News Release
National Foster Care Month Celebrates Mother’s Day: Saluting the Women Who Parent Our Nation’s Most Vulnerable Youth
May 7, 2009
Contact:
Kathi M. Crowe, MSW, LICSW
Executive Director
National Foster Care Coalition
kcrowe@nationalfostercare.org
202.280.2039
Washington D.C. — This Mother’s Day, the National Foster Care Month Partnership pays tribute to the legions of women who parent our nation’s most vulnerable youth, while sending out an urgent call for more individuals and families to step-up and help to change a lifetime for a child or youth in foster care. Following up on a week of activities in Washington, D.C. that kicked off National Foster Care Month, the Partnership highlights the need for more foster and adoptive parents throughout the nation.
Currently, there are only 137,000 licensed foster families in the United States, with nearly 500,000 children in foster care. For those fortunate enough to be living with a family, Mother’s Day is an opportunity to say “thank you” to the kind and compassionate women who lovingly parent them. However, for the thousands of children, teens and young adults who have no caring, committed mom in their lives, Mother’s Day is a cruel reminder of the painful void in their lives.
The most pressing need lies in recruiting families from all walks of life to foster, adopt, or mentor older youth. This year alone, 26,000 young people will age out of the child welfare system without a family or a caring adult who is committed to being a lasting presence in their lives. Too many of these young adults, facing life’s challenges alone, experience homelessness, poor or no education, incarceration, and addiction.
Henrietta Jones of the Bronx, New York, decided to make a difference for some of those youths after taking a friend to visit a son who was in prison. As the African proverb says, “It takes a whole village to raise a child. I decided to become an active part of the village,” she says. Jones became a foster parent in the hope of saving young people from getting into trouble. Since then, she has parented several teens, and still provides a home for foster child Maria, now age 20 and a recent college graduate. She is one of a growing number of older adults stepping forward to foster, adopt, or to raise their grandchildren.
Sixty-two year old Susan Avery, of Brattleboro, Vermont, came out of retirement to provide a safe, secure, and loving home when her grandchildren were removed from their mother’s care. Susan adopted granddaughter Chloe and she is the legal guardian to older siblings Olivia and Ethan. “I don’t know where we’d be without our grandma,” says Olivia.
Cindy Lopez and her husband, who have two biological children, had a calling to foster and adopt youngsters in need. “We had a calling to do this work.we knew we could share our love with other children, too,” shares Cindy. The Lopez couple tells their story in the hopes that it will inspire more people to get involved in any way they can. “It’s about finding the right fit for your family. For us, it was being foster and adoptive parents. Others might prefer mentoring, providing respite care, or helping in some other way.”
If nothing changes in the United States between now and the year 2020:- Nearly 11 million confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect will be reported;
- 18,000 children will die of abuse or neglect;
- 7.2 million children will experience the foster care system; and
- 240,000 youth will age out of foster care with inadequate support, resources, family connections, skills or options to compete in the workforce and build successful lives.
This Mother’s Day, the National Foster Care Month Partnership invites citizens across the United States to celebrate their mothers’ love by paying it forward - and pledging their time and support to nurture a child in foster care.
To learn how to help change the lifetime of a child or youth, even with only a few minutes or a few hours to give, visit: www.fostercaremonth.org.
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The National Foster Care Month Partnership is comprised of the following organizations: the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA); the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, an affiliate of APHSA; the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services; Black Administrators in Child Welfare; Casey Family Programs; Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Child Welfare League of America; Foster Alumni of America; FosterClub; Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative; National Association of Social Workers; National Association of State Foster Care Managers; National CASA; National Foster Care Coalition; National Foster Parent Association; National Indian Child Welfare Association; National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work; Orphan Foundation of America; and Voices for America’s Children.
