Understanding the Crisis: More Than Meets the Eye

When people discuss the foster crisis, it’s often painted as a simple numbers game: too many children, not enough families. While the numbers are a stark reality, this simplification skims the surface of a deeply complex issue.

Unraveling the Root Causes

Often, the foster care system feels like a revolving door. Why? A staggering number of kids in foster care bounce between different homes. Can you imagine the emotional toll of uncertainty and instability on a young mind? This isn’t simply a problem with the children—it signifies systemic challenges we need to address. Over 15% of children in Ohio’s foster care system experience three or more placements within a year, highlighting the challenges of providing stable, consistent care. That’s nearly one in every three children shuffled from home to home, their sense of security and belonging continually disrupted. This statistic alone speaks volumes. It’s a gut punch reminding us that our efforts must focus not just on temporary fixes, but on dismantling the root causes.

Beyond Numbers: Real Stories, Real Trauma

Many kids in foster care come from a cycle of hardship. Often, they are trapped in a generational cycle of abuse, neglect, and even poverty. These are children facing adversities many of us can only imagine. To enact real change, we need to delve beyond the statistics and listen to the stories—the voices of those who’ve experienced the foster care system firsthand.

One that stands out is a precious little girl that, before coming to The Bair Foundation, was non-verbal and unable to do many of the things children her age could. She came to us, through no fault of her own, after an incident occurred that led to a broken arm and a hospital visit. The Bair Foundation was called for help in placing her and one of our loving families stepped in to help. From there, her transformation began. She started catching up with her peers, speaking in full sentences, and enjoying all that childhood had to offer. Now, she is lovingly referred to as the ‘Miracle Baby’ by her Bair therapist because of how far she’s come. These kids only need one person to see through all the bad circumstances and bring light to their worlds. You can be that light.

Our treatment coordinator in the Albuquerque office shared, “One of our foster kids has been in and out of care, including Treatment Foster Care (TFC), for most of their lives. When they came into care they were angry and frustrated and felt alone. Their time in our organization, with their current foster home has opened so many pathways from them. She has begun to feel like she has a family and a home. She is kind to others and has made lasting friendships at school and is beginning to trust other adults in her life.” – Haley Hammersley

Taking Action to End the Foster Crisis: Find Your Place

The question isn’t “Can we end this?” The question is, “Will we?” Let’s take action to end the foster crisis together, one step, one child, one family at a time.

Become a Foster Parent: Open Your Heart and Home

Learning more about fostering by filling out the Bair Foundation’s contact form. One of our recruiters will reach out and schedule you for a no obligation information session. From there you can learn about the need in your local area. Starting your journey in helping these kids. 

Taking action to end the foster crisis starts with understanding that every child deserves a loving, stable home. Opening your heart and home as a foster parent may seem daunting, but it’s an incredibly rewarding journey. Just ask yourself: could providing a safe and nurturing space for a child be your role in making a difference? Fostering isn’t about replacing a child’s biological family. Think of it as temporarily stepping in, offering support, care, and stability during a difficult time. Your compassion could mean the world.

While becoming a foster parent is one powerful way to make a difference, there’s so much more that can be done to support children in the foster care system. Advocating for change can help create a brighter future for countless children. Together, we can work to not only meet the immediate needs of these kids but also address the systemic challenges they face. Let’s explore how you can take action beyond fostering.

Advocate for Systemic Change: Raise Your Voice

You don’t need to become a foster parent to make a difference. Advocating for policy changes, raising awareness, and demanding better support systems within your community are all powerful actions. Contacting your lawmakers and politicians, writing letters to editors, and simply sharing your opinion, can create impactful ripples.

Volunteer Your Time and Talents

No action is too small when it comes to impacting a child’s life. Consider this: volunteering with a local Bair office, by mentoring a young person in the foster system, or even donating essential items. Becoming a respite parent is a tangible way to help foster families and most important, children in foster care. One of the biggest needs for our offices is transportation. Children in foster care are like any other child, with doctor’s appointments, therapy, after-school sports and visits to their biological families.

Volunteering can look like simply making an extra casserole and giving it to one of our offices that has a freezer. When new foster parents take a placement, oftentimes, our offices will send a meal. Your actions can provide critical support to both foster children and the families caring for them.

Support Foster Families in Your Community

Families who open their homes to fostering often carry unseen burdens. Imagine for a second being that source of consistency, that beacon of hope. Offering to babysit, providing a meal, donating clothes or school supplies, or simply lending an ear can make a world of difference for a foster family. This tangible support can allow them to provide even better care and love to the children they serve.

How to Fix the US Foster Care System?

While there is no quick fix for the complex issues within the US foster care system, some steps could bring abo

ut significant improvements: First, prioritize keeping families together whenever possible by providing struggling parents with adequate resources and support, including mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and parenting classes. Second, revamp the foster care system to ensure greater stability for children. Third, streamline the process of reunification for foster children with their biological families when it’s deemed safe. Finally, empower youth aging out of the system with resources that help them successfully transition into adulthood, including education, housing, and job training. 

It’s crucial to treat these young adults not as statistics but as individuals with unique needs, strengths, and dreams. The Bair Foundation places a high priority on training our foster parents to navigate difficult behaviors, trauma, and focusing on reunification with biological families. When that is no longer an option, it’s up to us to ensure that kids in the foster care system do not age out. We work tirelessly to find foster parents who can ensure that kids are not languishing in the system, and they have a bright future.

What Do Foster Children Need Most?

Beyond basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing, foster children crave stability, love, and understanding. Imagine being uprooted from everything familiar—the emotional toll that insecurity takes on a child is immense. It’s within our power to ease their burden, to let them know they matter. We need foster parents who will say yes and do the hardest job that they will ever love!

At Bair, we’re passionate about providing that stability for foster kids. Our Clinical Director, Mandy Anderson, says, “Foster care is forever care. Our commitment to child well-being is forever!”

How Many Kids Age Out of Foster Care Each Year?

According to the National Foster Care Institute, approximately 20,000 young adults age out of foster care every year in the US. That’s 20,000 individuals thrust into adulthood without the support system most of us rely on. Imagine facing the challenges of adulthood without the guidance and safety net of a stable family. The implications of aging out of foster care extend far beyond the milestone of a birthday—it’s a stark reminder that we must do more to equip these young adults for a successful future. Their dreams, just like any other young adult, deserve to be nurtured, and their paths should be paved with support, not obstacles.

How Can I Help Local Foster Care?

Making a difference locally can be as easy as reaching out. Connect with us and local organizations like your church, foster care support groups, community centers, foster care closets, to learn about their specific needs and how you can get involved. Every community’s needs are unique, and understanding these nuances allows your contribution to have a more significant and lasting impact.

Ending the foster care crisis may feel like an insurmountable goal. It’s easy to get bogged down in statistics, feel overwhelmed by the complexities, and question if our individual actions truly matter. But let’s get real: the fight to save children, to rewrite their narratives, and offer them the future they deserve is far from futile. When we understand the crisis, when we connect with the human element of it all, when we realize the collective power we possess, that’s when real, lasting change can occur. We are the village, and it’s up to each and every one of us to step forward and take action to end the foster crisis. Kids in foster care counting on us.

become a foster parent through the bair foundation

Since 1967, The Bair Foundation has been committed to building strong children, strong families, and strong communities. It is through loving foster parents that children have a sense of belonging and a loving home.

We are doing all we can, but we can’t do it alone. The Bair Foundation is always seeking outstanding people to join our team. We will never stop fighting for the children who need someone to fight for them. Our children deserve a brighter future.

If you are interested in Becoming a Foster Parent, you can request no-obligation information about fostering through The Bair Foundation here and a team member will contact you directly.