Month in Review: September 2024
The last month we reviewed was the end of the school year. Now here we are well into the next school year! Let's quickly recap the summer:
June: 85 referrals
July: 67 referrals
August: 65 referrals
September: 71 referrals
As we discussed in June, referrals tend to go down over the summer months as children are away from school. Now that school is back in session, referrals are beginning to rise again. Here is a further breakdown of the referrals we received in September:
Age Breakdown:
- 0-2: 9 children
- 3-5: 4 children
- 6-8: 9 children
- 9-11: 11 children
- 12-14: 12 children
- 15-17: 23 children
- 18+: 3 children
Siblings:
- 40 single children
- 10 sibling groups of 2
- 3 sibling groups of 3
- 1 sibling group of 4
A large number of the referrals we received in September were for single children in the teen age group. A sad reality underlying these numbers is that many of these children are not coming into care for the first time. Instead, the counties were likely taking advantage of the lower numbers of emergency referrals to make additional attempts to find homes for these teens.
Sadly, very few foster homes are open to teens and of that number, only a tiny fraction of them would consider teens who have a history of behavioral challenges, substance abuse, mental health diagnoses, or medical problems. Unfortunately, those things tend to go hand in hand with trauma and many of our amazing teens in foster care have - at least on paper - qualities that make many foster families feel unequipped to care for them.
So what happens to these youth if a foster home cannot be found? Many of them spend time in congregate care settings like youth shelters, group homes, or even residential treatment facilities. Some of them linger in hospitals even after they are medically cleared for discharge because there is nowhere for them to go. In the meantime, their county worker will send repeated referrals in an attempt to locate a home for them.
We believe that our new short-term foster care program could help to bridge this gap for some youth, by providing them with a temporary place to stay while their workers make continued attempts to locate a long-term home for them. And who knows? While temporary foster homes are under no pressure to keep a child longer than the 30 day maximum stay, if a placement is going well and they form a bond with a child, they are certainly welcome to voluntarily continue the stay!
Do you know someone who would make a great foster parent for these teens? Somebody who is patient, understanding, flexible, and willing to see the preciousness of each child behind their trauma? We would love to talk with them!
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