More Unseen Victims of Roe v. Wade Downfall
Dear Leading Ladies,
Who can forget Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist? That endearing little boy who lived in a workhouse in London where there was never enough to eat and he plaintively asked, "Please, sir, I want some more" when he finished his bowl of watery gruel. Oliver and his mates hoped for something better in life when they became petty thieves for Fagin, but even Nancy’s kindness did little to change their lot.
How nice it would be to imagine we’ve come a long way since the days of Oliver Twist, yet we are confronted almost daily with stories about the overstressed and dysfunctional child welfare system in our country. The opioid crisis of the last several years has created a situation where more and more parents, unable to care for themselves because of their addiction to drugs, can not care for their children. In addition, the number of LGBTQ youth who face ostracism and even expulsion from their families, has risen dramatically and also created more need for foster care.
No Roe v. Wade will raise demand for foster care
And now along comes the overturning of Roe v. Wade. As we well know, the sudden lack of access to legal abortions will affect women of limited means and, therefore, women of color, most. Women with money who live in states that prohibit abortions will be able to travel to other states, or even countries, to terminate unwanted or dangerous pregnancies, as well as those resulting from violence. They, of course, also have easier access to contraceptives and family planning advice, both of which prevent unwanted pregnancies.
But women in underrepresented and impoverished areas will face limited options.
Again.
Still.
So some will turn to the back alley abortions of old. Some will be left having children they have neither the means nor the mental stamina to care for, as they struggle to work and care for the children they already have. And some will, either by choice or by mandate (because of neglect or abuse, most often), give their children up to the foster care system, a system that already has far too few homes to care for these children in an adequate manner.
Too few homes, too many in need
The lack of foster homes is attributed to both the increased need and a decrease in people willing to become foster parents. As the responsibilities of foster parents expand to include more required training and attendance at doctor and school meetings, volunteers are harder to find.
There are about 500,000 young people in the U.S. foster care system each year, most entering due to general neglect or poverty, according to Andre Chapman, founder and CEO of Unity Care, a San Jose-based agency that supports foster youth and young adults. With Roe v. Wade overturned, he believes local and federal agencies need to have contingency plans in place for the additional children who may enter the foster care system, many who will be children of very young adults.
Foster care is never ideal
Even when foster care is available, it is usually not an ideal situation. The facts are staggering. According to Axios, whattobecome.com, and foster-america.com:
1 in 17 children enters foster care.
The rate of foster care placement increases to 1 in 9 for Black children and 1 in 7 for Native American children.
Upwards of 70% of youth involved in the juvenile justice system have been involved in the child welfare system – think Medicaid, Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
Kids in foster care are 4x more likely than other children to attempt suicide.
Foster kids are suspended and expelled from school 3X more often than other children.
The high school graduation rate for foster youth is 55.3% compared to an overall national graduation rate of 87.3%.
High school dropout rates are 3X higher among foster youth than other low-income children.
Only 21% of urban and 5% of rural foster youth have access to a computer at home.
It is important to note that, in addition to the public foster system, there is a hidden foster system, reports Roxanna Asgarian in The Appeal. “In this system, hundreds of thousands of children are removed by CPS to their relatives or family friends—without a court case, monetary support, or due process.” That means no oversight, no supervision, no safeguards.
Life after foster care
To break the cycle of poverty for children in foster care, it is also necessary to have programs in place when they age out of the system, Chapman maintains. As it is now, about 20,000 children leave foster care each year at age 18 and have no place to go.
Clearly, the problem continues post-foster placement. As Stranger Care author Sarah Sentilles explains, the national rate for reunification of foster children with a biological parent (the recognized goal) is 50%, although access to mental health counseling, to rehab, to social workers, to job training, to affordable housing, and child care usually disappears when reunification occurs. Needless to say, the issues that necessitated the removal of children in the first place reappear quickly without meaningful changes in the home.
Consider:
48% of girls in foster care become pregnant by age 19.
60% of child trafficking victims have histories in foster care.
33% of homeless young adults were previously in foster care.
By their 25th birthdays, 81% of former foster care young adults had been arrested and incarcerated.
50% of foster children have no earnings within four years of aging out, and those who do earn an average annual income of $7,500.
What are the solutions?
The problems of foster care in this country are manifold.
Too many children live in dangerous and unhealthy situations; they need loving, safe homes.
There are not enough foster homes to accommodate them.
The end of Roe v. Wade will likely trigger an even greater need for foster parents.
There are several short-term solutions. More foster parents can be recruited, but only if the job appears fulfilling, attractive, and doable. Foster parents need to be adequately compensated, provided with ongoing support and training, and given the technology and resources their foster children need to succeed in school.
Support services need to be established for youth who age out of the foster system – school and job training, housing assistance, mental health support.
Foster children who are reunited with their biological parents must be monitored carefully at school and home to make sure they are being nurtured and cared for. Support services must be provided, such as childcare, after-school care, medical care, and more.
But the long-term solution, as economists and social scientists agree, requires going back to the root of the problem: poverty. Children end up in the foster system because their parents lack the psychological, material, and financial resources to care for them. Since more than 23% of children in foster care are Black, and more than 20% are Hispanic, far too many foster children suffer from years of systemic racism and centuries of psychic trauma. Nearly all come from families caught in cycles of generations of poverty.
Ultimately, solving the foster care problem will take a new – and effective – war on poverty.
What can we do?
In the short run, there are still measures we can take, individually.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, call 1-800-KIDS-508 or learn more about it here: https://www.mspcc.org/become-foster-parent/ or here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/foster-and-adoptive-faqs
If you can’t commit to being a foster parent, consider doing respite care, to give a break to a foster parent for a couple of days.
Support MSPCC which works closely with the foster family association, and MAFF, which advocates for children in foster care and the families who care for them.
We Rise Above is an organization that funds activities and provides materials for children in foster care, such as dance and music lessons, sports participation, art supplies and computers. Besides monetary donations, they accept in-kind gifts of items for college care packages and apartment set-ups for young adults who have aged out of the foster system.
Communities-for-people also accepts in-kind donations for foster children and their providers.
Computers with Causes donates computers to a variety of those in need, including foster children.
More than Words bookstore employs young adults who have been in the foster system, teaching them skills to equip them to succeed in the workplace. They accept donations of books and will pick up if you have more than ten boxes to donate.
The children need us.
Therese (she, her)
Judy (she, her)
Mary (she, her)
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org