In our county alone, there are over 40 adolescents in foster care who are currently living in a group home or institution. Many of these are children who have been in the system for years and probably have spent some time in and out of foster homes.
Because of their age, the likelihood that they will given an adoptive placement is slim, as statistics show that most families are looking to adopt younger children under the age of ten.
The majority of these teenagers will age out of the system without have the opportunity to join a forever family.
For these children, the cards are stacked against them.
I've already written here about the grim statistics of aging out of the foster care system. Let me add some more.
National data for teenagers who age out of the system:
- 81% of males will have been arrested by age 24.
- 54% report having at least one mental health problem.
- 33% receive neither a high school diploma nor a GED, compared to fewer than 10 percent of their same-age peers.
- 33% have household incomes below the poverty level, which is three times the national rate.
- 25% have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, compared to 15% of Vietnam War veterans and 12% of Iraq War veterans.
To say these kids have not been given a fighting chance is a gross understatement.
The ONEfamily ministry has spent the last two years building a foster care network of licensed families and support teams to assist those that are fostering. Over twenty families have become licensed to foster, forty children have been fostered by a family in our church, and three children adopted out of the foster care system.
A lot of misconceptions about foster children have been dispelled through people taking part in caring for actual foster child in our city. It's been amazing to watch our church transform in just two years.
One glaring omission, however, has been working with foster children over the age of ten. Because many of them have already been placed in a group home or institution, there has been little need for families to take them in.
But even though there is not a need for a full-time foster placement, the fact remains that there are still over forty kids, living in group homes, who may not have an adult pouring into their life on a regular basis.
ONEfamily wants to change that. We are a church with a couple thousand people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. There are empty nesters, young families, single adults, families with older children, and couples with no children.
Frazer has hundreds of families in the church and Montgomery has 40 adolescents in foster care living in a group home or institution.
We think it's possible to see each child partnered with a Foster Care Mentor from our Frazer family.
So, what does that mean?
The word "Mentor" can be daunting, as it often brings with it an air of knowledge and level of qualification. However, the true definition of a Foster Care Mentor is someone who shows up in the child's life. Someone who listens, who supports and who encourages.
Teenagers in foster care need to be told that they mean something and that there is hope for their future. They need to be encouraged to dream.
Many of them have spent years living one day to the next, surviving rather than thriving.
We want to help them see that their past does not have to define their future and that God has a much, much bigger plan for their life.
ONEfamily will be hosting an information meeting about becoming a Foster Care Mentor on Wednesday, May 1st, at 6pm. Please join ONEfamily and Amanda Faulk, DHR Social Worker, in room 7208 to learn more. Ms. Faulk will address the misconceptions about teenagers in foster care, share about the current needs, and offer ways for you to play a role in the life of a teenager in foster care.
Please join us!
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