Every day on average another 850 children quietly enter the nation’s foster care system under a veil of confidentiality, commonly due to suspected abuse or neglect. This dramatic event launches tomorrow, & a new study, aims to give voice to these “Forgotten Children” – while still preserving their privacy.
Since underaged foster children cannot appear for themselves, life-sized, cut-out photos will take their place in the shadows of the Washington Monument on the National Mall this week – at the pace of 850 per day. These surrogates will bear messages from foster children, all drawn from a study that captures the voices of 100 foster youth across the nation.
The event & study launch an ongoing project, “Forgotten Children: Foster Children Take a Stand,” led by The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association & made possible by the generous support of Title Sponsors Freddie Mac Foundation & the Dr. Phil Foundation. Additional support has been provided by Casey Family Programs, Hewitt Associates & Foster Club.
Michael Piraino, chief executive officer of National CASA hopes the event will raise awareness regarding the nation’s 513,000 foster youth in need of support. Last year, CASA’s advocates represented 225,000 children, but that’s only half the youth in the system.
”As the event grows throughout the week, the visual of the thousands of children will help raise awareness to the struggles of foster children across the country,” Piraino said. “One foster youth that we spoke with said that moving from foster home to foster home they often feel homeless. CASA volunteers play an important role to find safe & permanent placements for these forgotten children.”
Each day of this week long event will focus on providing solutions to a specific issue that is critical to foster youth. The themes for each day will be:
• Monday: CASA Volunteers for Children. This day will kick off the Forgotten Children event with an appearance of CASA supporter & star of CBS “Cold Case” Danny Pino.
• Tuesday: Faces of Foster Care. 88% of the DC area foster children are African-American. This day will focus on the overrepresentation of children of color within America’s foster care system.
• Wednesday: Youth Banding Together. This day celebrates the efforts of young people on behalf of children in foster care with presentations to a youth audience. Youths throughout the greater DC area will be encouraged to attend.
• Thursday: The Voice of Older Youth. This day will focus on the needs of youths aging out of foster care, & how we can assure a successful transition to adulthood. National CASA will present the results of a new national study with older foster youths.
• Friday: Program Close. This will be the final day of the event with all 4,250 stand-ups in place. This will provide the strongest photo opportunity of this dramatic display.
With a network of more than 950 programs nationwide, CASA recruits, trains & supervises volunteer adult advocates who help get foster children into safe, permanent homes. The organization’s 50,000 volunteers aim to counter some daunting statistics: On average, foster children spend more than 2 years in the child welfare system, & can be moved as often as 15 times, wreaking havoc on their education, friendships & sense of belonging.
CASA volunteers help to alleviate the constant upheaval faced by foster children. Research shows that children with a CASA volunteer are substantially less likely to spend a long time in long-term foster care, defined as 3 years or longer. When a CASA volunteer is involved, a child is less likely to move from home to home, & they are 95% less likely to re-enter the foster care system.
The “Forgotten Children: Foster Children Take a Stand” campaign will continue throughout the next year, helping to raise awareness on a local level for CASA programs across the nation.
In Arizona, CASA is operated locally in all 15 counties & is administered statewide by the Arizona CASA Program. CASA volunteers attend a 2-day training to prepare them for their work with foster children. For more information about CASA programs in Arizona, visit: azcasa.org or call (602) 452-3683.