April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
Communities Working Together Can Help Families
Although not the most pleasant topic to read about, or even think about, imagine the life of an abused child who is at the mercy of a parent or guardian. Picture your child, your grandchild or one beloved who wakes up every day (hopefully from a clean bed, but maybe not) to face the wrath of an angry parent who themselves may have mental issues or an uncontrolled issue with drugs or alcohol. I’m reminded of a book, A Child Called “It” by David Pelzer, who was that child and miraculously survived. Reading this book is like reading about the inhumanities Holocaust survivors endured. Hopefully, there is no one in our world who is being treated as badly as this boy was for so many years (he was afraid to say anything at school for fear of the repercussions), but frankly, there are kids who are being abused.
In talking with Jesse Blakesslee, Case Supervisor for Cattaraugus County Child Welfare, he informs that upwards of 1800 reports of child maltreatment are received every year in the county. Thankfully, about two-thirds prove to be unfounded, but sadly, another third (600) are verified abuse or neglect. Unfortunately, a percentage of those require county intervention where the child is legally and immediately taken into custody for their safety and welfare.
At any given time in Cattaraugus County there are approximately forty children who have been removed from their homes and placed in traditional foster care. One goal is to “place these kids with relatives or those with verifiable relationships (Fictive relations) – not necessarily blood relatives, but friends, and even teachers” who have stepped to the plate, says Blakesslee.
According to Blakesslee, the kids hardest to place are siblings and teens. I recently spoke to someone who has taken three siblings (now teens) and built a secure home for them. Imagine how this affects those children. Not only are these children dealing with the trauma of having endured abuse from, of all people, their parents, but they are removed from their known environment and placed in a strange one. In the aforementioned case it was with family, but imagine the trauma of suddenly trying to begin a new life with total strangers on top of having endured abuse. If these kids come out of it intact, they will be strong, sensitive adults, but they must get there. You may not know of anyone who has admitted to having been abused, but it might be hopeful to see the names of a few successful survivors of foster care: Eddie Murphy, Colin Kaepernick, Steve Jobs, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Willie Nelson, Ice T, Cher, Louis Armstrong, and Alonzo Mourning. Kids in foster care are not lost kids, but kids given a second chance at building a life, with the help of their foster family.
That’s where you could come in. According to Blakesslee, they are always in need of new potential foster parents to raise their hands. Presently, in Cattaraugus County, there are twenty to twenty-five families or single individuals making room in their homes and in their hearts for these kids. Do the math and you can see that there are not enough to go around. Some may even take more than one child who are not related but that makes that much more work for the individual and likely may create a less than optimum life for the foster children.
The goal is to return these children to their own homes with their families. The success rate is more than half according to Blakesslee. The others may end up adopted by their foster family, while others may end up in KINGAP which is a kinship guardianship. After a child is in fully certified foster care for six months, they can be adopted up to 21 years of age. A child can sign themselves out of foster care at age 18. Many do but some are offered and take the KINGAP route.
Foster families are paid a monthly stipend for everyday necessities. The child is enrolled in Medicaid, and transportation, a case worker and necessary services are available for their benefit. As a foster parent, you are not in this alone. You have all the support you need from the county.
If this article has piqued your interest in exploring the possibility of becoming a foster parent, please reach out to Jesse Blakesslee at 716-701-3599 or jesse.blakesslee@dfa.state.ny.us.