Did You Know May is Foster Care Month?
May marks National Foster Care Month
At any given moment, over 430,000 kids are in our national foster care system. What should be a service for the disadvantaged proves to be a disservice for many. Not all who come through the foster care system get the support they need to survive in the world upon reaching adulthood. There are cracks in the system’s infrastructure, namely, the for-profit end.
Many states have a for-profit foster care system in which foster children have been abused, neglected, and denied services. In 2017, the US Senate Committee on Finance investigated the country’s for-profit foster care systems. Their findings shared,
These for-profit systems prioritize actions that benefit their shareholders rather than the youth that they have an ethical and moral responsibility to protect. According to the committee’s findings, children in for-profit contracted homes were abused, neglected, and denied services at a higher rate than in non-profit foster care. High staff turnovers, undertrained supervising social workers, and licensing foster parents with questionable backgrounds in the for-profit system have created a perfect storm to increase abuse.
Many of you have been following our newsletters for some time (thank you!). In that case, you know that one of our partners, Jay Paul Deratany, wrote and produced the feature film Foster Boy to highlight and confront the abuse, pain, and trauma experienced by youth in the foster care system.
The film follows high-powered lawyer Michael Trainer (played by Matthew Modine), who is called upon to represent Jamal (Shane Paul McGhie), who has been imprisoned after years of abuse in the foster care system. Together they have to overcome their differences to find justice and expose the horrible injustices of the for-profit foster care system. The film is executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal and is being adapted into a streaming series to bring further awareness to the issue.
Watch ‘Foster Boy’ on…
We highly encourage you to take a stand against the abuses faced by foster children. Contact your representatives and demand regulations to be put in place to prevent further misuse.
Every child is entitled to live in a safe, loving, and supportive home.