About Foster Care

Nearly half a million children nationwide live temporarily with foster parents while their own parents struggle to overcome an addiction to alcohol, drugs, illness, financial hardship or other difficulties. Because of the hardship or maltreatment they experienced at home, the trauma of being separated from their birth parents, and the uncertainty they face as they enter the foster care system, children in foster care have many needs. They can also be remarkably resilient.

Foster care frequently is confused with adoption. Adoption is a legal process that creates a relationship of parent and child between individuals who do not have parental rights for the child at birth. The child in this situation becomes a permanent member of a new family, and all legal bonds to birth parents are severed. By contrast, most children reside only temporarily with their foster parents, until it is considered safe for them to return home. A child's stay with foster parents can be as short as one night or as long as several years or more. One large study found that 27 percent of children in foster care stay for less than six months, while approximately 33 percent remain in care for two years or longer. Some children in foster care eventually may be adopted, but most will return to their birth parents. Approximately one-quarter of the children in care have no plans for being either reunited with their birth parents or adopted.

Children can enter foster care at any age. Currently, about 25 percent of all children entering foster care for the first time are infants, and 60 percent are under four years old. Youth between the ages of 13 and 18 comprise roughly 33 percent of all children in care. Children in foster care also come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. In 1990, 40 percent were African-American, 33 percent were Caucasian, 12 percent were Hispanic, and 4 percent came from other racial/ethnic groups. The proportion of children of color in foster care is three times greater than the proportion represented in the U.S. population.


Children who enter the foster care system bring with them many special needs. Often they are victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. They may suffer emotional, behavioral or developmental problems that range from moderate to severe. In more than 75 percent of foster care placements, parental abuse of drugs or alcohol has been identified as a factor. Children from these families may have lacked consistent nurturing and care giving for a significant portion of their childhood, or they may have suffered the effects of erratic and abusive behavior that often accompanies substance abuse.

In addition, children in need of foster care often possess their own unique health and developmental challenges. Infants and young children with medical complications, physical handicaps, or mental limitations represent the fastest-growing population in need of foster care. Children and youth in foster care often have substantial educational needs as well. Having moved from family to family and school to school, children in foster care tend to perform poorly in school and enter the work world with limited job skills.

Teenagers in foster care are particularly vulnerable. Each year, an estimated 25,000 adolescents "age out" of the foster care system. This is because at the age of emancipation (generally 18) the state no longer will pay foster parents for expenses. Their transition to independence is particularly difficult because the foster care system lacks the resources needed to prepare teens adequately for independent living. Currently, fewer than 25% of foster care agencies provide employment-related services for youths in care; only 17% provide employment and career-training assessments; 16% provide job-training; and 24% provide vocational training.


Like the children they serve, foster parents come from a variety of backgrounds. They can be single, married or divorced. They can choose to stay at home with the children, or retain outside employment. They can be as young as 21, or they can be retired seniors. People who are interested in becoming foster parents must first demonstrate the qualities and attributes essential to fostering, including attentiveness, tenacity, patience, and empathy, along with a willingness to grow and learn from the experience of fostering and an equal capacity to love and let go. Then, if they can offer a safe living environment, adequate bedroom space to accommodate a child, and sufficient income to make ends meet even without the reimbursement received through a foster care agency, they can learn, through training programs, the other skills essential for effective fostering.

Foster parents are reimbursed by the state for at least part of the cost of caring for the child. In addition, health costs for children in care are covered by Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for individuals who are poor or disabled, although Medicaid often does not cover mental health services. While children are being cared for by foster parents, their birth parents have an opportunity to obtain treatment and services for the problems they are experiencing, and to work with the foster care agency and foster parents toward the appropriate permanent plan for each child.

Approximately 125,000 non-relative families nationwide are licensed to provide foster care, and the average foster parent is licensed to care for three children. A variety of complex social and economic factors have contributed in recent years to a steady increase in the number of children requiring out-of-home care. Between 1984 and 1993, the number of children in need of out-of-home care increased by 61 percent, while the number of non-relative foster parents available to care for children steadily declined. The result has been a shortage of foster parents, particularly foster parents of color and those who are willing and able to care for sibling groups, medically fragile infants and emotionally disturbed teens. Thus, recruitment and retention of foster parents currently rank among the most pressing needs in the child welfare system.

Frequently Asked Questions about
Foster Care Services in Louisiana

What is the Service?
Foster Care is a protective service provided to children in the custody of the Department of Social Services. It provides substitute, temporary care (e.g., foster family home, residential care facility, etc.) for a planned period of time when a child must be separated from his own parents or relatives.

Who Can Receive the Service?
Children in the custody of the Department of Social Services who are unable to live with their parents because of parental neglect or abuse.

How Long Can the Service be Received?
Only until such time when the child can be reunited with his/her parents or is provided with another type of permanent living situation.

How Does Once Access the Service?
One can access the service by contacting the local parish office of the Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services.


Information provided by Louisiana Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services

Foster Care Facts
There are presently 6110 Louisiana children living apart from their families in some form of foster care.

Of this number, 485 will not return to their birth parents (meaning all legal rights have been terminated), and are available for adoption.

During 1996-97, 309 Louisiana children were placed from foster care into adoption.


Original Air Date: Sunday, January 11, 1998
As a result, some program material may be outdated.

How You Can Help
Thank you for your interest in helping children and families in your community. There are many ways in which you can help make a difference.


1. Support children and youth in foster care.
Children and youth are entering foster care today with far more complicated needs, often without adequate external support. Some ways you can help include tutoring a child, donating sporting goods or educational material.

2. Become a mentor or an advocate on behalf of children and families.

3. Support teens transitioning into adulthood.
Few adolescents in our society are able to support themselves immediately upon graduating from high school. Yet each year approximately 25,000 adolescents reach the age (usually 18) at which they must leave foster care because the state will no longer reimburse their foster parents for expenses.

4. Support Foster Parents
Taking care of children is a 24-hour-a-day job for any parent. In return for their services, licensed foster parents do receive a modest reimbursement, but it frequently falls short of the actual cost of caring for children. As a result, too often, even the most caring foster parents may eventually become overwhelmed by the financial and emotional burden and are forced to stop fostering.

5. Consider becoming a foster parent.
Foster parents can be single, married or divorced; homeowners or apartment dwellers. They can have a job outside the home. They can be as young as 21, or they can be retired.

Original Air Date: Sunday, January 11, 1998
As a result, some program material may be outdated.

Partners


Louisiana Public Broadcasting's goal is to bring public awareness to the issue of adolescents transitioning out of foster care into independent living. In addition to the "Take This Heart" broadcast, outreach events included a luncheon screening of the 19-minute "Searching for Family" videotape; on-air television and radio spots; and print promotion. The station linked its collaborative effort with the YWCA's Week Without Violence Project during the month of October, 1998.

"Take This Heart" is a production of





Major Outreach Funding Provided By:

David & Lucile Packard Foundation







in association with






Additional funding provided by:

Louisiana Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services

For information on becoming a foster parent, call 1-800-259-3428. Office Hours are weekdays from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, or your voice mail message will be returned the next working day.

For information on becoming a court appointed advocate/volunteer for a child in foster care, call 1-888-567-CASA.

For information on becoming a volunteer at a Foster & Adoptive Parent Resource Center:

Alexandria Region 318-442-8026
Baton Rouge Region 504-928-9398
Covington Region 504-230-0405
Jefferson Region 504-822-0800
Lafayette Region 318-237-0508
Lake Charles Region 800-814-1584
Monroe Region 318-342-1453
New Orleans Region 504-568-7448
Shreveport Region 318-861-5978
Thibodaux Region 504-447-9172

For information on the Casey Family Program, call 504-293-4555.


Original Air Date: Sunday, January 11, 1998
As a result, some program material may be outdated.

Local funding provided by
The Casey Family Program and
the Louisiana Office of Community Services

A film by KATHRYN HUNT

A production of KCTS TELEVISION

Production funding provided by The Casey Family Program and
The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Local funding provided by The Casey Family Program and
the Louisiana Office of Community Services