Children Aging out of the Foster Care System Face Difficult Odds
Published February 25, 2008
Jarod is out of hope. He feels he's out of time and he has no idea what to do about it. Ask about his future, and he shuts down. Though Jarod seems to have given up on himself, he still has another year.
Many children like Jarod have new hope through the innovative initiative, The Heart Gallery. This program combines professional portraits by renowned documentary and portrait photographers of children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted with art show-style exhibits around the country.
Dr. Eilers, of the Adoption Coalition of Texas, led the formation of the Heart Gallery of Central Texas several years ago. The goal of The Heart Gallery of Central Texas is to elicit support for and interest in the lives of these children - and ultimately find each child and sibling group a "forever family."
At any given moment, there are 500 children waiting for adoption in the Central Texas foster care system, all removed from their natural family due to abuse or neglect. The Heart Gallery process helps break down common misconceptions regarding adoption and promotes the idea that if you can provide a safe and loving home for a child, even if you are a single individual or do not own a home, you can still adopt.
"It's extraordinary to know that in just the two years of the Heart Gallery program, over 60% of the children featured in portraits were adopted," said Dr. Eilers. "This remarkable rate of success proves this effort has been effective in raising awareness for the kids and the Central Texas foster care system overall. Every year after the debut, we receive thousands of phone calls and emails from all over the country and we want that to keep happening."
"Seeing these children in photographs as they laugh and play is a very powerful experience. We want to inspire people to learn more about adopting from the foster care system. Our whole purpose is to humanize these children, display their personalities, and give a glimpse into their souls," explained Eilers.
- Children Aging out of the Foster Care System Face Difficult Odds
- Published: February 25, 2008
- Type: News
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Family and Relationships, Culture: Education, Culture: Photography, Culture: Society
- Writer: Shelley Seale
- Shelley Seale's BC Writer page
- Shelley Seale's personal site
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Organizations can help by utilizing technology - help, instruction, and training can all be delivered to kids before they age out by using media rich, interactive technology. Online training is available as we speak. Learning how to find apartments, jobs, manage money, cook, social skills, dealing with anger, and much more is available for these kids. - inexpensively too. The social work world has got to rethink its approach to traditional methods and incorporate online programs to help these kids.
Foster resource homes have a first time failure rate of 47-62% because the foster parents don't get topic specific behavioral training when they need it the most. Kids are placed in their homes with tough behavioral challenges. Agencies can provide immediate, specific training to foster parents - the same day they place a child.. the parents learn techniques, the kids get understood and the jumping from home to home slows down.
Using technology, kids can come with directions. There's simply no excuse today to not have information available when it's needed the most - not in today's techonolocially able world.