What Can I Do?

There is an ad campaign here in the Northwest, a local mattress store holds regular drives for supplies for foster kids. Before school starts they collect school supplies, in the fall they collect winter coats, and year-round they are bringing awareness. Their tag line is "Not everyone can be a foster parent, but anyone can help a foster child." I want to second that statement. ANYONE can help a foster child.
I regularly get questions about how to do this. I want to address that here. Get involved on some level. If you know a foster parent, babysit for them. Take their kids for an evening. You don't know how much this means to them, especially if their kids have special needs, which all foster kids do, that require extra care.
Second, if you have more time sign up to be a respite provider for foster kids. Contact your local DHS office or Children's Services office to learn how to do this. It might require classes, a background check, and finger printing, or it might require less than this. This enables you to care for foster kids overnight or for the weekend. Even though we no longer take placements, I still take babies/toddlers for respite when I am able to. There are very few people a foster family can leave their kids with overnight, become one of those people/families. You never know, you might fall in love...which is how we ended up adopting our son.
Third, you can become a CASA volunteer. A Court Appointed Special Advocate, is someone who is unbiased to either the parent's agenda or the agencies agenda. Their responsibility is to review the case and advocate for the best interests of the child. They work closely with the child's lawyer, case worker, foster parents, and most importantly THE CHILD to figure out what is best for the child. This requires you to attend all family meetings at DHS, visit the child, attend all court hearings, and remain in contact with all who are involved.
Lastly, look into your local Child Welfare laws and advocate for them to be better enforced or changed if need be. If you look at our government and how they allot time for issues, they often focus on those who can vote or those who can support their campaigns (just my humble opinion), which means that children are ignored. Our children are our future and without changes in our system, these children face a very uncertain future. 50% of foster children DO NOT graduate high school and only 3% earn a college degree. WE as a nation need to advocate for better for OUR kids.
"It takes a village to raise a child." Can you help to become that village?

http://www.childwelfare.gov/
http://www.casaforchildren.org/