The foster care system in Texas is desperately trying to assist and find placements for foster children coming into the system. Their resources are stretched so thin already due to caseworkers overloaded with cases, lack of foster homes, and the additional children coming into care every day.

The caseworkers and the state are scrambling to find ways to provide the basic needs, a bed to sleep in, a place to take a shower or just a place for the child to stay. The caseworkers have been forced to keep children in the CPS offices overnight. Some offices have cots and play pens to provide the children coming into care a safe... more

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On Capitol Hill, youth and parents dealing with the failing foster care system spoke out.

Participants included:

- Michael Drake of West Virginia aged out of foster care after experiencing more than 16 placements. While in foster care, he was separated from his brothers and sisters. Michael reflects, "In my opinion, foster care destroyed our whole sense of family in the end. We can't sit down together and feel like we are siblings."

- Stephanie Smith of Washington was reunited with her mother after her mother received drug treatment and other supportive services. "If I could wish... more

500,000 children are living in foster care hoping for change to come to the system. Children are aging out of the system every day without a forever family to call their own. Children are experiencing multiple placements that can cause lasting damage to them. Click here to read the article.

Adoptive parents are struggling to meet the needs and chan that they are being faced with. Adopting special needs children from the system can bring more issues than the adoptive parent thought. There needs to be a way for the parents to find ways and resources to help their children.... more

A child has spent most of her life being bounced between different family members since she was an infant (click here to read the article). At the age of 16 years old she was faced with the challenge of being placed into a group home of girls.

The Department of Children and Families allowed the teenager to live with her coach from school. The teacher did not have children of her own but found a place in her heart for this child.

The two have grown into a family the year they have been together. This is considered a non-relative placement which means Tracy covers all of Brittany’s expenses. The... more

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Even if the state placed half of a child’s SSI benefits in a saving account, it could be given to them when they age out of the system or when they turn 18 years old. A girl mentioned in the article had been receiving $607 a month that the system used for her care. This child was in care at the age of 7 years old, off and on until she aged out of the system. If this child received foster care for 8 years of her life (allowing three years for the time the system sent her home), the amount of assets that this child received was $58,272 in SSI benefits. Would it have... more

When you think of a foster child you do not think of the child having any assets. The truth is that a number of foster children are receiving or could receive Social Security Benefits because they are physically or learning disabled, because of health issues, or as survivors benefits. These are some of the reasons that foster children can be receiving SSI benefits. The state files for SSI for foster children to cover their expense of foster care.

If the state decides to take a child from their biological parents, then the child is the responsibility of the state. Could and should the only asset a foster child has be theirs and be protected?

When a child receives SSI it... more

Georgia (click here to read article) is trying to find a way to ease the foster care burden and to preserve family ties. The senate votes to pass a law to make it easier for the grandparents to take custody of the grandchildren instead of being placed in foster care. This would be without having to get court approval and the oversight of Child Welfare. The grandparents would get a subsidy from the Department of Human Services but without them being involved. Which I feel is a good goal but with someone outside the family to ensure the best interest of the children are being... more

Colorado (click here for the article) has found a way to help teenage foster children cope with being in foster care. They have set up a website that they can visit to get information concerning gangs, teen pregnancy, depression, bullying and other topics.

There is also an area that teens can ask questions and get answers back while keeping their privacy. This website allows teens to understand that they are not the only teens living in foster care. It is a place to allow teens to come together to share with other teens. They can also post pictures, poems, etc.

The Health Department also provides information... more

This is a story of a foster child choosing to have a different kind of life than foster care. It is a very uplifting story of hope for other foster children but it does not have a happy ending, so have some tissues ready. I wanted to share this story since we always seem to hear all the failures of the foster children. It gives us hope as foster parents that we can make a lasting difference in a child’s life and they do have a chance at a life.

A young lady named Veronica Smith lived through foster care and made a life for herself and her children. This is no easy task for anyone who has more-or-less been raised... more

Georgia (click here to read article) is trying to find a way to ease the foster care burden and to preserve family ties. The senate votes to pass a law to make it easier for the grandparents to take custody of the grandchildren instead of being placed in foster care. This would be without having to get court approval and the oversight of Child Welfare. The grandparents would get a subsidy from the Department of Human Services but without them being involved. Which I feel is a good goal but with someone outside the family needs to ensure the best interest of the children are... more