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Foster Care 101

Foster Care 101. A Comprehensive Look at Foster Care in Oklahoma. TRADITIONAL. THERAPEUTIC. SPECIALIZED. Types of Foster Care.

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Foster Care 101

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  1. Foster Care 101 A Comprehensive Look at Foster Care in Oklahoma

  2. TRADITIONAL • THERAPEUTIC • SPECIALIZED www.okfosters.org Types of Foster Care • Foster parents provide 24-hour-a-day substitute temporary care and supportive services in a home environment for children in DHS custody, from birth to 18 years of age. • Foster parents serve children aged 4-18 with special psychological, social, behavioral and emotional needs who thrive in a family setting, but require more intensive or therapeutic services than those for traditional foster care. • Foster parents serve children and adults aged three years and older who have a primary diagnosis of intellectual disabilities and qualify for Developmental Disability Services.

  3. As of today, there are 8,042 children in care statewide. www.okfosters.org Children in Care Oklahoma County has 1,433 children in care. There are 184 children out of county.

  4. www.okfosters.org Our Children TRAUMA AND SPECIAL NEEDS • Although the numbers of children in our care have decreased substantially, we are still needing foster families for: • Children with special needs • Sibling groups • Teenagers STATISTICS • 44% of our children were reunified with their families. • The average stay of foster children in the system is 19 months. • 41% of our children were adopted.

  5. COMMUNITY www.okfosters.org WhyFosteringMatters • Fostering is about helping the families in your community. • The goal of fostering is to reunify children with their biological families. • Sometimes birth parents need help. They are experiencing a major crisis or difficulty. • MENTORSHIP • “Among study participants who reported they had lived in foster care, having a natural mentor was associated with several positive outcomes, including participation in higher education,… better perceived general health, and a higher number of positive outcomes across domains.”1 • “The presence of a caring adult can counteract the effects of trauma, even trauma dating back to early childhood experiences.”2

  6. INCREASED TRAUMA www.okfosters.org Placement Effects • EDUCATION • The more moves a child make the more education they lose – four to six months is lost for every move. 1 • One study shows that children placed in foster care scored 16%-20% below non-foster children on state standardized test. 2 • Foster children are twice as likely to be absent from school.3 • Each of our foster children have trauma from their initial move. • Their trauma is increased every time a child is moved into a new placement.

  7. www.okfosters.org Progress As of July 15th, 2018 • 85% of our children were reunified with their families or adopted into their homes. • We had a 9% decrease of children placed in our care. All state-run shelters have been closed in efforts to ensure that every child has a foster home, not just a bed in a shelter. The support of businesses, tribes, for-profit and non-profit organizations, religious groups, and other communities has increased substantially.

  8. FOSTER PARENT EXCLUSIVE • BENEFIT PROGRAM www.okfosters.org Partnerships • PARTNERS • OKDHS, Oklahoma Fosters, and other foster care organizations have increased the number of partnerships to support fosters children and foster families. • You can partner with us by going to okfosters.org/partner

  9. www.okfosters.org Requirements You may think you can’t foster, but below are the basic requirements for our traditional foster parents! • You must be 21 years of age or older. • You must have adequate living space to care for a child(ren). • You must pass the OSBI, Fingerprinting, and Child Abuse Registration clearance checks. • You must be willing to work as a team with children families, agencies, and professionals. • You must have adequate income for support of your own family. You can still foster if you: • Are married, single, LGBTQ+, and/or divorced, • Own a home, rent a home, or live in an apartment, • Aren’t in a perfect financial situation.

  10. www.okfosters.org Volunteer Not everyone can foster. Here are other ways you can get involved! • Mentor a youth, • Become a Big Brother/Big Sister, • Become a youth group leader, • Help a teen apply for a college scholarship,, • Provide childcare for friends and family that foster, • Include a youth in your volunteer activities, • Dress a youth for prom, • Teach a child to read, • Organize a sports tournament, • Become a respite care provider, • Donate clothes, • Sponsor a child for summer camp… The possibilities are endless!

  11. www.okfosters.org THANK YOU!

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