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The issue of homelessness among families with children first became an area of concern in the 1980s, when this demographic began rising at a disproportionate rate in comparison to single homeless adults, and by the end of that decade comprised one-third of the national homeless population.1 Current studies now estimate that nationally, 25% of children who are homeless either have or will experience foster care, more than thirty-four times the rate of children in the U.S. generally.2 While...

Consider, for a moment , this story I recently discovered in court transcripts. A paternal grandmother living in New York City learns that her 1-year-old grandson is in Michigan’s foster care system. Days after the child’s removal, she immediately contacts the child’s foster care worker, travels to Michigan, attends the court hearing and requests that the child be placed with her, instead of strangers. It turns out that she raised the child for the first few months of his life, and the...

If you haven't heard about this yet, this is an amazing opportunity to lift up and support the resilience of foster youth by publishing a book of their stories! Here is a link to a video explaining the book project and their kickstarter campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGATnMOTVw&feature=youtu.be

Part of what amazes me about foster youth is our ability to survive and love despite the never-ending hardships that follow us. What amazes me even more is our ability to know and believe love exists, even though most foster youth — including myself — never received enough love growing up. It is this resilience that sets us apart from all other communities — far from a negligible quality, it amounts to one of our greatest strengths. If you had asked me what love was when I was 13 years old...

One of the most important and sometimes underappreciated challenges facing the child welfare system in the 21st century is addressing the unique needs of families formed through adoption or guardianship. Between 2000 and 2015 there has been an influx of children in adoptive homes. The growth in adoptive and guardianship homes has led to a heightened awareness of the complex needs families can encounter at any point after permanence has been achieved. Many of the direct challenges stem from...

Outside looking in , you may think foster youth got it made. In California, youth in foster care are eligible for several state and federal grants aimed at helping them succeed in college. But the truth is, even state and federal scholarships, grants and loans allocated for foster youth are not enough to support success in higher education. As college students head back to campus for the start of the school year, it’s a good time to remember that government assistance may not be enough to...

Our nation’s future vitality depends upon all children having the opportunity to grow into healthy, successful, socially and civically engaged adults. Essential to that process is ensuring that children have access to stable, nurturing relationships and the resources needed to support their development. The Family First Prevention Services Act , which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act on February 9, 2018, is an important step toward realizing this goal. For child...

A few weeks ago , a close friend came home from work surprised to find the business card of a Child Protective Services (“CPS”) worker wedged inside his door. No letter, or even a handwritten note, accompanied the card. Being uncertain what the card signified, he called the worker, only to learn that he was the subject of a CPS investigation. So he did the first thing that any of us would do in this situation. He called a lawyer. He called me. Families with resources immediately turn to...

Ricardo Rodriguez is a 26-year-old San Diego resident and former foster youth who balances a job in tech with volunteer work and entrepreneurial pursuits. Thanks to his relentless drive and support from key sources, his life has turned out far different from previous expectations. During his childhood, medical professionals said Rodriguez would never be able to walk, talk or understand words. Despite many obstacles, Rodriguez has made his lifelong dream of working in the tech industry a...

Last week , in a provocative op-ed in the Washington Post , Naomi Schaefer Riley – a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute – argued that the problem in America’s child welfare system is “not that we’re taking too many children away from their parents. We’re not taking enough.” To support her claim, she cited a mishmash of statistics, including an increase in the national child fatality rate, and then some isolated data from two jurisdictions involving re-entry rates for children...

New Jersey's social workers help people with some of the worst situations, on some of their worst days. Maybe none more so than those in child protective services, who see families ripped apart by circumstances such as drugs and domestic violence. But what happens when it gets to be too much for the helpers? While resources exist for over-stressed and overwhelmed child protective service workers, they are not always readily available, experts say. In the best of circumstances, peer-to-peer...

When Tenaja Jordan came out to her parents at 17 years old, they kicked her out of their home. As a teenager, she was still considered a child in the eyes of the state, and was immediately placed into New York City's child welfare system. Following the trauma of the situation, one question remained on Jordan's mind: Where was she going to live? Jordan made her needs clear to child welfare workers: She didn't want to live on Staten Island or with a homophobic guardian. But that's exactly...