Jonesboro Sun "State's Foster Children Could Use More Help"

State’s foster children could use more help

The state is not doing all it can to find permanent homes for children in foster care, according to a study released this week.

An increasing number leave the system at age 18 without ever having been permanently adopted. They often don’t complete high school and face increased risks of becoming young parents, being homeless and criminal activities, according to the study, “Finding a Family for a Lifetime: Aging Out of the Foster Care System,” by the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Nearly 9,000 children were in foster care in 2006 when 216 children left the system without being adopted. That number was up from 180 five years earlier. It’s a relatively small number compared to the total, but still too great.

We know of an 18-year-old in Jonesboro who was going to leave high school to start full-time work after Christmas because he had no family to support him. He’d been staying temporarily with the Salvation Army and going to school during the day. He’s one too many. Think of him 216 times.

The study found blacks make up 21 percent of Arkansas children, but 35 percent of those in foster care who were never adopted in 2006.

Jennifer Ferguson, the study’s author, told the Stephens Media Group’s Arkansas News Bureau that of the unadopted 216 children who left the system in 2006, only 57 had their caregivers’ rights terminated — a necessary legal step before a child can be adopted. The study did not indicate a reason.