Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a statewide children’s advocacy group, recently released a report on the child welfare system of Pennsylvania. Not only does the state have more than 20,000 children residing within its system, but as many as 40% of the children whom are reunited to their birth-families, re-enter the foster care system. Not only are children returning to the system, but many are then languishing in it, with some spending an average of 16 months per placement.

Allegheny County could pat themselves gently on the back, for having slightly lower than the state’s average for the rate of children returning to foster care, coming in at 27%.

However that pat on the back was taken away just as quickly as it had come, when it was learned that Allegheny County children stay in temporary foster care for an average of 20 months before being placed with relatives, which is much higher than the state average of four months. Regardless of the different factors that can slow a permanency hearing down, officials can all seem to agree that 20 months is simply too long for a child’s life to hang in the balance.

Berks County had children spending time in foster care seven times longer than the state average, or a whopping 28 months before finally being placed with their relatives. The county did, however, fare better than most when it came to the children that had returned to their birth homes, staying in them and not entering back into the foster care system, proving that they had a better system in place than many of the states other counties.

The report was released by the PPC under its new child welfare initiative;”" The Porch Light Project."  

The mission of the Project:

A guiding light for policy change for thousands of children who have been removed from their families following reports of child abuse, neglect or abandonment - is to strengthen families in order to reduce the risk of child abuse; assure that children have maximum stability when they must be removed from their homes; assure that a forever or permanent family becomes the reality for every child; and, to place equal emphasis on children who are abused regardless of their age - including youth who are approaching adulthood.

 

-PPC

The PPC is hopeful that the report will encourage the counties of Pennsylvania to stop allowing children to waste away in foster care, and move them into permanent placements as quickly as possible, as they believe that all children deserve to grow up in a forever family, and not a child welfare system. PPC's report is available online, but does require Adobe Reader.

Related Links:

• Foster Care Adoption
• Foster Care Adoption Statistics
• I Hate Foster Care Parents: A Birthmother's Point of View

 Image Credit:Striatic