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FROM
THE DIRECTOR'S DESK
What is All The Talk About Permanency?
Permanency?
Better get ready. We are going to be hearing this word a lot in the
public discussions of US foster care and child welfare issues in this
country. The bottom line is there are more children at least 600,000
in US foster care today, the largest number ever and its still
growing, and in spite of substantial reductions of children waiting
for adoption in recent years those numbers are showing significant
increases, and are likely to surpass the record numbers of a few years
ago.
Just
what is permanency? Sometimes it is easier to understand something by
first identifying what it is not. Permanency is not ageing out of
foster care at 18 without the opportunity of a permanent family, even
if it is called "Independent living", or
"emancipation". Nor is it, long term foster care. How can
all possibilities for adoptive placement or placement with a family
member be the goal if the child is constantly moved from one foster
home to another. How many of these disruptions does it take before the
child and the caseworker give up? Not giving up is a part of the real
meaning of permanency. The commitment of those responsible for a child
to keep on doing the best you can no matter what happens. Every child
deserves permanency no matter what their past has been, no matter how
many people have given up on them, no matter what their age.
Permanency is achievable! Perhaps God is our best example of
permanency. Always available, always loving, always merciful and
forgiving always.... If we are to following our best example of
permanency then we can accept nothing less for any child no matter
thee color of their skin, the impairments they have or their age or
how many foster placements they have had. Aren't we ready to make
permanency possible for every child today?
I
will quickly admit, when I first began to see this term used in
reference to the very sad plight of so many kids in this country today
I despaired. So many children are in and out of foster care because
their families are so chronically unstable or those children who spend
years and years in foster care are likely to be moved from one foster
home to another before eventually being cut loose from the system at
18, to make their mark on the world without the critically important
supports of a friend, family, education or work skills. I grew up
being told that the only thing in life that doesn't change is God's
love for me, and I couldn't believe that for a long time. Yet I
couldn't imagine a life without hope. For millions of children today
broken dreams and hopes, abuse, neglect, chaos and disruption are a
part of their daily life. In fact for many, this has been their only
permanency.
Permanency has to be more than just foster adopt.
There are hundreds of Arkansas families who have the potential to
adopt. The vast majority of these families cannot afford the cost of a
$25,000 to $35,000 cost for domestic or international adoption.
Countless numbers of Arkansas families could adopt waiting children in
US foster care, if our public and private adoption agencies worked
together to remove barriers to placement. Solution: building real
working partnerships between our public and private agencies with the
sole goal of permanency for all children. Currently there are many
barriers to this dream being realized, every barrier must be removed.
Many more volunteers must be incorporated, and agencies in the private
sector will have to find new sources of financial revenue. More
services will have to be privatized. Permanency must be the ultimate
goal, and commitment, teamwork, accountability, innovation,
timeliness, and support services will be the means.
In
our own way FASI is already at work toward this goal. And we sure
could use your help. Please look and read over the rest of this
newsletter for ways you can become a partner in building permanency
for today's children. Pray about this vision of what is possible, ask
God to guide your efforts and then get in touch with me.
Thank You for all you do,
Bill Barling
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