A Foster Care Crisis: Reaching Out To The Least Of These

I want everybody in the world needs now is a is only Pres. John Rustin thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters are just today is Dr. Michael Blackwell, president of Baptist homes of North Carolina Baptist children's homes provides a multitude of Christian services to children, adults and families in all 100 counties of the state, including several residential care facilities for children, teenage mothers and developmentally disabled adults founded in 1885 Baptist children's homes of North Carolina is especially committed to serving families in crisis, and children who have suffered abuse today.

Dr. Blackwell was with us to discuss what has been referred to as a foster care crisis in North Carolina. Dr. Blackwell welcome the family policy matters. It's great to have you with us on the show. Thank you very much John daughter to be here. Thank you for all that you do on family policy matters because family policy really doesn't matter thank you God if they call it associate it with you. Well, certainly well, it's a pleasure to have you, not Dr. Blackwell.

As we begin I want to give you an opportunity to introduce our listeners to Baptist children's homes and a wide variety of incredibly important services you offer to people all across the state of North Carolina. Not just in the realm of foster care which will be the primary subject of our discussion today, but in other areas as well. Wire minister began with children that had no place to call home. This ministry began in 1885 as our sacred year.

Our date November 11, 1885 little girl from a husky North Carolina night. At nine years old. Mary Preston came down on the train with her mother and that's how the ministry began to doubt that significant thread of our ministry has continued to this present day, almost 132 years now and will always be a major focus of the work of Baptist children's homes as we minister to the whole family from the infancy to the aging.

You know where and 22 locations now in North Carolina and an orphanage in Guatemala. We serve 21,500 people last year and all of our services and we are blessed to be able to do that as wonderful as I mentioned in the introduction. Many people have been referring to a foster care crisis in North Carolina in recent years. In fact, we seen a 25% increase in the number of children in foster care in just the last five years and that number of children in foster care is now well over 10,000 children in North Carolina. Dr. Blackwell, do we know why there has been such a dramatic increase recently. Well, I'm not sure that anybody knows exactly why there has been such a dramatic uptake recently but we do know that there are number of variables that are now contributing to the increase. Most would agree that the opioid crisis across our nation is having a profound impact and effect on our children and families. In fact, you can hardly listen to the radio, watch television or read a newspaper that you don't see some young person today who was caught up in that kind of crisis, and to become addicts themselves. In the past when a family would face a crisis.

The Department of Social Services DSS may find that they only needed to remove one child from the home to de-escalate the situation.

Now, though, when they find high levels of drug abuse they routinely remove all children from the home doubt there is a federal mandate to keep siblings together whenever possible and family foster homes are not typically able to take more than one maybe sometimes to children and so that's where high quality communities like the Baptist children's homes of North Carolina plays at a central role in the continuum of services to children and families. Well that is so important, not Dr. Blackwell auctions OR listeners, but certainly the opioid crisis that were saying in our state and our nation is very real. In addition to the drug addiction and things of that nature.

What are some other scenarios and situations that may lead a child to be placed in the foster care system. Well there are many paths that might lead a child to our open door. Most children that we serve our victims of abuse and if there's one thing that they have in common. In all of our services.

It would be trauma.

They have a story of trauma to tell when that happens it's going to require a lot of time it's going to require a lot of patience is going to require a lot of hard work with staff that are loving that are well trained and caring for children in these situations, that what we always try to do jotted it half family reunification that's goal number one and when a child comes in the care the family will sign off on a set of goals. The child will sign off on a set of goals and we try to get the family back together and were able to make that happen for many of our children but there are a few that simply will not have that option. Talking with one of our children recently visited one of our communities down the east and I said something about where you going to be spending the holidays and they said well we gotta be spending it with you because I mother does not want us anymore and it was painful and you could see the pain etched on that child's face there and so some children just don't have that option.

So what we do here Baptist children's Psalms is we are committed to find the best permit that solution for them now depending on their age or other variables that solution could be adoption. It could be a foster family, or in some cases they will remain with us at our cottage parents are childcare workers form an incredibly strong bond with these children. I'll go back to the instant that I had just recently in a church where children who were in care at our outdoor wilderness camping programs.

These are kids that live outside and in shelters that they built and designed themselves. We have a home for girls out of the wilderness in Moore County and a home for boys out of the wilderness and in Moore County and that they bond with these chiefs that live with them 20 4/7 and they don't have in many cases real parents biological parents who can care for them and so our cottage parents form a strong bond with these children you are listening to is not as a resource to listen to our radio show online resources that will be a voice of persuasion in your community to our website only selecting Dr. Blackwell in your opinion and from your experience, what do children in foster care need the most. I like Bailey what everybody needs what the world needs now is the love they need to know that somebody loves them that it's going to be the kind of love that Christ has for each one of us, which is an unconditional love. Now these children need structure they need stability.

In fact I would say John that they desperately crave structure they need their boundaries and they need stability because they do not have it and headed in their families. They've had a mom or a dad on and run uncle or in many cases grandmother that has had to take over the parental responsibilities. So when they come to us. This just love it. Baptist children's homes. We don't just serve children and families. We love them as Christ loves us and that is unconditionally now I know that you talked about reunification of the children with her parents at all possible.

How does reaching out in ministering to the parents or caretakers of these children who are placed into the foster care system factor into all of this in into your work at Baptist children's homes while working with the whole family is essential now in the early days of our orphanage and the family had nothing to do with the child and that really only began to change significantly in the 1980s and 1990s that we can't imagine not working with the family were still child centered, but we are family focused and so I we have to work with the whole family and getting the best outcome which is reunification you asking 90% of these children. What do you want most in life.

I want to go back home well homes where the abuse took place.

Yeah, that's home.

Home is where your brother did things he should've done yeah that's my day we got a wonderful staff that are able to work with the family and underscore this if they are willing, we can begin a path toward healing and creating positive habits and routines and traditions. A lot of times the parents have been victims themselves. They've not been able to break the cycle with their children. I had a young person just recently stand up and say that they had they had been abused that their parent had been abused. The child it was in care has children and she says that I have been able to break the cycle of abuse. What we going to do here Baptist children's homes is poor as much time and resources that it takes to get the parents and the children on the right track as long as they have a true desire to change now.

In many instances, what we find is that the parent is not the one who has the true desire to change. We have situations where the child will say I want to change. I want to do what I can and then they'll go home for a parental visit or whatever and the child who's taken a step forward finds that the parent is maybe taken a step back and so we have to have the parents and the child on the right track and site we want to change we want to make it right. We want to have a true family. We want to love our child. We want to be loved by our our children and so that's why the whole family is what we have to do today to reach out and minister the parents of children who end up foster care. Dr. Michael, what are some ways our listeners can get involved and help to improve the lives of children and families who are involved in the foster care system in North Carolina. Well, we got a lot of opportunities for people to participate in our ministry at Baptist children's homes. We always have lots of projects going on at any point, such as painting grounds were construction. We have a lot of churches and a lot of individuals who like to come in and adopt the cottage and it's always like to adopt a child. Maybe not legally or officially just say here's a child that I'm going to pray for you as a child that I want to make sure has a special birthday is a child that if this child has no place to go Christmastime and we have some children who woke up this past December 25 on a Sunday morning and eight. They were with us. They didn't have a family to go to and will have some good Christian people say I want to make sure this child has a wonderful Christmas and so we will have a lot of families.

It will say just what we want to do to make sure that a child always feels that they are needed and why we are always eating food with the middle of a food drive. Now were dating toiletries and closing and gift cards.

That's something that a lot of people are doing now and a lot of churches are doing is giving us food cars, but really we just need prayer. We need fervent prayer and we need continual prayer that makes all the difference in the world and working our listeners go to learn more about foster care in North Carolina in the great work that you do and Baptist children's homes of North Carolina and how they can get involved well be CH family.org and your find on that website. Everything that you need to know about all of our services. How to give and it will be also a link in there about how you can volunteer. We have thousands of women and men and young people who volunteer all across our facilities in North Carolina so that we can really make a difference in the life of this child who often feels abandoned, who has in many ways been traumatized to say you are a child of God.

You matter. God loves you and we love you to that's wonderful slimming repeat that website again. For listeners it's BCH family.org again be CH family.org and with that Dr. Michael Blackwell. I want to thank you so much for joining us on family policy matters and for your incredibly important work at Baptist children's homes of North Carolina really be the hands and feet of Christ to children and families in crisis here in North Carolina were extremely grateful for what you do and will continue to work to reach out and prayers for you. I am for your ministry and for all of the individuals especially the children that you come in contact. Thank you very much John will be in prayer for family policy matters to accomplish online resources and information about issues important to families in Carolina website family.org follow us on Twitter and Facebook