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Dates: Tuesday, November 5th OR Thursday, November 7th
Location: Online! Check your email for details!
For the Kids
For the Kids
This week, we will be chatting with an organization dedicated to helping children in the foster care system. Before we learn about what they do and how they help, let’s take a quick look at the Foster Care system in the United States and how it works.
What is it?
First, what is Foster Care? Foster care is meant to be a temporary solution for children who are living with people who are unable to care for them or may be in an unsafe environment. Children in these situations may be removed from their living situation to stay with relatives, foster families, or in group homes. Foster care is meant to be a short term/temporary solution to keep children safe and to help children find stable, long term living situations. The fundamental goal of foster care is reunification of a child/children with their primary caregivers.
Who does it serve?
So who does foster care serve? It is meant to help children by making sure they are living in stable family situations. Research has repeatedly shown that children need a solid and healthy attachment to at least one parenting adult. This relationship is vital to a child’s development and overall well-being. Unfortunately, children are not always in environments where healthy relationships are available to them, for a variety of reasons. In 2020, there were nearly 615,000 victims of maltreatment in the United States, which is approximately 8 out of every 1,000 children. This is actually down from 9 in every 1,000 children who experienced maltreatment from 2015 - 2019. To see the graphs and data by state, click here: https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/line/9903-children-who-are-confirmed-by-child-protective-services-as-victims-of-maltreatment?loc=1&loct=2#1/any/true/574,1729,37,871,870,573/asc/any/19234
Most of the children suffering from maltreatment were younger than 10 (72%) and experienced neglect (76%). Neglect is the failure of a parent or caregiver to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision. 16% of these children experienced physical abuse, 9% were sexually abused, and 6% suffered emotional abuse.
The data in the infographic below is from 2014, but it gives you an idea of the scope of the foster care system.
In 2020, the average length of stay in the foster care system was 21 months. More than 40% of the kids in some sort of foster care were between the ages of 6 and 15. Another 14% were between the ages of 16 and 20. Older children tend to spend more time in foster care and often experience more instability, moving locations or sometimes ‘aging out’ of the system. Those who age out tend to experience homelessness and joblessness at higher rates than peers who experienced a more steady home environment. Providing a stable environment for older foster children is critically important to their development and success as adults.
Those involved with the foster care system cite a number of needs that are critical to helping more children within the system. The most common needs in the system today are:
Care for teenagers
The older a child in the foster care system, the less likely they are to receive support from a foster family. Often, older children are sent to multiple family situations or live in a group home. If they age out of the system without a solid support system, they are much more likely to become parents very young or be incarcerated. Even if they do not experience homelessness, joblessness, or incarceration, they often lack emotional connections that young adults need to thrive.
Care for sibling groups
More than 50% of children in foster care have one or more siblings, but unfortunately, siblings are separated in the system more than 70% of the time. To read more about the issues facing children who are separated from their brothers and sisters and the benefits of keeping siblings groups together, click here: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/siblingissues.pdf
Diverse foster parents
Even though white children account for almost half of the foster care population, minority children are still overrepresented in foster care, relative to the population. Black children account for only 14% of the child population of the U.S. but they make up 20% of the foster care system. Indigenous and Native Alaskan children are only 1% of the general population but make up 2% of the child welfare population. When children are placed in homes that reflect their background and culture, they tend to see much more positive outcomes.
Foster Care in California
So how does Foster Care work in California? In California, we have a state supervised, county administered system. The CA Department of Social Services provides oversight to agencies in the 58 counties of the state. Those agencies directly administer and supervise children in the system. To read an overview of the system as it functions in California, click here: https://ylc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Foster-Care-Overview-FACT-SHEET-040116.pdf
Frequently asked questions
How often are children reunited with their families?
As of 2015, approximately 3 in 5 children are able to return home to their parents or other family members.
How often are children moved around?
More than ⅓ of foster children experience more than two placements each year, meaning that they must change living arrangements twice a year. In some states, almost 50% of children moved two or more times. Agencies are working to minimize moves, as they are stressful and often traumatizing to children.
Who gets adopted out of foster care?
More than half of the 58000 children in the foster care system who were adopted in 2020 were children ages 1 to 5 years old, which is consistent with data in prior years. Most of these adoptions are by foster parents, either relatives or nonrelatives. Only 17% of the children adopted were over the age of 16.
Where do foster children typically end up?
Former foster children are much more likely to end up in prison, as compared to their peers. One in 5 former foster children are homeless at age 18 and 70% of female youth are pregnant before they turn 21. Less than 3% of former foster children go on to obtain a college degree.
To see more statistical breakdowns of the foster care system, click here:
Of course, there are many issues in the foster care system and many of the possible solutions seem impossible to implement on an already strained system. However, our organization this week seeks to provide a bit of joy in an otherwise tough situation. Tune in this week to ‘look for the helpers’ and see how they shine a light!
works cited
works cited
https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-foster-care
https://www.kvc.org/blog/foster-care-in-america/
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/can/defining/
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/define.pdf
https://ylc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Foster-Care-Overview-FACT-SHEET-040116.pdf
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