By: Grace Bushard, Family and Children Services Supervisor, Cook County Public Health & Human Services

“My foster home helped me feel love, safety, and comfort. My foster parents treated me like I was one of their own.  I’ll never be able to repay their kindness.” Cook County foster care youth.

Today, over 400,000 children in America are living in a foster care setting – either with non-relative families, family members, and at times in facilities that address complex behaviors. For children who live in foster care past their 18th birthday, the future brings many challenges, including a lack of connection to caring adults who can support them as they transition to adulthood.

• How did the foster care system evolve? 
• How does a child enter foster care? 
• And most importantly, could you and your family be open to being a foster provider to support children and parents who need a helping hand?

A difficult history

Throughout time, people have provided care for children when parents were not available or absent. Most often, children entered these care settings because their parents or guardians were deceased, rather than because they had been abused, as child abuse was largely socially accepted and legal.

In the mid-1800s, children whose parents could not afford to feed or care for them were placed into orphanages to save them from the dangers of homelessness. Yet, many children who were homeless had no choice but to survive on the streets. 

 “Orphan trains” were implemented to place children experiencing homelessness, or whose parents were deceased, ill or hospitalized, with families in western states. Children were taken, separated from their siblings, and did not know where they were going or where they would live; in some cases, the children were acquired merely for labor.  

Also, during the last half of the 1800s, government policy led to American Indians facing the extermination of their families through war, disease, displacement and destruction of their culture and land. Between 1869 and the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of American Indian children were removed from their homes and families and placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and churches. This resulted in a loss of family, culture, and for many, life. We are still living with the harm and sorrow that these actions caused.

Today, children of color remain disproportionately represented in the foster care system, creating a sense of alienation and loss for their families and communities. 

Advancements in care for children living in foster care settings were made beginning in the mid-1900s when there was greater attention given to those who could care for children. In 1978, congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in response to the removal of Indian children from their families and communities. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA) strengthens and expands the requirements of ICWA. In 1980, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act was established to solidify the federal funding structure for child welfare systems and services, and involved the courts to oversee this system. In 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA) was established to add stricter limits to the amount of time a child was allowed to remain in foster care before adoption or reunification. 

Finally, in 2018, a bi-partisan law, the Family First Prevention Services Act, was passed to provide greater support to prevent the removal of children from their families.

How does a child enter foster care?

All parents want the best for their children and do their best to provide them with love and care. Yet at times, some parents experience the effects of excessive stress due to illness (either mental, physical, or chemical health), violence, divorce, or unemployment, and are not able to provide safe care for their children. Generally, with support from a social worker, family, friends and other community providers, parents can address and resolve their parenting difficulties. Yet, when safety needs are not being met, children may need to be placed into care.   

Children can enter care suddenly, such as when a young child is found left at home without a caregiver and access to a safe adult for an extended amount of time, or when reports of egregious harm to a child are made to a law enforcement or social services agency. Placements out of home can sometimes occur when parents are unable to engage in safety planning with social workers and community agencies. Occasionally, with the support of their social worker, parents may voluntarily place their children into care so that they can address their own needs while ensuring their children are safe and well cared for.

The steps that lead to foster care can involve law enforcement, the courts, and county service providers. When care is needed, it is in the best interest of the child and parents to be placed with relatives or close family friends so that family connections can be maintained, yet that is not always possible. Although the goal of placement is always reunification with the parents, no one will deny that entering into foster care is a very challenging time for parents and children. 

Could you be someone who helps?

One of the greatest struggles with the current foster care system is that there are not enough people to provide care for children.

Whether for a few days, a few weeks, or longer, foster care providers are great gifts to the community and the families they serve. Foster care providers can be single individuals, married or unmarried couples, live in an apartment, or a house in town or in the country. 

Currently in Cook County and Grand Portage, there are approximately 6 families that are receiving support from foster care providers – many of the providers are relatives and friends of the children for whom they are caring.   Yet, more local providers are needed.

Those who are interested in being foster care providers will complete several steps including a background study, 12 hours of learning about the emotional needs of children who are in placement and a review of their home to assure that it is safe, with the right number of exits, fire safety, and space for the child to sleep. Stipends are provided to offset the cost of care for the children and support is provided throughout the entire process of caring for the children/youth. 

Foster care providers can create a bridge for parents and children who want to stay connected and reunite when there have been difficult circumstances in the home.  They can soothe fears and feelings of loss for the children and the parents. Please consider being a foster provider in Cook County!  

County Connections is a column on timely topics and service information from your Cook County government. Cook County – Supporting Community Through Quality Public Service.