A SALUTE TO FOSTER PARENTS: ITS NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH!

Foster parents are heroes to me!  They would be the first to say that they do not feel like heroes.  Day in-day-out they serve like troopers in the trenches, parenting children from backgrounds of poverty, abuse, neglect, and in most all cases, major trauma.  Current data states that there are around 331,000 children in foster care in the U.S.  That down from approximately 343,000 a year ago.   And that’s down significantly from approximately 440,000 in the year 2012.  Of the current 331,000 in care, around 117,000 children are potentially adoptable or cleared for adoption.  Also, over 70,000 children, birth to age 18 are in kinship foster care, meaning they are being parented by a relative (usually the grandparents).

Along with the positive/hopeful news mentioned above, there remains major challenges in the U.S. foster care system.  Annually, over 20,000 kids will age out of foster care at 18 without a permanent family.  Thankfully, some of these young people can move into independent/transitional living settings.  But a large number of them also end up on the street and/or incarcerated for survival crimes.  Where I live in Georgia, there are around 11,000 children in care with a critical shortage of foster homes for other kids who need a safe, nurturing home.  

Are you a foster parent?—if so, I salute you!   Through the good times and bad, you are planting seeds of hope in the broken heart of a precious child.  Did you know that solid research indicates that every day a hurting child is in a stable, loving home setting that healing is occurring in his or her brain?  As the brain heals, the trauma heals.  Are you someone considering becoming a foster parent?  Consider first becoming a respite foster parent, which can help introduce you to the world of fostering.  Or, you may feel called to foster full-time.  There is a great need for both roles.  Become informed, and talk to other veteran foster parents about both the challenges and joys of their roles.  You will find that fostering is definitely not for the faint-of-heart.  But you may also find that your heart is being directed to this sacred calling.

Foster Parents, I salute you!

p.s. My apologies to you readers who were awaiting the second installment of my April 1^st post.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to post again until now, but Part 2 of “The 2-Letter Dirty Word: NO!” will be posted soon!

Dr. Mark