Foster Care In Our Country
On Friday, May 20th, I became a licensed foster care provider for the state of Vermont. I have not received a placement as of yet, but have provided a weekend of respite for another foster family. Their 4 year old foster child spent the night with my daughter and I while the foster parents were able to enjoy a night away with friends. Becoming a foster provider is something that I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. This is a dream come true for me, and so far I have enjoyed being part of the foster care community. It is made up of many dedicated foster parents and social workers. I want to share some stats on our countries foster care system. I found the following statistics on the website of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
On September 30, 2009 there 423,773 U.S. children in the foster care system.
The ages of the children in foster care:
| Less than 1 Month | 5% | 21,375 |
| 1 – 5 Months | 19% | 82,514 |
| 6 – 11 Months | 18% | 74,731 |
| 12 – 17 Months | 13% | 56,977 |
| 18 – 23 Months | 9% | 38,533 |
| 24 – 29 Months | 7% | 30,164 |
| 30 – 35 Months | 5% | 22,259 |
| 3 – 4 Years | 12% | 49,122 |
| 5 Years or More | 11% | 48,088 |
The length of stays of foster children in foster care:
| Less than 1 Month | 5% | 21,375 |
| 1 – 5 Months | 19% | 82,514 |
| 6 – 11 Months | 18% | 74,731 |
| 12 – 17 Months | 13% | 56,977 |
| 18 – 23 Months | 9% | 38,533 |
| 24 – 29 Months | 7% | 30,164 |
| 30 – 35 Months | 5% | 22,259 |
| 3 – 4 Years | 12% | 49,122 |
| 5 Years or More | 11% | 48,088 |
I encourage all my readers to consider becoming a foster parent and/or respite provider. I set limits with DCF’s Resource Coordinator, the person responsible for placing children. I told her that I was only willing to take newborns up to age 3. I worked with many foster children when I was a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Connecticut and know the histories that some of these children carry with them. I would not want a child to perpetrate on my daughter-physically, sexually, and/or psychologically. I feel confident that she could defend herself from children 3+ her minor. The country is in need of quality foster homes for these displaced children. Please just think about it…
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Family
Friendship
