Don't Let The Foster Care Conversations Cease | emPower magazine

The number of children and teens who are unable to live in a safe, stable, nurturing home with their family of origin is astounding.? During the month of May, advocates in the child welfare and foster care community come together to commemorate National Foster Care Awareness Month.? National Foster Care Awareness Month provides the opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges and successes of the roughly 400,000 young people in our nation?s foster care system.? This is also the perfect opportunity to recognize the foster parents, child welfare and foster care workers, volunteers and friends who provide support, guidance, and compassion to young people in very difficult situations.

According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) FY 10 data October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010, there were 408,425 children in foster care on September 30, 2010. As of September 30, 2010, there were 33,993 youth aged seventeen years old in the foster care system and 31,667 youth aged sixteen years old in the foster care system in the United States. Four hundred eight thousand, four hundred and twenty five children and youth ages 0 to 20 years were in foster care in September 2011.?

Child abuse, neglect, and abandonment are three major reasons that young people find themselves in the foster care system. ?Stress and trauma accompany young people as they are removed from their homes usually through no fault of their own.? Youth in foster care often have few personal belongings and many carry the limited number of items they do have in trash bags as they are shuffled from place to place.? To address this issue, The Teen Toolbox organized its First Annual Pack A Backpack Drive to collect and distribute backpacks with personal hygiene items to teen males in foster homes, group homes, and homeless shelters to commemorate National Foster Care Awareness Month.?

The numbers of teens who ?age out? of the foster care system has increased over the years.?Aging out refers to the age that a person is no longer supported in the foster care system and is solely responsible for their well-being.? In some states the age of emancipation is 18 and in other states the age has been raised to 21.? Aging out of foster care can have both long and short term negative consequences.

Older youth are more likely to be placed in institutional placements like group homes.? These placements are the least family-like environments and don?t usually allow a teen to form strong bonds with reliable adults. Some children in foster care have never really felt loved or cared for.? Very often sheer survival is the ultimate goal.? As a result, these young people have little guidance and no safety net to assist them when they are no longer eligible to receive benefits from their state.? When most young people leave home they still have the financial and emotional support of parents and family members.? For young adults in foster care, many have no one to turn to once they exit the foster care rolls and they are unprepared for life on their own.? The trauma and disruptions they have experienced often leave them at higher risk of unemployment, poor educational outcomes, health issues, early parenthood, long-term dependency on public assistance, increased rates of incarceration, and homelessness once they are forced into independence. No one has taught them how to open a bank account, balance a checkbook, shop for nutritious food, create a resume, apply for jobs, dress for a job interview, file their taxes, and any of the other necessary life skills that will make their transition to adulthood smoother.

Although National Foster Care Awareness Month is coming to a close, we must not let these important conversations cease.? Every child deserves a safe, loving home and the opportunity to create permanent life-long connections.? There are many ways that you can get involved and positively impact the lives teens in foster care. ?You can become a foster parent, mentor a foster teen, teach a life skills course, donate to an agency that works with youth in foster care, or even hire a former foster youth in your organization.? The possibilities to make a change are endless.?

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