I don’t often write about Foster Care because honestly I don’t really have experience with it.  I do have some awareness and that is thanks to an adoption group I belong to that includes many former foster youth.

Everyone has the right to a safe and happy childhood.  Sadly, not every child is blessed with that as their experience.

Every child should have –

Protection from physical, sexual and emotional abuse

Access to proper healthcare and education

A safe, healthy and stable childhood

This is not a dream but it is a goal.  Society is woefully behind in making it a reality.

23,000 children age out of the foster care system every year.  Of those, less than 60% will graduate from high school, 20% will become homeless and half will be unemployed when they reach the age of 21.  The FBI determined that 60% of the children that have been recovered from sex trafficking in their raids came out of foster care.

I pledge to resist negative and hurtful myths about kids in foster care.  I support change that recognizes that there are no throw away kids.

There are many books written on the experiences of youth that have aged out of the foster care system.  I will read Foster Girl, A Memoir by Georgette Todd as one way that I can begin to inform myself about the true nature of this system.  I will report back after I have read it.