Foster Children - Foster Kids Receive Support from Organizations

Sometimes it's hard for people to hear about foster children. There's always a scandal or story about foster youth and abuse. John Baker, a great supporter of our work, asked, "Is there any positive news about foster kids?" Yes, John, there are happy things happening for these children. Here's what happened just this week.





Epicenter meeting room in Salinas, California

A new foster youth program was launched in Salinas, California called Epicenter. The concept is to have former foster children work with those foster teens who have just aged out and to teach these teens how to survive and, hopefully, thrive on their own. Over the last 10 years, other communities have adopted this model.

Emma Ramirez, an Epicenter founder explains:

“By creating the center not only are we going to provide the financial aid information, the education information, the housing information, but this will also be the perfect place to start shaping the 16-year-olds, and helping them think about" where their passion lies.

Foster care statistics from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption reveal that half of those foster youth who age out of the system will not have a job by age 24. However, community programs such as Epicenter are becoming an important part of the solution.

Thanks to a $1 million gift by Jan and Esther Stearns, Cal State San Marcos has earmarked this donation for a "program that helps former foster youths succeed in college."

"The program provides assistance in admissions, financial aid, counseling and housing for students who once were in the foster care system. School officials said few foster youth end up in college after they age out of the system because of a lack of support."

Cal State San Marcos reports that an amazing 90% of former foster teens enrolled in the university graduate with a 4-year degree compared to the national foster children average of less than 2%. 

Finally, here's a story about helping foster youth have a better self-image. Very often foster teens who age out of the foster care system do so with their few worldly possessions in a garbage bag. This reality is common knowledge to people involved with these kids.

During the first season of the criminal show, Bones, the main character, Dr. Brennan, talks with a foster child. She shares how everyone at school knows the student is from a foster home because their clothes smell of plastic.

Fortunately, there are organizations like Luggage 4 Love that are collecting luggage to give to local foster youth. And these kids won't be getting old, hand-me-down luggage but rather new luggage thanks to Stacy Conner, an Easter Seal employee and the creator of this program. Conner shared that:

"We wanted to give them [foster kids] some dignity and allow them to transfer in actual luggage. Continuing to do this mission for the children is just very rewarding so easy for people to donate and to help change a child's perception."

The non-profit organization is having a collection drive until Nov. 1 when 85 foster children will get their new luggage. You can learn more about this organization on Facebook.

It's important to educate people on the challenges facing foster children. These kids are ripped from their parents and families, placed in a government facility and possibly placed with adults who have no motivation to love and care for children, only greed and a cold heart.

Yet, we also have to be assured that there is good being done for these children. Dedicated social workers strive to move these children out of the system and into forever homes. Organizations such as Find Families In Mexico, Luggage 4 Love and Epicenter are all working to improve the lives of foster youth. It's a group efforts, and I personally invite you to become a part of this movement.

Now didn't this just make your day, John?

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 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 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 Childen - Foster Child Education Statistics Will Make You Sad or Mad

Yesterday we posted these foster kid statistics about foster children in Georgia. Education is vital to the welfare of all children, especially foster kids because many will age out of foster care with no one to care or support them other than themselves. Foster home instability has a negative impact on these children's education as well as a financial cost to schools.


We realized we had hit a nerve because of the many comments we received. Responses to these foster kid statistics ranged from "These stats are really disturbing." by Gia Heller, an international expert on social media to Helene Illston, a former foster parent, who wrote,

"What's really sad is that these same kids grow up to be adults that don't stand much of chance and then create more dependent children and then the cycle starts all over again."

The research shows that foster children in Georgia move from one foster home to another on average 7-10 times while they are in the system. This movement causes these kids to lose up to half a year of school resulting in some foster youth missing as much as four years of education.

An impact study reported in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, researched to effect of frequent movement on students. They looked at nearly 10,000 children. Although the study is dated (1993) and the focus was not on foster children specifically, the findings are most pertinent to these kids.

The study found the following between kids who moved frequently and those who moved infrequently or never:

The study conclusion was:

"Frequent family relocation was associated with an increased risk of children failing a grade in school and four or more frequently occurring behavioral problems."

Another, more recent international study (1997) that focused specifically on foster kids found unequivocal results concerning foster children and education:

• Foster youth dropped out of high school at a much higher rate and were significantly less likely to have completed a GED.
 
• Foster youth reported more discipline problems in school and experienced more educational disruption due to changing schools.
 
• They were significantly less likely to be in a college preparatory high school track.
 
• The adults in the lives of the foster care youth were less likely to monitor homework.

There is also the direct financial hit that the education system takes for each student that is retained, kept back a grade. A study by the Brookings Institute revealed that:

Given average per pupil spending of roughly $10,700 (the most recent national estimate), the direct cost to society of retaining 2.3 percent of the 50 million students enrolled in American schools exceeds $12 billion annually.

Foster kids make up a significant percentage of all children who move frequently, costing the public educational system as much as $28,890 (based on the average stay in foster care of 2.7 years). Add this amount to the already sizeable investment of $80,000 to $190,000 paid out in services to support the average foster child.

There is one bright spot about the educational situation for foster kids. A 2006 foster care study uncovered two encouraging findings that positively help foster children.

1. A positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications)
2. A broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care).

One of the best ways to give foster children high placement stability is finding their family members so these kids can be in relative placement. Studies show that these foster youth do much better academically.

Although clearly the education of foster youth suffers greatly due, in part, to constantly changing home environments, this is only one aspect of the overall challenges experienced by these children. We also have to wonder at the real functionality of the U.S. foster care system. It becomes obvious that there is much more money being invested to support foster kids. We have to ask not only ourselves but our government representatives if it isn't way past time to make some important long-term management changes in the system.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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Foster Children - Sibling Foster Kids Now Have Chance at a Permanent Home with Relatives

The foster care statistics above say it all. One of the worst things that could ever happen to a foster child is for him/her to age out of foster care with no family connections. And yet 24,000 foster children in 2014 will be forced out of their foster home environment and into the street. Many will have absolutely no family support because no relatives were found by foster care agencies.


Now imagine that you are in a foster home, and your older sister has been sent away. Both of you are alone, separated, and you are so upset because you know your sister is out there somewhere trying to find food and a place to live.

Fortunately, foster children can move out of the system and into a permanent home with loving, caring family members. The challenge is that sometimes relatives can't be found through normal means.

CASA of Travis County, Texas brought us a case involved two siblings. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children is a national organization with a network of 951 community-based programs that recruit, train and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. These children are often foster youth.


By the time we got this case, the older sister had already aged out of foster care and was on her own. Child Protective Services, CPS, has not been successful at finding relatives of these children. The fear was that in several years the brother would also be forced out of foster care, and both would spend the rest of their lives with no family to help them other than each other.

CASA had some information on relatives possibly living in Mexico and hoped that Find Families In Mexico could find them. Anjuli Barak, CASA Family Finding Specialist wrote,

"The child... has had no contact with family members for a number of years and has suffered greatly because of it."

If we were successful and found at least one adult family member, it would change the lives of these two siblings forever.

Within a few weeks, CASA was able to call and talk with the children's birth father as well as with several other adult relatives. CASA also learned that these foster children have two aunts living in Illinois and has passed that information to CPS.

Some people wonder if, with so many foster youth already in the system and hundreds of thousands more coming in yearly, finding family members is worth the effort. I understand the frustration and maybe the sense of helplessness against overwhelming numbers. However, I think that Ms. Barak counters that concern with her comments,

"We feel confident that we will be able to reconnect these siblings with their relatives and instill hope in a hopeless situation."

Moving foster youth out of the system and into permanent homes with relatives benefits the children, the foster care system and society. Supporting an organization such as Find Families In Mexico is a smart move because we are the reason why many foster kids are now safely out of foster care and not homeless or turning to crime for food and money.

Not helping these children is simply not an option.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. You can help foster children by sharing this post with others.

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Foster Child - Neglected Foster Kid Found Wandering Streets in Riverside, Ohio

 

Once again there's a story about a foster child gone missing. This time a 7-year-old hungry and barefoot girl was found by a neighbor.


The neighbor, a mother of a 4-year-old daughter, first tried to reach Child Services to report the incident. After half an hour with no response, the mom called the police. The mom told police that the foster child:

"said she’d been out walking the neighborhood all morning [the girl wasn't found until 11:30] and she didn’t have any shoes on and she said she was hungry... her foster mom asked her to leave so she didn’t know where else to go.”

Once the police arrived, they told the mom that this was not the first time that this foster kid had been found alone wandering around the neighbor. The foster home where the child stays had been previously investigated.

Despite the many dedicated and caring foster parents who open their doors to take in children, the majority of these cases of abuse or neglect seem to involve foster children in "foster placement," living with adults who are not related to the child.

One area of deficiency for many foster care agencies is the lack of thorough efforts to locate relatives of foster youth. Experts report that in general foster kids placed with their family members are happier, healthier, have less emotional issues, perform better in school and have higher graduation levels.

One proven solution is for the public and businesses to donate to foster youth services such as Find Families In Mexico, where the sole focus is to locate family members of foster children so these kids can be placed with relatives.


Reporters later spoke with the Montgomery County CPS (Child Protective Services) that explained that this particular foster home was under the management of a Southwest Ohio agency. Much greater accountability needs to be placed on social service agencies.

As taxpayers we count on the billions of dollars spent on foster care to provide foster kids with a place where they will be properly cared for and protected against abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, too many adults are using the system to put money in their pockets while leaving physical, mental and emotional scars on the most vulnerable of our children.

There are no easy, fast solutions, but more pressure must be placed on agencies to comply with federal and state laws that mandate thorough and ongoing efforts to find family members and unite them with their related foster children. Until that happens, more foster children will wander neighborhoods, hungry for both food and love.

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 Youth: Sex Trafficking Targets

Foster children are targeted by sex traffickers because of their need for love, affirmation, and protection. If this reality turns your stomach, it's gets much worse:

• Connecticut: 98% of children who are identified as survivors of sex trafficking had previous involvement with child welfare services, and many were legally in the care and custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families while they were being prostituted by traffickers.
• New York: At least 85% of all CSEC (Commercially Sexually Exploited Children) had been foster children.
• California: 50% of children sold in California are foster children.
• Florida: FBI Agent and leader of the Tampa Area Crimes Against Children task force Gregory Christopher said, "A lot of these kids are foster kids, runaway kids… I’d say about 70 percent or so are foster kids."
• Nationwide: In 2013, 60 percent of the child sex trafficking victims recovered as part of a FBI nationwide raid from over 70 cities were foster children.

Then there is the case of Withelma “T” Ortiz Walker Pettigrew, now a college student, who testified at a congressional hearing this week about being a sex trafficking survivor. She told how she was a foster child until age 18 while from the age of 11 she spent the next seven years as a victim of sex trafficking.

Ortiz Walker Pettigrew

During the same hearing, Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. reported that, "Research shows that most victims of child sex trafficking come straight from the foster care system."

So how do foster youth end up in the sex trade? Many run away from their foster home or group home. Some are escaping abuse by a foster parent or even a child of the foster parent. Sometimes, the biological children of foster parents are jealous or angry and take that resentment out on the foster child.

Other times, foster youth may feel completely unloved and unwanted. Ortiz Walker Pettigrew shared that she was told, "You’re not my child, I don’t care what’s going on with you, as long as you’re not dead, I’ll continue to get my paycheck.” Is it any wonder that a child would want to leave and be susceptible to the promise of love, stability and affection that sex traffickers offer!

What may be equally disturbing is that in 2012 the federal government paid out $4.2 billion (taxpayer dollars) to state agencies for the care of foster kids by foster parents. That same year, "state governments admitted they could not locate 4,973 foster children. Almost unbelievably, this is one of the numbers ("Status=Runaway") that states provide to secure federal funding."

There are "strict" procedures in place for when foster kids run away for most, if not all, Departments of Health Services, the agency in each state that oversees the foster care system. However, one story out of Oklahoma highlights a serious breakdown in procedures where staff at a foster care shelter admitted that if a foster kid walked out, "the shelter staff will not follow the child nor will the police be called."

Fortunately, sex trafficking and its connection with foster children has been highlighted. Lawmakers, such as Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash, are moving to put in new laws, the least of which would require agencies to report on all foster youth who run away.

However, these are actions that will take time to implement and even then without better oversight, foster care agencies can under-report the numbers while still securing federal dollars.

If you feel moved to help these children now, there are two actions you can take. Donate so that more family members of foster kids can be found leading to these children moving out of foster care and into a permanent home with loving, caring relatives. Then ask your family, friends and associates to do the same.

Maybe the government will take appropriate action or maybe in six months, you'll read about another foster child scandal. Or if you want do more than say, "What a shame," then do something today so that no matter what else happens this week, you'll know you helped ensure that one less child will end up as a sex trafficking victim.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

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