Month in Review: April 2024
As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. In our case, April brought 78 referrals for foster care and 4 children being placed in our foster homes. These 78 referrals all came from our 6 contracted county children and youth agencies (Berks, Bucks, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton). But they are more than just numbers; each referral represents a precious child in need of a safe and loving place to call home. They come to us for various reasons. Some are just being removed from their homes of origin due to abuse, neglect, parental substance abuse, truancy, or mental health concerns. Others are being released from treatment programs or hospitalizations and needing a place to come home to. Still others are already in foster care, but need to be moved to a different foster home due to a variety of circumstances.
Here is a further breakdown of April’s stats:
Sibling Groups:
- 50 single children
- 10 sibling groups of 2
- 2 sibling groups of 3
- 1 parent/child group (teens in foster care needing placement with their babies)
Age Breakdown:
- 0-2: 7 children
- 3-5: 9 children
- 6-8: 7 children
- 9-11: 11 children
- 12-14: 9 children
- 15-17: 31 children
- 18+: 4 children
Current Needs:
As you can see from the numbers, homes for teens remains the biggest need and sadly, that is also the group that the least amount of foster parents are open to considering. Teens in foster care are a diverse group with many different needs, but there is one thing they all have in common: they are precious, and deserving of love. While their needs outwardly may look different than little ones, at their heart they are still just children who need caring adults to help them navigate their world.
One question we get asked often is why we get referrals for children 18 and over – aren’t they adults? That’s a great question! Yes, they are legal adults and that gives them certain rights and responsibilities that they didn’t have before they turned 18. One of these rights is the right to voluntarily choose to remain in foster care until the age of 21. This is called a “board extension,” and is offered to youth who are aging out of foster care as well as young adults who have aged out but would like to re-enter care. Young adults on a board extension also have certain responsibilities – for one, they have to be attending school and/or working for a certain number of hours a week in order to remain in care.
The board extension option exists to give young people more time and support to transition into foster care. We often ask people to think of themselves on their 18th birthday and whether they would have been ready to be completely financially and otherwise independent. Most people’s answer would be: no way! The same is true for youth experiencing foster care, except they often have even less support.
Another thing not many people realize is that there is no age limit to adoption. Once a youth turns 18, there is nothing that prevents them from being able to still be adopted. At this point, their parental rights do not need to be terminated and they will be the ones consenting to their own adoption. It’s definitely not as common as it is for young children, but adults of all ages can and have found forever families through adoption.
If you are interested in opening your home to an older youth or young adult, we would love to hear from you! Learn more here.
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