support

By Adam Pertman The federal government, with support from nearly every state, has provided significant funding and resources for over three decades to promote adoptions from foster care. The consequence has been a huge leap in the number of children moving from insecurity into permanency, from about 211,000 in FY 1988-1997 (an average of 21,000 annually) to 524,496 in the 10-year reporting period ending in FY2012 (over 52,000 annually).

by Jan Wagner STOP IGNORING US! By “US,” I am referring to the more than 1.8 million children in the United States who are being raised by grandparents or other relatives outside the child welfare system.

Note: This story was updated August 29, 2013. Two organizations came together last week to help community leaders better serve fathers in their area. First 5 Alameda County and the Alameda County Public Health Department launched “Fathers Corps,” a county-wide team of male service providers who will be trained over the coming year to strengthen families by helping dads engage in the care and upbringing of their children.

When Victoria Jones aged out of foster care at age 18, she had no job, no money for food and no place to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Jones, the fictitious main character in the best-selling novel The Language of Flowers, represents the approximately 24,000 foster youth across the U.S.