ELLSWORTH, Maine – A new Annie E. Casey Foundation report shows that more young people in foster care have been placed with families than in group homes over the last decade – and Maine is leading the way.
In 2017, Maine placed 94% of foster children in family settings, making it one of the top six states in the country. Maine also has a higher share of teens living with families.
Ken Olson is executive director of KidsPeace National Centers of New England, which serves young people in foster care. Olson thinks Maine is doing a good job because the state and private agencies are training more foster families to support children with complex needs.
"These are kids that, 15 years ago, would have been sent to a group home,” says Olson. “They are able to be maintained because the foster family is specially trained and the private agencies carry low caseloads, and are able to provide crisis response and more regular support to that family."
Olson describes this as "therapeutic foster care." He says the state has seen that outcomes are better for young people placed with families and supportive services than in group homes.
Rob Geen, director of policy and advocacy reform with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, says Maine is one of 16 states now placing at least 90% of children with families. The report also acknowledges the need for residential care facilities for some young people with acute needs.
"If a child needs a therapeutic intervention that is not appropriate in a family setting, of course we want them to have very high-quality residential care,” says Geen. “But the point of that is for them to then succeed in a family later on."
Olson agrees with this assessment. But he sees many residential facilities closing – which has an unintended consequence.
"Right now, we have 80-some kids in the state of Maine that are placed out of state in residential care,” says Olson. “And that's been sort of the downside to the reform efforts in Maine is that we simply don't have some of the resources we need."
Olson says he is encouraged by the new administration in Maine, and hopes the state can invest more resources in the foster care system. The "Keeping Kids in Families" report is on the Annie E. Casey Foundation's website.
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A new annual report shows New York City has more than 146,000 homeless students.
The Advocates for Children of New York report finds this is an increase from last year when more than 119,000 students were homeless. It also finds more than half of students were temporarily sharing housing with others, while 41% lived in shelters.
Jennifer Pringle, director of Project LIT with Advocates for Children of New York, says the city can help these students by addressing transportation delays.
"Roughly 40% of students in shelters are placed in a different borough from where they go to school, which means that students in temporary housing often face long commutes and are disproportionately impacted by busing delays," she said.
Other recommendations include eliminating the 60-day shelter limits and addressing shortages in staff supporting students in temporary housing. But, Pringle notes there's work the state can do too. More than 115 groups want the state to add a weight for students in temporary housing as part of the school funding formula re-evaluation.
The biggest challenge to implement these recommendations is political will, although they have broad support. But, student homelessness has been a long-standing issue for the city. This is the ninth year in a row New York City's homeless student population has included more than 100,000 students. There are many reasons students become homeless.
"Certainly we know there's a growing housing-affordability crisis," she continued. "Families indicate that domestic violence is one leading driver of family homelessness. And then also we have immigrant families, newcomers to the city as well, who are in temporary housing."
Living in temporary housing significantly impacts students' education. The report finds most students in either temporary housing or a shelter were chronically absent. It also notes their English Language Arts proficiency was 20% lower than students in permanent housing.
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This coming Saturday is National Adoption Day, but kids who are older or have special needs face more difficulty in finding adoptive parents.
More than 113,000 children in foster care are eligible for adoption, according to the Department of Health and Human Services - about 4,000 of them are in Maryland.
And more than half entered the foster care system because of neglect.
Saara McEachnie, director of domestic adoption programs at the Barker Adoption Foundation, runs the "Project Wait No Longer" program - focused on finding adoptive homes for older children, groups of siblings and those with other special needs.
She said teens are the most vulnerable.
"Families that are seeking to adopt are most often feeling most comfortable, and most equipped or prepared, to be able to adopt a younger child," said McEachnie. "So, that leaves fewer options for our older kiddos that are very much in need of family, and we have few families that are stepping forward."
McEachnie explained that children sometimes struggle with attachment or bonding after being removed from their birth family and placed with strangers.
She said it's important to educate people who want to become adoptive parents, to better prepare them to adopt older kids.
McEachnie said potential adoptive families can learn to make their homes what she calls "more attachment friendly."
That includes understanding the attachment difficulties that may come from a child's complex trauma.
She said it helps to create networks of fellow adoptive families in order to build a like-minded community for the child.
"Building an attachment-friendly home first has to come from a place of understanding, empathy, flexibility," said McEachnie, "willingness to seek and access resources, willingness to continue to understand the population."
National Adoption Day was first launched in 1999 by a coalition of national groups, including the Children's Action Network and Alliance for Children's Rights.
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New Mexico child welfare groups are behind an initiative they plan to introduce in the next legislative session to create a so-called baby bonds program.
The Partnership for Community Action and other child advocacy groups introduced a pilot program earlier this fall.
Executive Director Nichelle Gilbert said 15 children received trust accounts of $6,000 - available to the child when they turn 18.
"These funds that are invested grow over time," said Gilbert, "and are available to invest in things like education, starting a business, owning a home, or to pursue other opportunities that foster upward mobility."
Proposals for baby bond programs have passed in California, Connecticut, and Washington, DC - and have been introduced at the federal level and in eight additional states.
The New Mexico State Treasurer, who supports baby bonds, recently held a symposium to discuss and develop a bill to be introduced in the 2025 legislative session, that would create a statewide program.
New Mexico has a high rate of poverty and one of the widest income gaps.
Gilbert said if lawmakers approve the concept, eligible children would receive a publicly funded trust account at birth - providing them with a startup fund to pursue a prosperous and directed adult life.
She said she believes the program could help dismantle inequities and reduce barriers to wealth.
"It's encouraging local investment, it's promoting asset building, it's facilitating education and careers," said Gilbert, "and all the while breaking cycles of poverty."
Roughly 28% of New Mexico's children younger than age five and a quarter of those younger than 18 live in poverty - while the national poverty rate is about 11%.
Child advocates unsuccessfully pitched legislation to require a financial literacy course - in high school - but lawmakers made it an elective instead.
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