Recent Stories, Statistics & Articles About Adoption & Foster Care

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After a 9 day trial, foster mom Melissa Sondrol was convicted of of assaulting her infant state ward child, breaking multiple bones and withholding medical information from providers. The court was not allowed to hear her prior histories of abuse. This infant has suffered for years in MN and will live a life very different from other children due to the traumas visited upon him as a foster child – and the things that happened to him prior to entering child protection.

There are ten states that place foster children in juvenile detention centers because there are not safe foster homes or other adequate facilities for them. What’s it like being placed in a jail like setting just because you came from a toxic birth home?

Stories about the shortage of foster care providers, lack of training and resources and transparency within the system are not uncommon – remember, we only read about the very worst cases – the sadness in foster care goes much deeper. Recent State of Adoption in America from Regis College.

These statistics & information have been gathered by KARA over the last few months to bring awareness to the crisis and solutions communities experience providing safe homes for abused and neglected children. From the National Foster Youth Institute;

We are making some promises to these children when we place them into foster care. We are telling them that they are getting the chance to create a better life for themselves. They are promised a safe home where they can have a family that can be called their own. For many children, these promise are just empty words that have no meaning. As the statistics show, many foster kids are aging out of the system and have nowhere to turn.

More than 23,000 children will age out of the US foster care system every year.
After reaching the age of 18, 20% of the children who were in foster care will become instantly homeless.
Only 1 out of every 2 foster kids who age out of the system will have some form of gainful employment by the age of 24.
There is less than a 3% chance for children who have aged out of foster care to earn a college degree at any point in their life.
7 out of 10 girls who age out of the foster care system will become pregnant before the age of 21.
The percentage of children who age out of the foster care system and still suffer from the direct effects of PTSD: 25%.
Tens of thousands of children in the foster care system were taken away from their parents after extreme abuse.
8% of the total child population of the United States is represented by reports of abuse that are given to authorities in the United States annually.
In 2015, more than 20,000 young people — whom states failed to reunite with their families or place in permanent homes.

All Adults Are the Protectors of all Children

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Recent Stories, Statistics & Articles About Adoption & Foster Care

KARA Public Service Announcement (30 seconds)

KARA Signature Video (4 minute)

Author: Mike Tikkanen