-- Each year an estimated 400,000 children in the United States enter or are living in the foster care system. The circumstances that bring them to this point can vary greatly, from becoming abandoned to seeking safe harbor from an abusive environment or where a mother is unable to care for her child. But one thing they all have in common is the need for a safe, stable home with caring, responsible adults.
Thanks to the foster and adoptive care programs offered through the Boys & Girls Village in Milford and Bridgeport, as many as 3,000 children each month are finding hope and sanctuary in the homes of trained foster parents. Some are even finding what is known as a “Forever” home and family after being adopted by foster parents who have been trained and vetted through the Boys & Girls Village Therapeutic Foster Care program. Increasingly foster parents are coming from the child’s own extended family, known as kinship care, the child is able to maintain tight family and cultural connections while in foster care. And while many will be able to return home, over 60% hoping for a “forever” family wait over two years to be adopted.
In May, the Boys & Girls Village is working with the community and local media to bring attention to foster children in our state, their need for a caring, stable home, and the many programs offered by the Boys & Girls Village designed to help children find safe, caring foster or adoptive parents. “It’s a critically important issue,” says Dr. Steven M. Kant, President and CEO.
Foster parents often talk about the role as the “hardest job they ever loved.” Raising any child - let alone one with special needs - is filled with joys, triumphs and very hard work. “The Boys & Girls Village foster care team helps families realize the reward in seeing a child headed for a life of despair and failure turn to the road of hope and recovery” says Dr. Kant.