We’re Kathey and Rob Raskin of Las Vegas and we care about foster children in this great nation. And what they really want is a home. Growing up in foster care, Christian Cruz trusted very few. Too many people had let him down.
He’s lived in five foster homes, a group home, and two short-term placements when he entered foster care at 9. He was also homeless for six months. He waited at the ER until the state’s child welfare agency retrieved him. And, he’s been incarcerated. He is currently a student at Lincoln Tech.
He lost all his things when he left a foster home, and he feels that only one of his placements really cared about him.
Cruz described how stressful and traumatic it is for foster kids to an audience of foster youth, social workers, advocates, and officials from the Department of Children and Families at the state Capitol.
This story about moving continually displays an all too common theme among about 4,000 children in foster care in Connecticut. Youth in foster care in the state can move once every 342 days. And, this is better than the national average of 243 days.
A Connecticut Voices for Children survey shows the number of places a foster child lives during their time in custody differs considerably. In the last year, some kids had moved four times. While the average number of placements was three, some had lived in up to 30.
The notice they received before the move also varied widely, from months to prepare to having a foster parent arriving at school with their bags to being told by a social worker on the way to the next home.
All these moves wear on youth. Youth that had been removed from their families because of abused or neglected.
A report released by Voices pointed to studies on the psychological results of such instability. Principally, youth dealing with anxiety about abandonment and other insecurity issues are more likely to have lifelong issues with developing relationships.
Worse yet, end the cycle is extremely difficult.
The DCF has struggled for years to locate enough foster families. In the federal government’s most recent evaluation of Connecticut’s welfare system, the Administration for Children and Families saw many of the state’s foster families were struggling without necessary support. Only five states were marked weaker than Connecticut.
Foster youth at the event pleaded to the audience to make time for them, and not just send them on to the next home.
DCF officials stated they have administered several plans to smooth these transitions, including scheduling more meetings prior to a new placement, providing support for the children, listening more, and encouraging more foster parents to allow youths to live with them permanently.
But officials also realized much more work is required.
If you’ve seen a child foster care issue or know of a problem in a specific area, please report it on our Kathey and Rob Raskin Stop DHR webpage. You can also do your part to encourage your state officials to give our children the resources they need.