9486 in the collection
More kids end up in state care
State care seems like an oxymoron. Kudos to the reporter for putting a person in front of the statistics.
"I spend birthdays by myself. I spend holidays by myself. Sometimes I cry about it and then I get over it."
by Kim Kozlowski
The number of children who are state wards in Michigan has more than doubled in 12 years, from 2,972 in 1994 to 6,292 in 2006, according to the 2007 Kids Count report released Tuesday.
The children, victims of abuse or neglect, typically spend years in foster care hoping to be adopted after their parents' rights to them are terminated.
When they are not adopted, they eventually get too old for the system, making them more susceptible to teen pregnancy, homelessness and other social ills because they don't have any family.
"It's sad," said LaKeisha Hardy, a 21-year-old Detroit resident who went into foster care at age 7 and aged out of the system 11 years later. "I spend birthdays by myself. I spend holidays by myself. Sometimes I cry about it and then I get over it."
The Kids Count report is an annual project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that tracks a variety of indicators to measure how well, or poorly, children across the country are doing.
Since 2000, the report showed, Michigan children saw gains in most of the indicators such as percentage of high school dropouts (30 percent improvement), the teen birth rate (15 percent improvement) and the child death rate (14 percent improvement).
The report also showed Michigan fared worse in child poverty, where there was a 36 percent increase between 2000 and 2005, putting the state at 30th in the nation. This is among the reasons for the increased number of state wards, said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, project director of the Michigan Kids Count report.
The problem, she said, can also be blamed on federal and state legislation enacted in the 1990s to help children find permanent homes. Before the legislation, children would often be removed and returned to their homes repeatedly. Now, when children are removed, parents have about 15 months to work to get their children back before termination proceedings.
Once in the system, children have difficulties finding adoptive homes, especially if they are older or have numerous siblings. In 2006, 536 children aged out of the system.
"These children are not only neglected by their families, they are neglected by the state," Zehnder-Merrell said.
Some state wards do not want to be adopted because of their age or their situation, said Kate Hanley, director of adoption and permanency services. Typically, the state is working to find homes for about 4,500 children who want to be adopted.
About 52 percent of children are adopted by their foster families, 42 percent by an extended family member and 6 percent by recruited families.
The state is trying to recruit more foster and adoptive families, especially for children who are older and have more struggles finding homes. The state has increased funding this year by $70,000 to the Michigan Adoption Resource Center, an agency the state contracts with to help children find adoptive families. It plans to continue that funding for two more years.
"We've always been fully aware that no matter what your age, you need a family," Hanley said. "It is critical we find family for all of our children."
— Kim Kozlowski
Detroit News
2007-07-25
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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