Tennessee has reduced the number of children living in nonfamily state custody settings to 17 percent, but the percentage remains above the national average of 14 percent, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
There are 8,228 children and youths in the state child welfare and foster care system, and Tennessee has increased by about 25 percent the number of children placed in family settings since 2000.
“We know how important it is for children to live in a healthy family placement where they receive the attention, guidance, nurturing and love of a caring adult and learn how families should interact,” said Linda O’Neal, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. “Research tells us Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the trauma and toxic stress of abuse, neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness and poverty so prevalent in families involved with the child welfare system, have devastating lifelong health and emotional effects, but a strong, supportive family placement can mitigate the impact.”
[For more of this story, written by Katie Fretland, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/local-news/new-report-17-percent-of-tn-foster-children-placed-in-nonfamily-settings_57311996]
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