Texas child advocates want foster care system fixed as soon as possible / Public News Service

The Texas foster care system suffers from a severe shortage of safe and appropriate foster homes, which has led to the convening of a panel of experts to address the issue and a myriad of others.

Kate Murphy, senior child protection policy associate at Texans Care for Children, said the number of children who did not have a safe home within the foster care system hit an all-time high in the mid-2021, but is now declining.

“We know we had a really big spike in the number of kids that we couldn’t find homes for,” Murphy noted. “Part of the reason these numbers are going down is because we are placing children out of state or using temporary emergency placements.”

Over the past two years, at least 65 foster care facilities in Texas have closed, more than a third of them for safety reasons, resulting in the loss of more than 2,000 available beds. Texas lawmakers passed several laws this year to address ongoing issues, including approving millions of dollars to fund social workers, retain providers and increase foster care capacity.

Murphy pointed out that many members of the state’s foster care system receive a “child out of care” designation, which means the state cannot find a suitable placement. She added that these children have the most acute levels of need, often suffering from trauma or abuse, substance abuse or mental illness.

“So what we’re seeing is that kids are in care because they can’t meet their needs, and then the system is unable to meet those needs,” Murphy observed. “We find that this happens disproportionately among older young people.”

The pandemic has been a unique stressor for older youth, Murphy said, because of system challenges, but also because they are more vulnerable.

“We have so many young adults leaving foster care who have limited resources,” Murphy explained. “They depend on some of the jobs most affected by the pandemic, like the service sector.”

Murphy is pleased that new policies passed by the state this year will help older youth leaving foster care establish a rental history and credit score, a serious challenge for those who have been in the system for several years. years.

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Child services agencies in Ohio say they are becoming the destination for young people with all kinds of intensive or “high acuity” needs.

A new report has found that nearly one in four children were placed in the custody of children’s services in 2021 primarily due to mental illness, developmental disability or diversion from the justice system. for minors.

KelliJo Jeffries, director of Employment and Family Services for Portage County, said it added a layer of stress to an already strained workforce. She explained that public agencies are required to ensure timely and appropriate placements for young people, but that there are simply not enough viable options.

“We often have to call over 75 providers looking for a placement for a child,” observed Jeffries. “We are not able to make connections based on the best needs of children. It often becomes a desperate need.”

Of the young people who were taken into care in the counties surveyed, 6% had to spend at least one night at the agency because a placement was not possible. Respondents cited the lack of treatment-level foster homes, shortage of staff for residential placements, and beds in already occupied residential facilities as reasons for the placement crisis.

Amy Wood, associate director of placements for Franklin County Children’s Services, said they spend a lot of time, energy and resources finding placements for young people with very high needs. She hopes the community will come together to develop a collaborative approach to better serve children and families.

“It’s not a child protection issue. It’s not a juvenile justice issue. It’s not a developmental disability agencies issue. It’s not the only issue of behavioral health services,” Wood said. “We can no longer work in silos. We work with the same young people in our community and we all have the same objectives for these young people.

Beyond the added stress on the child services system, Jeffries explained that children who are moved through placements struggle to build trusting relationships with their caregivers.

“When we try to empower them to open up and start dealing with the trauma, dealing with the challenges, they get frustrated,” Jeffries noted. “Up to a point where they say, ‘I don’t want to tell my story anymore.’ It’s really not fair to them, they shouldn’t have to keep going back and going through that again.”

The report found that state investments and technical assistance for multi-system youth have enabled some to avoid entering foster care. And he noted that while efforts like the launch of the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s OhioRISE program this summer should help, implementation will take time.

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It’s already been a week since Safer Internet Day, and in case you missed it, the National Parent-Teachers Association is helping families “talk” with their kids to set the ground rules for being in line.

Parents can always check the saferinternetday.us website for tips on how to facilitate a safe experience when kids use social media or gaming sites.

National PTA Connected Ambassador Carrie Neill said her Smart Talk tool encourages parents to give children a say when setting family rules for technology and mobile devices.

“The Smart Talk tool brings that power to families, to collaboratively discuss, ‘What are we comfortable with? What are the settings?’ ‘ explained Neill. “And gives parents a language to work on, and it gives kids a voice in the conversation.”

The tool encourages parents to explain, for example, who should be considered a stranger online, and to ensure that children know not to give out personal information such as their address, school or their date of birth online.

The site also prepares local PTA groups to raise awareness in their communities.

Christine Soto, a parent and teacher in Acampo, Calif., said families need to maintain a dialogue about the topic.

“There are a lot of in-app purchases or places where they ask for information,” Soto pointed out. “Honestly, most parents probably don’t even know who their child’s friends are online. It’s so easy to talk, to random people, and kids think it’s harmless. They just play a game.”

The PTA.org/saferinternet site also has links to programs such as Create with Kindness, which encourages responsible behavior online and explains how to enable parental controls on TikTok.

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Bridgeport is one of six US cities selected for an 18-month project starting this month to create more education and career opportunities for young people.

The National League of Cities awarded Bridgeport a $150,000 grant to support projects promoting STEM education and careers, especially for young people who are not working or in school.

Marc Donald, executive director of the Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership (RYASAP), said the funds will be used for the Park City Career Pathways program. The goal is to help break down barriers to getting jobs in STEM fields.

“It’s just trying to put them on a better path, where they graduate from high school and then go on to some sort of post-secondary opportunity,” Donald explained. “Or dive straight into some kind of career path, especially in STEM careers or around advanced manufacturing.”

The other participating cities are Houston; Sacramento, California; Madison, Wis.; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Lauderhill, Florida.

Through the same grant, United Way of Coastal Fairfield County will also support RYASAP’s work.

Gwendolyn Brantley, United Way’s Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem Manager, said introducing STEM opportunities to young people is about showing them that finding work that is within their reach is interests them.

“We introduce our students to careers in the gaming industry through esports,” Brantley noted. “We try to be really intentional, using tools that are exciting and will make our students want to look into those careers.”

Brantley added that they have developed e-sports teams across the city, for kids in elementary school through their twenties. They are also working with the district to help students create profiles on the Tallo networking platform, where they can learn about STEM internships and scholarships, and connect with potential employers.

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