photo credit: Sakara Ross
Over 350,000 youth are part of the foster care system in the United States, or on average 5.1 per 1,000 children, according to cafo.org.
The US foster care system aims to provide stable and safe care and homes for youth until they can be further placed in a more permanent arrangement, such as reunification or adoption, according to the Children’s Bureau. Much is assumed about foster care, and people often don’t properly educate themselves.
“The more you know about somebody, the less you assume. The more people are aware of what’s going on in the foster system or why people might be placed there, the less likely they will make things up in their head or just assume things. If they hear rumors about things, then they’ll automatically believe them rather than having the actual knowledge of what foster care means and why people are in it,” School Social Worker Dan Murph said.
One of the greatest problems in the foster system is how little foster families and homes there are available. In Ohio, there are over 16,000 foster youth, whereas there are only around 7,300 licensed foster homes to provide care for these children, according to pathwaycfc.org.
“I don’t think people realistically think they can do it, but almost every family could take in a kid, especially if they already have kids, or in my situation not have kids yet, but it is a lot of sacrifice and so you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice the time, energy and resources to raising a kid well,” Science Teacher Adam Walters said. Walters has experience in both fostering and adoption.
Fostering a child is not an easy task, but is important for supporting and improving the lives of thousands of children. Dozens of charities work to provide more resources for foster families.
“People have good intentions, but it’s also a strain on that family, so the more help they can get from drives, donations and things like that, the better the kid can be taken care of and the more likely foster parents are able to take on more individuals because it’s not as stressful to have to provide everything,” Murph said.
To help out some of these families, the Courier staff, along with NHS, Interact Club and Student Council, is hosting a toy drive through Franklin County Children’s Services Holiday Wish program. This program supplies hundreds of children in the area with gifts for the holiday season, according to fccs.us.
“Foster parents don’t get into it because they make a lot of money, so it’s a nice way to really take care of the families and the kids in the foster care system,” Walters said.
Teenagers make up a large percentage of the youth in foster care, with 41 percent of foster youth in Ohio being over the age of 11, according to The Annie E. Casey Foundation. However, donations to the system are often geared towards younger kids, so consider donating items more suited towards these older youth.
“Gift cards, hoodies and electronic stuff, which tends to be a little more expensive, is all stuff that’s needed but not thought about as much because when you think of Christmas or the holidays. You think of little kids and toys,” Murph said.
Collections will start the week of Nov. 18 and will continue until Dec. 12. All donations can be brought to room 2213. However, donations can count as service hours if brought to room 1123 (NHS) or room 2218 (Interact). New gifts such as books, art supplies or toys are greatly appreciated and would really help youth in our communities this holiday season.
“At the end of the day, it’s not the kid’s fault that they’re in the situation they’re in, and so society as a whole needs to look out for one another and just help the kid have a childhood that isn’t marked by trauma, violence, drugs or whatever the situation was,” Walters said.
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