Year in Review: 2024
This month we are doing something a little different and instead of just recapping the last month, we're recapping the whole year!
As the foster care crisis continues, 2024 brought its share of challenges and struggles. Despite several targeted advertising campaigns and new marketing strategies, the number of homes we certified was once again low compared to previous years. We are continuing to plug along looking at additional ways to find people who might be great foster or adoptive parents - if you know any, we would love for you to send them our way!
Similarly, last year we were able to place just 40 children out of the 944 referrals we received. This is primarily due to not having enough homes, although it is also partially due to the increased needs we are seeing children present with. Just like in the general population, children in the child welfare system have increasing physical and mental health needs and many have not had access to proper care due to long waiting lists and shortages of providers.
However, we did see some exciting and positive trends in 2024.
After revamping our new family training, we were thrilled to see that are families seem to be better prepared, have more realistic expectations, and feel more equipped to care for the needs of children. Of the homes we certified in 2024:
- 42% were foster families
- 42% were matching adoption families
- 8% were kinship families
- 8% were respite families
Of these families, 67% have had at least one placement in their home and 83% of them are still open. This is great news considering that on average, about half of foster families nationwide quit within their first year. We are so thankful that our families are defying these odds and staying in it for the long haul. Certainly, it is no coincidence that we also began rolling out Care Communities to many of our families this year!
When it comes to placements, one interesting trend we experienced in 2024 was in regards to the length of placement. Of all of the children we placed, 60% were short-term stays (30 days or less) compared to 40% who stayed 31 or more days. While our short-term foster care program was not yet officially launched, this definitely goes to show how much that program is needed.
On the flip side, long-term foster homes are also still very much needed, as the average length of stay for children placed in 2024 was 84 days, with many of these children still remaining in care to this day.
Finally, one more very exciting accomplishment from 2024 was that we had more reunifications than disruptions! A reunification occurs when a child is able to go home to his or her family of origin. A disruption occurs when a foster family asks for the child to be removed from their home. While disruptions can occur for a variety of reasons (child's behavior, foster family's personal situation, foster family moving out of state, conflict with birth family, family unable to manage child's needs, etc.) and are sometimes unavoidable, they can cause additional trauma to children and cause them to have to start over in a new home with a new caregiver - so we work to avoid them whenever possible.. Ironically, one of the biggest fears expressed by new foster parents is that they will become attached to a child who then leaves their home. While this fear is completely valid and understandable, the sad reality is that it is typically much more likely that a child will grow attached to them and then experience a disruption from their home. It is so encouraging that we defied those odds last year!
As we move into 2025, we are excited and hopeful to see what the year will bring. We are currently working toward several adoptions, and we have some amazing families working through their licensing process and getting ready to open. We also have some additional families working toward matching with legally free children, and others who are open and ready to accept foster care placements. Together, we can make 2025 an amazing year!
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