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Foster Families

It’s Not Your Fault It’s easy for foster kids to blame themselves for the situation they’re in. A kid might wonder why her parents didn’t try harder to fix their problems, and might think, “Do they not love me enough?” Another kid might feel guilty that his parents “got in trouble” for not doing a good job. A foster kid might wonder, “If I behaved better, would my life be different?” Some kids feel guilty about being in foster care. Even if their parents abused them, they still feel like they should remain loyal, no matter what. All these feelings are

understandable and natural. But it’s not their fault. Children should not have to look after, protect, or rescue their parents. Kids are just kids! It’s the par- ents’ job to step up and do the right thing. If your parents can’t take care of you and you are moved into foster care, you have every right to feel sad or mad or even relieved. But however you feel, you are the kid, and you are not to blame.

Sometimes parents have problems; it’s not their kids’ job to fix them.

One method is to pick a particular date and count how many kids there are in foster care on that single day. This is called a “point in time” survey. For example, on September 30, 2013, there were 402,378 children in U.S. foster care. That’s a lot