of a parent as in this case. Add to this challenge that some parents make it very difficult to have papers served on them.

Sometimes an agency has a phone number, but no physical address. We have worked such case where our expertise was needed to discover a home address in Mexico so adoption notification papers could be sent. As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, the need for organizations that have international expertise can only increase.

There can also be time constraints meaning that if a parent cannot be found within a certain period of time, a TPR (termination of parental rights) can be issued by the court. However, while all of this effort is expended to locate a parent and notify them of their parental rights or ability to terminate their rights, a foster child is sitting alone in a government institution, potentially at risk of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.


Fortunately for the foster youth involved in this case, we discovered where the father was living in just a couple of weeks. We presented his home address and phone number to the attorney who promptly sent out the paperwork about the adoption.

Many mothers and fathers lose their rights to custody of their child simply because state agencies cannot find the parent. Adoption law requires agencies to do their utmost to locate and serve papers to both parents, even those who may have no moral right to block an adoption. I believe it's better to err on the side that a parent may truly want to be part of their child's life than to automatically cut them off.

Foster children need every connection to loving, caring family they can have, even those wayward parents who arrive very late in their child's life.  

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Kids - Foster Children Helped by 8-Year-Old Birthday Girl

There are lots of stories every week about the plight of foster children. Many adults feel sadness but don't see how they can help. Leave it up to children who just go and make things happen.

The title of this article says it all, "Spokane 8-year-old gives up birthday gifts to help foster kids." Reegan Welch got this idea of giving to foster kids because of a commercial.

"Me and my parents were watching TV and this foster kids commercial came on," she explained. "I told my mom - that's what I want to do for my 8th birthday ... raise school supplies for foster kids."

Reegan succeeded in getting the children who attended her birthday party to come with school supplies. Reegan's charity caught the eye of the local TV station, KXLY ABC and its Executive Producer, Melissa Luck, who has availed herself to others in the area who want to join in and donate school supplies for foster kids.

Foster children often go without. When taken from their parents, these children usually only have the clothes they are wearing. Depending on the foster home situation, many foster youth don't get the usual change of clothes in August as do their peers in preparation for school. Foster children are often embarrassed because they are going to school with hand-me-down clothes that can look ratty or out of style.


Given what little foster kids get that they can call their own, it's shouldn't be surprising that there isn't often money to spend on school supplies. In fact, much has been made of the fact that many foster youth, especially those in a group home setting, come back from school with no one asking about their day.


Most foster kids don't have a parent who prods them to study or is available to help them with their homework. So anything that can help make a foster child's life more normal is a huge deal for these children.

Reegan's parents were asked where she got this idea and sense of giving, but they shared that other than the values they try to instill in Reegan, they had done nothing to move her toward sacrificing her birthday for a greater good.

Reegan certainly shows a level of charity that would put many adults to shame. She simply thought that these foster children needed help and that she could do something about their needs. Then she took action.


The question is often asked, "What can adults do to set a better example for children?" Maybe it's time to ask, "What do children do that can teach adults about being better people?" Maybe there would be less abuse and less need for foster care in the first place. That may be an unattainable reality, but as Reegan shows us all too well, there is always something that each of us can do to make life a little better for someone in need, especially foster kids.

Reegan is a true example of Girl Power at its finest.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Child - Adoption of Foster Kid Is Sometimes the Best Move

A primary aim of foster care is to get children out of the system as soon as possible, ideally back to their parent(s). Barring this, agencies look to have foster youth placed with relatives or non-related adults. Adoption is another option available for foster children. As much as we are an advocate for relative placement, there are times when adoption is a better outcome for a foster child.


For 90% of the foster kids who age out (are forced out) of foster care, they will stop their education, become homeless, turn to drugs, become a victim of sex trafficking or end up in prison, usually within just two years. It’s a horrific future. Any alternative that can keep a child from aging out alone is desirable.

We handled a case involving a foster teen who was in the system along with her baby. She had no relatives in the U.S. so adoption was seen as the best solution. Often in cases where a child is up for adoption, state laws exist that mandate that agencies do their utmost to locate and notify a child's biological parents. They were known to be living in two completely separate parts of Mexico, the equivalent of Los Angeles and New York.





Michael Nash, the presiding judge of Juvenile Court, Los Angeles

This foster child case is one where the judge was clearly a positive force on behalf of the foster child. The judge had almost monthly court dates and insisted on having updates placing periodic but consistent pressure on the case worker.


We understand that social workers handling foster children cases are overworked. However, that does not excuse poor or no follow up. This case dragged on for months in large part because of delayed or no response to our inquiries. Only when a court date was pending would we get a flurry of communication from the case worker. It was definitely an example of how the courts can push a case in a positive direction.

We located both biological parents. Due to issues of confidentiality, there is much about the case that we cannot share. We can say that one of the parents was in a very remote part of Mexico with no telephone or easy form of contact. It's doubtful given the situation that the agency was ever able to maintain much contact with the parent. Communication is critical because once relatives are notified and have indicated they want to be part of a foster kid's life, foster care agencies vet the family members.

Since the teen was already placed with a very caring foster couple who was willing to take in both the girl and her baby, the courts decided on adoption.


This case highlights that judges can make a positive impact on a foster child's life. Judges can provide a balance of power with social services and any Guardian Ad Litem or CASA volunteer working on behalf of a foster youth. Without the judge having taken such an active role in the case and prodding the social worker, there is ample evidence that the teen may have aged out due to inactivity.


We have to point out that all three sides involved with foster youth have come to us for help. Although we work most often with Child Protective Services, we have handled cases involving the 9th Circuit Court and are doing more cases directly with CASA.


In a perfect world, parents love, protect and support their children unconditionally. But we don't live in a perfect world. There are times that despite biology, some parents are uncaring, irresponsible and unloving. In the worst of circumstances, parents are abusive and cruel, a physical danger to the lives of their children, resulting in their kids being in foster care in the first place.

Foster children are served best when all parties: case workers, CASA volunteers and judges work together to provide the best outcome possible. Sometimes adoption is best for a child.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - Foster Care Case Workers Don't Get Enough Respect

Lately we have been highlighting many of the deficiencies with the foster care system. Foster children are able to leave group homes or run away without anyone reporting them missing to the police. Foster kids are physically beaten, sexually abused and, in the worst cases, killed all while in foster care. Yet there is a group of professionals who do their utmost to help these children.


Family finding specialists are just that, social workers who specialize in identifying, locating and notifying adult family members of children in foster care. When a child enters the system, the clock starts running for agencies to notify relatives. Federal law gives agencies thirty (30) days to complete this search.

Here in the U.S., an obscene amount of personal information is gathered and then sold to database companies. The leading companies are Intelius, U.S. Search and LexisNexis. By accessing these databases, case workers can find several family members of a foster child in about 10 minutes. The success rate is as high as 85%. Job well done.


However, there are tens of thousands of cases where no other family is found in the U.S., but there is evidence of relatives living outside the U.S. These are the cases that really stress case workers.


Imagine for a moment that your job and joy is to protect children and move them to a safe environment, preferably to a forever home with loving, caring relatives. Now picture that you have two little foster children, sisters. They have been in the system for years. One was born while her father was in jail so she has never met her dad. You have a birth certificate listing the name of their mother and her relatives. You know the city and state where they live except they live in Mexico.

Where do you start? Who do you call? We have talked with hundreds of cases workers over the years. Some openly share how frustrating it is for them. Whether you believe it or not, many of these professionals are bleeding with pain that they can't make any progress.

Case workers use terms such as:

We have received countless calls from case workers asking for our help. It has never been a case worker who decided not to get help; it's their directors who decided not to get the resources they needed so their Family Finding Specialists could locate a foster child's relatives.

How crazy is this? Can you imagine a company hoping to stay in business yet knowing they will fail if they don't get marketing or customer service help but refusing to get it? For the PC crowd, we'll call it irresponsible. When it comes to not taking action that results in a child having to spend additional years in a government institution with the risk of being forced out onto the street with no family connections, I personally call that action heinous.

On the other hand, we have been on the receiving end of hearing absolute joy when we told a case worker that the relatives of one of their foster children was found. One Family Finding Specialist said:


"You just gave me an early Christmas present."

Another was a little shell shocked asking, "How did that one happen?!" while another who got the news that two brothers of a foster kid were living in New York exclaimed, "That's HUGE!!" Rosie Lopez, Case Manager, emotionally shared that the family is "so, so happy" to be reconnected with their relative in foster care.
 

We don't usually share the emotions, feelings or reactions of case workers to the frustrations or success of finding relatives. We want the foster children to be center stage since they deserve it. But it's important for you to know that no matter the next tragic story about a foster child, there are caring men and women who take their responsibilities very seriously. They will put in extra hours, spend their Saturdays with a foster kid and fight to the best of their ability to get the help they know they need.

Now it's time for social service executives to recognize these needs. They must be made to provide resources so more foster youth can have a forever home. And maybe along the way, a few more dedicated, caring Family Finding Specialists can enjoy their Saturday knowing it's the end of another week, but a week of a job well done.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - When Foster Care Works Against Foster Kids and Their Families

We posted some foster kid statistics recently and received many comments, mostly from people who were shocked by the numbers. One conversation went in a completely different direction. A woman wrote about her struggles to take in her nephews who are in foster care. This incident is one of many that brings to light disturbing undertones with the courts and the foster care system.


Jane wrote:

"I have 3 nephews in foster care in Washington state and they are not trying to place with family and we have family who could afford to take them. We are fighting them but it's a little harder because we are in a different state."

This is not the first time we have heard about this issue. We worked a case where we found the birth mother and other adult relatives of a foster child. The organization that had contacted us on behalf of the foster care agency was elated since the foster kid had been in the system for years. The family members, still living in Mexico, were shocked to know that one of their child relatives was in foster care but equally excited to make contact with the child.

Once relatives are located through "family finding," the next step is for social services to vet the family members to find out who wants to be a part of the foster kid's life and who may want to give the child a forever home. This second step of the process to move foster youth out of the system is called Engagement.

Unfortunately, this story took a strange and sad turn. While the family members were going through the required review process, the judge handling the case and social services were working to fast track the child into an adoption.


The organization that had contacted us about this case expressed a great deal of distress over these events, but as they were contracted by the foster care agency, the organization had limited influence in this matter. We were unable to learn more about this case. 

We have read about other similar cases where custody of a foster kid was given to strangers while relative placement was an option. Within the same conversation stream with Jane, others wrote in to share their thoughts and experiences.


A grandmother commented:

"Fight them like crazy! It's why we are raising 2 grandsons."

followed by another's comments:

"When children are put in foster care the state receives federal funds, like a hundred thousand dollars per child in Utah. and believe me they don't place those children with relatives until that money is gone."

Apparently, ignoring the appeals of relatives by the court is not an isolated incident.

We cannot confirm the validity of the above statement, but in past blogs we have revealed foster care statistics from studies that show that agencies receive twice the funding for a tenth of the number of foster youth in care. The majority of the funding goes into infrastructure. I'm sure you will agree that with all of that billions of dollars expended to help these kids that the outcomes these children experience shows that the system simply isn't working well.

Anytime relatives are denied their opportunity to give relative placement to a foster child, the foster care reunification process becomes open to individual interpretation of laws and subsequently abuse.

The Fostering Connections Act of 2008 and the subsequent addition of services in 2010 were enacted specifically to ensure that foster children are removed from the system as soon as possible. The intent of these laws is to support having foster youth either go back with their parents, or failing that option, being put in relative placement.


Since foster child records are mostly sealed, the only opportunity to see these deviations by either the court or social services is when family members speak up.


We don't know the particulars in this case. Perhaps in this particular case with the nephews in Washington state, there will ultimately be a valid reason for the court to select adoption over relative placement.

However, it appears that the voices of these foster children's relatives are being ignored, and that is simply not right. It's not right for the relatives. It's not right for the children.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. That's right, boys and girls. Another family found. More to come soon.

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Foster Children - Foster Child Reconnected with Birth Mother

Once a child enters foster care, agencies are mandated by federal law to search for relatives. These efforts can be 85% successful. However, despite best efforts, sometimes agencies simply cannot find any family members in the U.S. In these situations foster children can be at great risk of staying in the system years past the norm unless agencies get help.


Children's Service Society of Wisconsin (CSSW) is a non-profit that handles all efforts to locate a foster child's family members. In this particular case, the organization had exhausted every effort to find relatives in the U.S. These agencies are painfully aware that if a relative isn't found, the child will spend many years in foster care and probably age out with no safety net.

They did have some information about the child's birth mother who was suspected of having moved to Mexico to live with the child's grandmother. Acting on the recommendation from Kevin Campbell, CSSW contacted our organization.

Campbell is the Founder and Director of the Center for Family Finding and Youth Connectedness. He is the leading U.S. expert on locating relatives in America. Regarding a search for family members outside the U.S., Campbell writes:

"Connecting individuals to their families is vital to improving safety, well-being, and permanency outcomes for our most vulnerable youth. Conducting a hopeful search for an individual in Mexico requires additional knowledge and information differing from the United States." 

Within a few weeks of us working the case, CSSW was able to call and speak with the birth mother, maternal grandmother and several adult relatives. The organization was elated to finally be able to put the foster youth in touch with family members.


Despite the many news stories about abusive foster parents and a seemingly callous foster care system, most of the case workers we support are truly caring individuals who are very happy when a foster child's relatives are located.


Molly McGregor, the Family Finding Specialist who oversaw this case, wrote,

"Many thanks for all of your efforts in locating the family of one of our foster children in Wisconsin! It was a pleasure working with your agency."

No matter where a foster child's relatives are living, it's important to locate them. In the best case, all children should have a family that they can turn to for love and help. Tens of thousands of foster children do not need to age out each year without any support. Sometimes the solution is as simple as agencies bringing in an organization such as Find Families In Mexico that can give those family connections to foster youth.

Concerning the value to foster children of finding their family members, Children's Service Society of Wisconsin (CSSW) writes, "Children will be able to make a connection that could last a lifetime." Let's hope that more agencies will heed the call and do more to positively and permanently change the lives of more foster children.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. Share your thoughts and ideas below and share this post with others.

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Foster Children - Extending Foster Care in Ohio for Children Until 21

 

 

Ohio is poised to become the next state to raise the age limit when foster children are forced out of foster care from 18 to 21. There are many reasons why this change will benefit foster kids although there are existing downsides as well.


Several studies have highlighted the disastrous outcomes that 90% of foster kids experience who age out at 18: homelessness, incarceration, and higher pregnancy rates to name a few.

It's pretty easy to imagine why millions of foster youth have these results. Millions of young professionals flocked back to their parents' homes during the last economic disaster. Some are still there. At least they had a home to go to whereas for foster children, it's sink or swim on their 18th birthday.




Tim Rylance, a former foster teen who aged out recently, said that he had a challenging time making the adjustment. During an interview with Fox19, he shares that:

"I've gone through a lot being emancipated. You know, homelessness, drugs, hanging out with the wrong crowd, being in trouble, having to get things expunged off my record. Things get crazy when you're just kind of booted out the door."

Deisera Sharp, another former foster child, said, "Being 18 and aging out of foster care is one of the scariest situations to ever be in."


Fortunately for millions of foster youth, the federal government in 2010 modified The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act to extend federally funded (Title IV-E ) payments to states that were willing to set up services to support foster teens until age 21.

Twenty-four states including California, Indiana and Tennessee have already initiated laws that provide extended services for their foster children.


There are studies supporting this age change, the most prominent being The Midwest Study that researched outcomes for foster kids in three states. If this wasn't enough, two more studies were done on the results of The Midwest Study confirming that increasing the age that foster teens exit the system benefits the children, businesses and taxpayers.

We all know that no changes come without challenges. Already organizations are pointing out that simply raising the age limit to 21 for foster children will only have a band-aid effect unless these changes come with better training and support programs for foster youth. These kids need to be prepared to be on their own.

One of the best ways to help foster youth is to find their family members before these children age out no matter the age.


Resolving the issues that foster children face requires more than one solution. Finding families members is one solution. Raising the age that foster teens are forced out of the system to 21 is another. Both solutions provide solid support to these children so that they can go on to live happier, healthier, more productive lives once they leave foster care.

As a society, we owe them at least a fighting chance to have the type of lives the rest of us enjoy.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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