Foster Children Crowdfunding with a Twist, Supported by Businesses

So many people have asked how they could get involved to help foster children. We have the answer. On Nov. 10, a crowdfunding campaign will be launched to raise funds so that hundreds of foster kids will be able to move out of the foster care system and into forever homes with loving relatives. And this campaign has a business twist.


First let's talk crowdfunding. You have heard of this but may not be clear on what crowdfunding is and how it works. Crowdfunding is essentially people giving money to a cause. It's not a donation is the traditional sense because depending on the amount you contribute, you get a prize that is called a perk. These perks can be very nice ranging from original drawings, artwork or music, or products such as clothes, books or even tickets to a movie that was produced by the money raised through crowdfunding.

Our crowdfunding campaign will be unique because it's oriented toward professionals and businesses. We have pulled together some of the top marketers, trainers and coaches in the country who are contributing products and services. Eric Lofholm, who is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on sales, sales systems, and sales scripting, is offering a digital program for just $25. Other experts such as Jill Lublin, master publicity strategist, consultant, and bestselling author, are offering one-on-one coaching sessions.

Ever heard of Tom Antion? Tom was dominating Internet marketing before most people knew there was an Internet. He's offering a special coaching session that cannot be bought except through our crowdfunding. Tom is a strong supporter of our organization's work to reconnect foster kids with their family members. Following Tom is Roberto Candelaria, crowdfunding expert, who is also donating his time and expertise to help ensure a successful campaign.


Of course, I would be remiss not to mention Gia Heller, social media marketing guru and the leading expert in her field. Gia is a contributor and is providing pre-launch support and guidance. But that's not all. Gia recently adopted a foster teen and is working on getting certified so she can become a foster mom to more children. She understands the challenges that foster youth face both while in the foster care system and once they age out.

Our contributors are smart, sharp and very successful business professionals who want to give back and are doing so by supporting our work to get 200-250 foster kids out of foster care in 2015 and into forever homes. If you aren't in a position to become a foster parent, you can absolutely join in our crowdfunding. Find a perk, get new skills to grow your business or improve an area of your personal life. With a dozen experts, there's something at a contribution level for everyone.

We're in the home stretch for 2014. The holidays are here. Now is the perfect time for you to give and help a foster child. It's never been easier and you'll go away with a perk that could help you make 2015 your best year ever.


Fulfill your desire to help foster kids avoid homelessness, not end up in prison, remain in school, and not become another sex trafficking victim. Do it for the children. Do it for yourself. I can't think of anything that speaks to the holiday spirit like helping a child in need.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. Starting Oct. 27, you'll be able to follow our progress on the crowdfunding campaign by visiting our page at www.FindFamiliesInMexico.org/news.

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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

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

Get a PDF copy of this blog about a foster teen and her baby given up for adoption.

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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.

Get a PDF copy of this blog about Ohio raising the age out level for foster children to 21.

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Foster Kids: Saved from Prison and Homelessness

There are so many stories about terrible things that are happening to foster kids that you may wonder why even bother. Sometimes you may think, "Nothing will change. There will always be foster children who are abused and after they age out, need lots of support, mentally, emotionally and economically."


I agree with you, but a man much wiser than I could ever be said that there will always be the poor, needy and sick, but that those of us who are stronger have a moral obligation to help these people. So today is about giving hope and letting you see that good things do happen for foster youth while giving a few reasons why you should care.

When it comes to foster kids, counties are generally in charge of the foster care. Sometimes a county will contract with a non-profit that will take over part of the process, often including the work to find family members of a foster child. One such organization, Casa Pacifica in Ventura County, CA, came to us recently because they had a foster teen who had been a ward of the state.

Now I don't know the specifics (and because I'm talking about a child, there are some facts that I can't share), but I'm pretty sure that in this particular case, the foster teen had been in the system for a long time.


The challenge was that the only known family members who could be part of this teen's life were known to be living in Mexico. U.S. agencies are pretty adept at finding people living up here with up to an 85% success rate. However, sometimes there are no other family members or if there are, no one knows about them.


This means that a foster youth can spend much more than the average 2.7 years in foster care. Why should we as taxpayers care? There are many reasons (we'll overlook the negative impact on children such as prison or homelessness for now):

• One foster child can cost between $35,000 and $60,000 per year they are in foster care.
• The federal government paid out $4.2 billion in taxpayer dollars in 2012 to support the foster parents of these children.
• 23,000 foster children aged out in 2013, and research shows that each one of those children will need up to $300,000 in social services over their lifetime.

In this case, Casa Pacifica knew that there was at least one adult relative still living in Mexico so they came to us at Find Families In Mexico. Sometimes when you hear about foster children, you may think that it will take months or more than a year before anything positive happens.

That's not the way we roll. In about 15 days, we had contact information on several possible relatives. One of those contacts was the home of this foster teen's great-grandmother. In short order, the staff was able to speak with the teen’s maternal grandmother and a great-uncle.

Now you may be one of many who when you hear "Mexico" and "foster kids" in the same sentence, immediately start thinking "undocumented" or "it's really a Mexico issue." The truth is that more and more, because the foster kids we help are second and third generation Americans (i.e. they are not undocumented, and they didn't just cross the border last week), these kids have family living in the U.S. In this case, the Mexican relatives shared that there are two aunts living in the U.S.

This foster teen is now connected to family members in both the U.S. and Mexico, and we understand that at least one relative has offered to give this teen a permanent home.

This is important because studies show that children who end up with a family member have fewer behavioral problems, a greater graduation rate and better employment rate than foster youth who either age out or end up with a non-relative placement.


Casa Pacifica was very pleased with the results of our finding this foster teen's family members. This teen goes from being a ward of the state and having a government agency raising him to having cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We should care because it's the best outcome for this teen and a great outcome for us taxpayers. It's truly a win-win for everyone, and one less foster youth left to age out.

There's nothing like a story with a happy ending to finish out the week.

Do it for the children,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico
760-690-3995

PS. Want to help a foster child? Get information about our upcoming crowdfunding campaign to raise money for new foster children cases.

Get a PDF copy of this blog on reconnecting a foster teen with his family.

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Find Families In Mexico: U.S. Foster Kids Have Too Many Placements

Most of the public is unaware that foster children can spend years in foster care moving from one home to the next with disastrous results. April McWilliams, one such foster teen, remembers her four years in foster care that were spent between three different

homes.

When relatives of a foster child are located, these family members can provide the emotional support these children need to lead a better life.

"The stories of foster children like McWilliams, marked by uncertainty and impermanence — and, in some cases, even deaths — have prompted the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to redesign the state’s foster care system, increasing its reliance, in part, on partnerships with private contractors to find living arrangements for children in foster homes."

The state is now working to reduce these placements so more foster kids will have a better future.

Regards,


  Richard

Richard Villasana
Find Families In Mexico

PS. Like and follow us on Facebook for more information about foster youths.

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