Every Kid Needs a Family: Annie E. Casey Foundation Report
Posted May 19, 2015 08:55 pm
TALLAHASSEE,
FL - According to a report released Tuesday by the
Annie E.
Casey Foundation, of the more than 18,000 children
in Florida's foster care system, 86 percent are placed
within a family setting - slightly higher than the
national average.
Many of those children who remain in a group environment are teens. Norin Dollard, co-director of Florida Kids Count, says it's important for the state to create a stronger family system for older children.
"It's a tough road for teenagers, no matter how good your kid is," says Dollard. "When you have kids with really complicated, lengthy histories of living apart from families, those foster families need a lot of training and a lot of support."
The report
According to the Casey Foundation report, many teens enter the child welfare system because they have behavioral challenges their parents or guardians aren't prepared to handle. Many teens that enter a group placement eventually age out of the system and never join a permanent family.
The report, Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success, recommends that agencies work with families to keep children in their own homes by providing the resources, skills and services they need.
Tracey
Feild, director and manager of the Casey Foundation's
Child Welfare Strategy Group, says multiple bodies of
research underline the importance of a family setting.
"We do our best for children today and into the future
when we work to keep them at home whenever possible,"
says Feild. "With their parents and/or caring relative
or foster family."
Feild says when kids are removed from families without
cause, there can be lifelong ramifications for everyone.
"Kids who live in families supported through tough times
have the best chance for life success," she says.
"Separating children unnecessarily from families exacts
too high a price in both human terms and taxpayer
dollars."
According to the Casey report, group placements cost
seven to 10 times what it costs to place a child with a
relative or foster family. In addition, youth in group
placements were more than twice as likely to be arrested
compared to those placed in foster families.
Photos/graphics; links: added/updated by the Observer | Photos: ACEF
This piece was reprinted by the Columbia County Observer with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.