Too Many Birthdays in Foster Care - Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For further information contact: Gina Russo
202 421 3578 or press@kidsarewaiting.org
“National Birthday Party” for more than 500,000 Children in Foster Care Highlights Urgent Need for Foster Care Financing Reform
Current, former foster youth recall forgotten birthdays in foster care
WASHINGTON, DC – Thirty young people, including current and former foster youth from across the nation, joined child welfare advocates, policymakers and others at a Capitol Hill event today to celebrate and recognize the birthdays of the more than 500,000 children in foster care.
According to Time for Reform: Too Many Birthdays in Foster Care, a guide to the U.S. foster care system released at the event, children in foster care spend an average of more than two years in care, move to three different homes, and can be separated from brothers and sisters, friends and family. Childhood rituals – like birthday celebrations – can go unmarked and unnoticed for children in foster care.
“A typical birthday was one of the saddest times in foster care,” recalled Josh, who spent his childhood in foster care in Oregon. “At times, someone would say ‘Happy Birthday,’ but usually the day was silent. I would feel worthless, like no one valued my life.”
The event was sponsored by Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now, a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts, as part of its campaign for reform of the federal financing system for foster care. The participating youth are from 21 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
“Foster care is necessary to protect vulnerable children, but it was designed as a temporary solution,” said Judge William Thorne, a Utah Appeals Court Judge, a Pomo/Coast Miwok Indian, and member of the national Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care who spoke at the event. “For too many children, this short-term refuge has become long term, and they languish in foster care for years and experience multiple placements.”
A major finding of the Pew Commission was the inflexibility of the current financing system. Most federal dollars dedicated for child welfare support can only be used when children are removed from their homes and placed in the foster care system. Removing this financing “straitjacket” would allow more money to be used to keep families together and children out of foster care in the first place or to limit the amount of time they spend in the system. Flexibility in the financing system would also create and support permanent, loving families through reunification, adoption, and guardianship, according to the commission.
The birthday celebration concluded with the young people delivering 435 birthday cakes, one to each House member. Accompanying the cake was a message: Happy Birthday to the 513,000 children who will celebrate their birthdays this year in foster care without a permanent, loving family. The current and former foster youth wore t-shirts saying “Don’t turn your back on us” on the back.
“Simply by changing the way we pay for services, we can keep some children from entering foster care and move others to safe, permanent homes more quickly,” said Pauline Abernathy, Deputy Director, Health and Human Services, The Pew Charitable Trusts and spokesperson, Kids Are Waiting campaign. “The current and former foster youth here in Washington today are telling us it’s time for reform. It’s long past time for us to listen.”
Dominique, a youth from Illinois, recalled her experience in foster care.
“It seemed that every time I turned around I was being moved from home to home,” she said. “For a while I didn’t even know if I would be staying the night at some places. After a while I had this dream in my head that I was on a highway and it seems as if the road never ends and my bags are packed in the car. I have no idea where I’m going and it seems like I’ll never stop moving.”
ABOUT THE KIDS ARE WAITING CAMPAIGN: Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now is a national, nonpartisan campaign dedicated to promoting foster care reform. Led by The Pew Charitable Trusts, an ever-growing number of local, state and national partners are working together so that our most vulnerable children don't spend their childhoods waiting in foster care for the families they deserve. For more information visit: www.kidsarewaiting.org
ABOUT THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS: The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life. We partner with a diverse range of donors, public and private organizations and concerned citizens who share our commitment to fact-based solutions and goal-driven investments to improve society. In 2003, Pew launched a major policy initiative to help move children in foster care more quickly and appropriately to safe, permanent families and to prevent children from coming into foster care in the first place. Since that time, Pew has supported the nonpartisan Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care and promoted public education and advocacy to encourage reform.
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