FOSTER CARE: A little help, please

Did you know that there are not enough foster care homes in Kootenai County? Newborns are being sent home with their drug addicted parents. Leah a social worker at the hospital said they have even sent newborns home to live with their homeless parents.

Here are some facts about foster care I am using from The Blind Side’s Leigh Ann Tuohy’s website.

In 2018, it’s been reported that 437,465 children are currently in the foster care system in the United States. More than 100,000 of those children are waiting for a family to adopt them. Leigh Anne Tuohy wants to help that happen. Due to the opioid crisis, the number of children in foster care has steadily increased. Since 2012, the number of children in foster care has increased by about 20%. Most of those children, 61%, were removed from their parent’s or guardian’s home for neglect and 34% for the parent’s drug abuse.

It’s especially difficult for children coming out of the foster care system. Those children that have aged out without being adopted often struggled to adjust to life on their own. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, about 20% of children who age out of the foster care system will become instantly homeless, nearly 60% of young men will eventually be convicted of a crime, and 7 out of 10 girls will have a child by the time they turn 21.

Please consider being a foster family: https://bit.ly/1ovkQRU

TRISHA BOWLIN

Spirit Lake