Wednesday, February 1, 2012

According to a 2011 report by the Evan B. Donaldson foundation, http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2011_07_never_too_old.php   ,

fewer older youth are  being adopted from foster care than at any time in the last ten years.

"Adoption of older youth, as well as subsidized guardianship (discussed later in this paper), are important ways to create such relationships for youth at risk of aging out of care. Each legally formalizes a relationship with an important adult or adults, removes the youth from direct involvement in the child welfare system, and typically continues state financial support, access to medical care through Medicaid, and ongoing services through the subsidy."

Numerous studies have shown that children who age out of foster care or emancipate will face high rates of homelessness (up to 49%) drug and alcohol addiction, and incarceration. Due to their lack of supports and previous emotional challenges, young adults who leave foster care without a family will disproportionately drain resources and end up costing 'the system'  or the state far more than children who have been adopted.

The Donaldson report highlights state efforts  such as "You Gotta Believe"  a New York based agency targeted solely to recruiting adoptive parents for older youth. How difficult would it be to form a similar agency for the five New England states, whose goal was to prevent ANY youth leaving care without a family?  Organizations such as Adopt Us Kids ostensibly serve the same purpose, but if my experience is any guide, they serve largely as a front. Over the course of two years I submitted more than ten homestudy packets  to social workers listed on that site for specific children  as 'requesting homestudy' . I heard back ONCE from one Ohio  social worker who said  the child pictured  was not yet available...and never heard from him again. From the rest I never heard anything, though the same children I inquired about (multi-racial sibling groups) continue to be pictured as available for adoption on the site YEAR AFTER YEAR (and today).  I had more luck using a state site  through Maine social services when I submitted requests, and also through the Maine Heart Gallery site which has since been eliminated ; in that instance I heard from workers by phone,and was even invited to two Maine 'adoption parties', but again that effort was not productive. If I, as an educated, motivated, trained foster parent with homestudy in hand, knocking hard on the door, cannot get through what reality faces other potential adoptive parents, who may not even be licensed foster parents yet?

My point is that states are not doing enough to get older children adopted, and in fact have made few changes to the way they operate social services  to specifically meet the needs of older children at risk of aging out. Programs such as You Gotta Believe  are an excellent response to this need; the question is, why is this organization such an isolated phenomenon?