As a former foster and current adoptive mom, and as someone who spent a piece of my career working in the child welfare system, the topic of foster care is understandably close to my heart. Raising awareness of the realities of foster care, the need for more loving and safe licensed foster homes, and the need for communities to work together to step into the gap for some of our community’s most vulnerable children is so important.
As of September 30, 2022, there were 22,493 children living in foster care in the state of Florida and 9,202 licensed foster homes. The state we live in, per the Administration of Families and Children, has the second-highest number of children in foster care in the country. Just let that simmer in your brain for a moment. What happens when there is such a large gap in the availability of homes for these children to be placed in? Sure, some of those children do go into relative/kinship care placements that aren’t included in the number of licensed homes. But for the children who don’t have relatives who can take them in, the options narrow quickly — group homes, institutions (inpatient mental health or youth centers, juvenile detention centers, etc.), or supervised independent living programs (dependent on their age and availability of program spots). Many of those who end up in these settings are teenagers — 20% of Florida children in foster care are between the ages of 14 and 21 (age 21 because states and agencies can offer extended foster care).
READ: Chaos, Fear, and Lots of Love: What It’s Like to Be a Foster Parent
Because the number of homes that take in teenagers is so much lower than those that accept placements of children 0–19, many teens end up aging out of the foster care system on their own — emancipated from the child welfare system. They’re thrust into adulthood without a stable and loving adult to be their safe place. Research has demonstrated time and again that children, even those who look like and think they are adults, have higher levels of mental well-being and more favorable outcomes when they have at least one supportive adult in their lives. We know that youth who are placed in these non-family/relational based settings and/or who age out of foster care as emancipated experience higher levels of incarceration, human trafficking, housing instability, and teen/young adult pregnancy. The last of those factors is the one I want to talk about now.
Teen Moms Need Homes, Too
Teenagers who are pregnant (or already have children of their own) can still be removed from their homes and placed into foster care. Just because the teen parent has been removed from their parent/guardian, that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) mean that the teen parent’s baby is removed from them. Many of these young moms enter foster care needing a licensed home that is equipped to take in both them and their baby(ies). What I learned, firsthand, while working at Pace Center for Girls Jacksonville is that the number of homes that are willing and able to receive these teen moms and their babies is abysmally low.
In fact, the number of homes across Florida that will take these mamas and their baby(ies) is so low that there are girls who come from across the entire state to live in a group home here in Jax that is set up to house that specific population. I know, it’s nice that there is at least a group home option for these mamas and their babies to have a physically safe place to be. But… is that the best we can do?
Go with me for just a moment if you will, back to the time when you became a mom. Remember the many sounds of the hospital room, the doctors and nurses talking around you in a language that was (for most people) unfamiliar. You’re doing your best and giving every ounce of your strength to bringing your baby into the world safely. At last, your baby is here… laying on your chest, their soft skin finding safety in your skin and warmth. Through your blurry, tear-filled eyes, you look up to your side. Who is there with you? Your partner, mother, sister, or maybe your best friend? Imagine for just a moment that this is all happening when you’re 16 and when you look up, momentarily allowing your gaze to escape your baby, there is no one.
For the next few days, you talk to nurses, doctors, lactation consultants, and maybe the caseworker assigned to you by the state comes to visit. Eventually, you’re discharged from the hospital with the tiniest most precious human you’ve ever met. You’re rolled out to the pickup lane at the hospital and instead of getting into the car of someone who will take you home to your carefully decorated nursery, you step into the van of a child welfare agency (or for some, you carry your baby in their car seat to the nearest bus stop). As you stare into your baby’s eyes, the overwhelming reality of motherhood hits you. Breastfeeding, getting the baby into daycare, getting yourself to school, getting to the pediatrician, being up all night, the many questions of “How do I keep this tiny human alive?” and the situations where you ask yourself “Is this normal” a hundred times a day. Your baby won’t stop crying, and you just need an hour of sleep… but when you live alone, who do you call?
More Than a Physical Space
A physical place for these young moms and babies to reside cannot be the standard we accept as a community. While many of these moms have experienced so much more life than most adults, they are still children themselves in some of the most critical ways, and we’re expecting them to learn how to be a mother… while they themselves are without their own to teach them. One of the biggest areas of lacking data on kids in foster care is around the teen parents but we don’t need the hard-hitting numbers to know that this is an area of desperate need in our community.
One of my biggest dreams in this life is to be one of the few foster homes that is not only open to teen moms and their babies but is licensed exclusively to say yes to them. Many have said… why are you waiting? If not today, then when? And please know that I hear you. If I had it my way, I would’ve been doing this six years ago. I want to do it the right way, though — I want to own a home that has an in-law suite where those mamas and their babies have their own space. A space that provides her the freedom to build her own family and be the sole mama to her baby, while also giving her the stability of having an adult around for when she needs advice, rest, nourishing meals, love, a safe place to cry, and someone to walk her through the scary moments of motherhood. I want to ensure that my life is fully set up so that my “yes” to them allows them to say “yes” to themselves, their baby, and any opportunities that present themselves.
Ways to Help or Get Involved
Jacksonville YoungLives: Jacksonville YoungLives serves teen moms who are already parenting or are pregnant and expecting. Many of these teen moms have unfathomably painful stories and this org steps in to support them with counseling, transportation to doctor’s appointments, diapers, healthy meals, mentors and so much more! They rely on financial support from the community and volunteers to make this work possible. Consider becoming a monthly donor!
Family Support Services (FSS) Jacksonville: Family Support Services is the lead child welfare agency in Duval and Nassau counties. For information on how to foster and/or adopt children in foster care, visit their website for info on training, certifications, ways to support, etc.
Children’s Home Society Teen Parenting Place at Buckner: This is the group home for teenage moms that’s located in Jacksonville. For ways to support or more info, visit their website here.
Support and advocate for programs and curricula that provide evidence-based pregnancy prevention resources. Resources such as education, easy access to affordable birth control methods, female health screenings, etc. Prevention is key in lowering the number of teens who are getting pregnant. Talk to your elected officials and representatives (school board, local, state, federal) about the need for access to pregnancy prevention. Make this a priority when voting at polls, too. For research conducted on what methods are effective, visit: publichealth.columbia.edu, this abstinence education study, evidence-based programs for expectant and parenting teens, and more on teen pregnancy prevention programs.
