WASHINGTON, March 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 for the Kids Are Waiting: Fix Foster Care Now 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."
Organizations that partnered to convene the March 28 event including Kids Are Waiting partners the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, FosterClub, Fostering Results, Generations United, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Council for Adoption, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, and the University of Illinois, Children and Family Research Center.
Kids Are Waiting
