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

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Youth - Prevention is Key to Helping Foster Children

In some ways it's easy to talk about the plight of foster children. Pull up foster child education statistics and photos, and you'll get some people's attention. Once awareness has been achieved, many caring adults will engage in thoughtful and thought provoking conversations. Some will ask why the status quo exists while others will propose ways to help foster youth have a better life once they age out of the foster care system.


Here is the recent foster care statistic that generated so much commentary.

Robert Callesen of The Car Lot commented:

"Thanks for the info, but what solutions are available?"

Nick Huntington, owner of Sweet Cakes Café, followed with:

"What is the solution. . .? Seems like this is an epidemic not only for Foster Children but for many children of varied backgrounds."

Barbara Loraine, Founder of Be Irresistible offered:

"Prevention is key... once kids have aged out, "working hard" isn't enough. They each need to be given training, a break and support along the way. What happens that they "can't keep a job more than one year?"

To understand the disastrous results that occur to foster youth once they age out, you first have to know what happens to these children while in foster care and leading up to the day these foster teens are forced out of the system.

As we wrote in our recent blog, "Foster Children - Not Finding a Foster Child's Relatives May Open a New Door," about half of the 400,000 U.S. foster children in the system this year will be returned to their parents or legal guardians. Thousands more will get adopted. Some foster teens will run away, and 24,000 foster youth will age out. Let's focus on those foster kids who will remain in the foster care system and will age out within the next few years.

We agree with the many comments we received including those of Terri Levine, marketing consultant, and Carly Fanguy of 57 Degrees that there needs to be a solid support system to help foster teens transition from being in the system to being on their own.


The largest federal program to help these children is Chafee. We highlighted this foster youth program recently. Foster children are taken through training to prepare them for being on their own. However, from the foster kid statistics, such as the one above, clearly this program has only limited success.

Educational programs have been established to help provide funding and scholarships for foster teens who want to go to college such as Just in Time. This San Diego-based organization is dedicated to helping these children get into universities. Actor and activist, Eva Longoria, has created a foundation that helps Latina get into college. It's unclear if this successful organization has a specific focus on helping Hispanic foster children who number close to 84,000 kids.

There are many community-based programs popping up around the country to help these children. In our blog, "Foster Children - Foster Kids Receive Support from Organizations," we highlighted the success of Epicenter that is helping California foster kids better transition into society once they age out. The organization was established ten years ago and has spread out into other communities in Northern California.


Ana Hawk of Instant Barter LLC had commented, "Prevention is the best cure. However, reality demands that new programs be put in place." Clearly you can see that new non-government programs have been created to help foster teens with their transition to independence.


Unfortunately, the majority of the preparation given to foster youth approaching age out appears to be coming from foster care agencies. Until more successful programs come on line and at a national level, it's probable that former foster kids will continue to suffer a dismal life.

As I wrote at the beginning, many people including Misty Morgan of Rental Matchmaker and Suzy Marmis Owen of Suzy Q Help wonder how they and others can help these children. Just as Barbara and Ana said, the best solution is prevention.

It's so important to repeat that foster children who are able to stay with a relative perform better at school. This higher level of performance means that these kids generally feel better about themselves. Their scholastic success helps them integrate with their peers. With family support, these foster teens graduate and more often go on to college or get vocational training. Armed with a solid educational background and family support, these kids can go on to live successful, productive lives.


One of the best and proven ways to help these children is for them to be placed with family. For this to happen, family members first have to be located and notified which is exactly what our organization does. Want to help foster children before they age out? Support our foster children efforts through a variety of ways.

If you decide to help another organization, more power to you. No matter which organization you support, you can make a lasting impact on the life of one or many foster youth. You don't have to wait for new programs and a reboot of existing government programs. All it takes to change the outcome for foster children from negative to positive is for you and those you know to step up and take action.

As Liz Harris of Liz Harris Realty said, "Let's lend a helping hand." What more needs to be said?

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - Not Finding a Foster Child's Relatives May Open a New Door

The goal of foster care agencies is to get children out of the system as soon as possible. Foster care statistics show that about half of the foster children removed from their parents end up going back to them after they have received counseling on how to be better parents. For those foster kids who aren't returned to their parents, agencies work to locate adult family members to give these children a forever home. Sometimes another door is opened to help these foster youth.

A case worker with the Durham County Department of Social Services presented our organization with a case where a foster child's birth father was known to be living in Mexico. Cases where one parent lives outside the U.S. are not unusual for us although more often we tend to get cases where a grandparent, uncle or aunt is being sought.

Parents are interviewed as their children enter the foster care system. Sometimes a parent will be uncooperative. Both mothers and fathers have been known to resist offering any information that would help agencies locate the other birth parent. In our experience, mothers are generally the ones that will withhold details about the birth father. We're not going to go into the reasons given by a parent for this lack of cooperation because the one important point is that the children are the ones who end up getting hurt.





Keep in mind that if a foster child isn't returned to their parent(s), it's usually for very good reasons. The parent is now in prison. The parent is a habitual criminal whose lifestyle puts their children at risk on a daily basis. The parent is mentally or emotionally unstable or completely apathetic about their responsibilities again placing their children at risk.


Due to confidentiality, we can only say that the case worker handling this matter had insufficient details about the birth father. Despite the image portrayed in spy shows and movies that government agencies see all and record all, there are still serious limitations to how this plays out in real life including foster youth cases.




(If you are at work, turn down your speakers.)


Our organization provided a report "detailing the information that would be necessary so that a potentially successful family finding effort could be conducted to locate this parent in Mexico." Anthony Poole, the case worker for the foster child, added:

"Unfortunately, we have not been able to obtain any additional details to aid your organization in this case. We appreciate the report that you provided us showing that without further assistance from the child’s mother, no successful family finding can be conducted."

There is still good news even though this foster child's adult relatives cannot be found. Many foster youth spend years in the system because a path was not available for the court or social services to pursue another option. Before an adoption can be initiated, case workers are often court mandated to do everything possible to find and notify a parent.

Our foster youth findings have been accepted by courts across the country as evidence of a thorough effort on the part of agencies to locate a foster child's family members still living in Mexico. By the county coming to us and receiving our report that concluded that no search could be conducted, the agency is now free to ask the court to open the way to adoption.


Everyone wants to see foster kids leave the system sooner than later. Many will go back to the parents they love. Some will stay in foster care and age out. A small percentage will run away while many others will be adopted. Hopefully this child will soon be in a forever home with loving, caring foster parents in part because of our donor-supported foster youth services.

Now let's talk about our next case.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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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 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 - 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

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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

PS. You can help more foster kids. Share your thoughts and ideas below and share this post with others.

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