Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas here and unfortunately many times a child runs away when they’re in foster care, and worse, when we look for solutions from the foster placement agencies we get none. One such situation occurred with Shantel French.

French is a foster mom whose 15-year-old daughter had been missing for over a week. After living in French’s home for nearly a year, the girl was suddenly told, not by French, that she’d be moving to a home in the suburbs the day before Thanksgiving. She was going to live with a woman she’d only met two times. French’s daughter didn’t want to go.

The girl said that if she was forced to move, she’d run away. French told that to the girl’s caseworker at Bethanna, a community agency tasked with managing children under the city’s care. The plan was not changed. So, the girl ran. French knew she was on social media, so she checked there. Apparently, the girl looked tired. French was destressed at what appeared to be a lack of urgency from the agencies charged with caring about foster children. She’d reported the problem immediately to Bethanna and to police. But a caseworker texted a response for a photo of the girl an entire week after she had been gone.

French was worried why they wouldn’t have a photo and why they didn’t ask for one sooner. It looked like they weren’t trying hard to find her daughter and she was receiving little information. At one point, a caseworker told French that the girl’s case had been transferred to the new home. This meant French didn’t have rights to any information about her. Understandably, French was panicked.

When French contacted the media in an attempt to get answers, all she received was vague answers and a general feeling of “Don’t worry. We’re handling it.”

The department told the media that they work aggressively with police when a foster child goes missing. However, they couldn’t say how many foster kids go missing in a year since they aren’t required to keep track of that information. The reporter who worked with French was surprised by the lack of information provided to biological or foster parents when these situations arose.

Because of confidentiality, the reporter couldn’t get much information and went she asked about another incident the comments were the same. The reporter went on to discover that the other child, a 15-year-old foster boy who ended up on top of a train and was killed, was reported missing several times this year. But, the police had no record of a missing-person report for the final time he ran away.

Perhaps a report was filed and maybe the authorities are doing exactly what needs to be done. However, keeping these families in the dark doesn’t provoke trust, particularly when those kept in the dark are frequently worried parents.

French’s foster daughter did return, and she even told workers herself that she’d like to stay in French’s home. She also wrote a Family Court judge saying the same thing. Unfortunately, about a week after she came back, she was moved. French has no clue know why. There could be a good reason, but if there is, no one is telling French, her daughter, or the media. French remains committed to helping despite this troubling situation.

“I was a teen mom,” French stated. “I had my mom, but it was still hard. I always knew I wanted to give back if I could. That hasn’t changed.”

Corruption and this lack of communication must be stopped. On the Kathey and Rob Raskin Stop DHR website, you can report complaints which can save lives.