Funding, ‘traumatized’ kids challenge child-welfare system - Illinois

"Illinois has come a long way in reducing the population of children living away from their families in substitute care. From about 50,000 in the 1990s, the number is closer to 15,500 now, Durbin said.

"The focus has been on moving kids back with their relatives or into foster homes instead of residential centers with large numbers of children.

“The kids who remain are the most challenging kids,” she explained. “They have experienced multiple traumas. Repeated trauma changes the way your brain is wired ... people who are traumatized think differently about the world.”

http://www.reflejos.com/en/special-sections/health-wellness/article/13-08-04/funding_%E2%80%98traumatized%E2%80%99_kids_challenge_child-welfare_system.aspx

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