This article by Tracy Fauver was originally posted in the Davis Enterprise on May 14, 2017
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month. To put this into perspective, the National Foster Care Coalition says that at any given time, there are more than 400,000 children nationally in foster care.
To illustrate this, that’s almost twice the number of people who live in Yolo County and six times the size of the city of Davis. In our county alone, there are 506 children in our foster care system, a five-year high for us.
Unfortunately, outcomes for children in foster care differ drastically from children living in intact homes. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, one in five foster children will become homeless after age 18, and only half will be employed by the age of 24. Additionally, less than 3 percent will earn a college degree.
The list goes on, but the message is clear: Foster children are some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
The good news is, research has shown that negative outcomes can be reversed. The National CASA Association has found that foster children with CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates) spend less time in court and are less likely to need long-term foster care.
Additionally, they are also more likely to pass all of their courses in school, display controls against deviant behavior, work out conflicts better, value achievement and are more interested in their communities as adults.
These outcomes are undoubtedly the result of the stable, long-term relationships that CASAs provide, ensuring that the child’s voice is heard and needs are met, despite multiple placements, social workers, schools and court appearances. In fact, my March column highlighted the ways in which ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) can be mitigated by these types of relationships and advocacy.
While research tells the story well, I would like to put a human face on the struggle that foster children face. Dorothy, whose last name I will withhold for privacy, is now 18 years old. Several years ago, her father became ill and could no longer care for her. Her mother lived across the country, unable to take custody. She and her brother were placed in foster care.
Dorothy missed her father dearly and was worried about her little brother. In fact, she promised him that she would always take care of him. She didn’t trust anyone and never really thought about her own well-being. She was primarily concerned with making sure she and her brother remained together and that her brother was OK.
A few months after Dorothy was placed in foster care, we assigned a CASA volunteer to her. This CASA volunteer worked hard to earn her trust. In the process, she focused solely on Dorothy’s needs. She assured Dorothy that her brother would be OK, but that Dorothy also needed and deserved someone to look out for her.
As the relationship with her CASA continued, Dorothy realized that she had goals and dreams of her own. In fact, she once told me, “I was so focused on my brother that I didn’t realize that I had goals and dreams. I want to go to college and be an entrepreneur. I love business and am so excited about the future.”
Dorothy is graduating from high school this spring, something she doesn’t think she would be doing if it weren’t for her CASA volunteer.
“I think I would have graduated eventually,” she reflects, “but it may have taken a year or year and a half longer because my focus was directed on my brother and not myself.”
She also felt supported during tough times by her CASA.
“When my father passed away from his illness, it was a really tough time for me,” Dorothy says. “I truly felt alone, except that I had Karen assuring me that she would always be there supporting me. She also encouraged me to express myself through art, some of which is still hanging on the walls at Yolo County CASA’s office.
“Karen was to me what I was trying to be for my brother, and I felt so relieved to have someone in my corner during a time when I felt incredibly lonely.”
Perhaps the most touching part of Dorothy’s story is what she said to me when she decided to register for college, a step that already puts her ahead of the odds she faces.
She said, “It all just feels so new and strange.” I replied, “It feels strange because you are getting what you deserve in life and you aren’t used to that feeling.”
After a good cry from both of us, Dorothy told me she hopes to study abroad and even adopt children from the foster care system someday.
May 4 was the Big Day of Giving. In that one day, you helped us raise more than $40,000. The goal that guides us each day is simple: We want to provide every foster child in Yolo County with a CASA volunteer because we want them all to have a chance at Dorothy’s outcome.
We currently have 116 CASA volunteers for the 506 foster children in Yolo County. It costs $2,400 to train and sustain a CASA volunteer for a year. If you do the math, you can see that, little by little, we are paving a better future for our foster children … and we couldn’t do it without you.
More information about Yolo County CASA and ways you can help can always be found at www.yolocasa.org. Specifically, Dorothy’s full story can be found under the “Hearts of Yolo” section of our website.
— Tracy Fauver, LCSW, is the executive director of Yolo County CASA. Her column is published monthly.
Comments (0)