The foster care system consists of a system inside of a state, where the court and child protective agency declare that the child is not being well-taken care for by the legal guardian, thus permitting the child to enter the system. A child may also enter the system through the parent voluntarily giving their child up due to the parent’s circumstances.
The reasons behind why children are in the foster care system include:
physical abuse, incarceration, medical neglect, death, strategically placed,
sexual abuse, neglect, runaways, truancy, abandonment, and juvenile offender.
Facts:
1. There are more than 400,000 children and teens in the foster care system.
2. It is common (32%) for children to stay in the foster care system (not get adopted out
or re-unite with their parents) for 3 years.
3. The Safely Surrender law is set up to assist pregnant mothers with an opportunity to secure a safe place for an infant should she wish to forgo her time raising the child. The mother can drop the baby off at a fire station or hospital.
4. 20,000 former foster children become homeless each year.
5. Taxpayers spend $22 Billion in taxes towards foster children each year.
