Focus on Manatee | Many kids in Bradenton are in crisis. Foster care system needs your help

The people who work or volunteer for one of the many child welfare organizations in our community deserve our gratitude and support.

Knowing the resources they often lack in human capital and dollars to do the job at hand, they keep plugging along, focusing instead on what is possible. Their driver is the belief that every child in our community deserves a safe and loving home.

In 2016, with the encouragement of the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, Manatee Community Foundation began convening nonprofits, foster families, and donors to talk about what could be accomplished if we worked more closely together. Over the years, the conversations have led to public-private partnerships and increased understanding of the common needs child advocates have for knowledge, respite and support.

On Feb. 20, we hosted a Foster Care Update Breakfast to catch up with challenges, legislative opportunities for changes, and new models that are addressing trauma in children and families.

The big picture facts around foster care remain sobering. The Safe Children’s Coalition (SCC) is our local Community Based Care lead, responsible for negotiating and contracting with local nonprofits to provide child welfare services for children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. According to SCC, 691 children were removed from their homes in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties in 2019, with the largest number of removals right here in Manatee. This means that on average, two children were removed due to child abuse or neglect every day. Manatee County had the fourth highest removal rate in Florida.

Throughout our state, there are 18 other local Community Based Care leads. Ours receives the least amount of funding per child. We are dead last. This historical inequity has made it even more difficult for Manatee County to serve the needs of its children. It is unacceptable.

The primary reason children are entering out-of-home care is drug use by the parent or caregiver. Unfortunately, many adults are still struggling with cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl addiction, but this too, is being addressed through the efforts of many who care about individuals experiencing this health crisis. No parent wants to be an addict.

An overwhelming majority of children removed from their homes are under two years of age — a critical time for brain development that influences lifelong learning and success.

The nationally recognized Early Childhood Court model has been making big strides in Manatee County. This voluntary, team-based and therapeutic program utilizes a partnership with the court, birth parents, therapists, and case managers to help foster children up to three years of age reach permanency more quickly, reducing trauma to the child, providing parents with supportive services, and saving the taxpayer money.

Sometimes it is not new answers but new questions that prompt effective healing and change. Focusing on every child and family member, organizations like The Florida Center and All Star Children’s Foundation are asking the question, “What happened to you?” instead of “What’s wrong with you?”

In All Star Children’s Foundation’s model, all therapeutic services and parenting approaches are offered through the trauma-focused lens. Highly trained and credentialed mental health therapists utilize a number of evidence-based practices and interventions based upon each child and family’s needs, including their cultural heritage. Even the staff of the organization utilizes mindfulness exercises and a healthy work environment to walk the talk.

Visiting the organization’s campus earlier in the month, I was struck by the alignment of their work with children and the way the staff team members relate to one another.

Nathan Scott, child welfare policy coordinator for the Florida Department of Health, has continued to emphasize the “long road” approach in foster care. Despite the urgency each of us feels to support children in foster care and to rethink our complex systems, he says, we must take pride in our short-term successes. And gains are made every day.

One example is the Handle With Care system, a partnership between law enforcement, child protection and the school district. Manatee County was the first to initiate the program in Florida, which alerts the school when a student has experienced a traumatic event the night before. Teachers know to look out for academic or behavioral challenges that day without having details that could embarrass or further traumatize the child.

Child welfare is so complex, so big, we hear. What can you do?

The Safe Children’s Coalition provides excellent information about what it takes to become licensed as a foster parent. If you have a safe home and a loving home, chances are, you have what it takes.

It’s true that some shy away from getting engaged in foster care, believing that because they cannot afford to make sizeable donations or are unable to become foster parents, there is little to contribute. This could not be further from the truth.

A new part-time intern position at Manatee Community Foundation will focus on individual work with nonprofits that interface with the foster care system to document volunteer, leadership and funding opportunities.

To join us for future updates and meetings, let us know. They are open to foster parents, nonprofit and community groups, faith based organizations, and to any interested citizen. Learn more online at ManateeCF.org, FosterManatee.org or by calling (941) 747-7765.

Susie Bowie is executive director of the Manatee Community Foundation.