Foster Care Awareness Is Over, but the Crisis Is Not
Here's How to Keep Making a Difference
Foster Care Awareness Month is over, but the opportunity to make a difference is not. You can still be the change foster youth need. While May helped shine a light on the needs of children in foster care, those needs continue every day of the year. Right now, nearly 9,000 children are in Tennessee's foster care system, and with only about 4,000 foster families, there still aren’t enough to help every child.
A child entering foster care in June feels just as scared and uncertain as one who entered in May. The crisis did not end with the awareness month, and our support should not end either.
Whether you have five dollars or five hours to give, you can make a big difference in the lives of children in foster care every day. Here are a few ways you can do that:
Volunteer with a Local Foster-Serving Organization
Local organizations like Monroe Harding and Youth Villages rely on volunteers for a variety of projects, including tutoring, mentoring, organizing donation drives, and supporting young people aging out of care.
If you have time to give, Tennessee has a strong, statewide network ready to put you where you feel led to serve. Every Child TN can connect volunteers like you with opportunities big and small, from assembling welcome kits for newly placed children to wrapping around foster families with practical support.
You can also support local foster-serving organizations or groups by purchasing items from their wish lists of much-needed items.
Become a CASA Volunteer
When a foster child's case moves through the court system, decisions about their future get made by many different adults. A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) ensures that the child isn't lost in the shuffle.
CASA volunteers are regular people who receive training and are appointed by a judge to speak up for a child in foster care. They get to know the child, gather information, and report to the court. This gives children a steady, caring voice during a very uncertain time.
The impact is measurable: children with a CASA are significantly more likely to find a safe, permanent home and far less likely to re-enter the system.
Support a Foster Family in Your Community
Foster parents have a big job, and they need support. One of the best ways to help foster children is to support the families in your community and it doesn’t have to be a heavy lift.
Consider:
- Organizing a meal train for a family that has just welcomed a new child.
- Coordinating a supply drive for clothing, school supplies, or baby gear.
- Offering practical help, such as mowing a lawn or babysitting, so foster parents can catch their breath.
Small, steady acts of support often help foster families keep going.
Become a Mentor (or Help a Teen Aging Out)
Older youth and those leaving foster care face some of the biggest challenges and often have the least support. Mentoring gives them a steady, caring adult who is there to guide their transition into the responsibilities of adulthood.
Through DCS-approved programs and partners in the Every Child TN network, you can become a mentor, tutor, or coach for a child or teen in care. For young people transitioning out of care, organizations focused on independent living help with everything from job readiness to life skills.
Become a Monthly Donor to My Bag My Story
When you donate as little as $25 to My Bag My Story, you give a child in foster care their own backpack or duffle bag, and when you choose to become a recurring donor, you are changing a child’s life every single month.
Too many children enter foster care carrying all their belongings in a trash bag. We want to change that. We have partnered with more than 20 Tennessee organizations to get these bags directly to the children who need them.
You can help in two ways: make a direct donation, where every dollar goes toward putting a bag in a child's hands, or sponsor a Tennessee county in our My County My Story campaign.
It only takes a few minutes, but it can change how a child experiences some of the hardest days of their life.
Sign up to be a monthly donor today.
The Takeaway
The calendar changed; the need didn’t. You do not have to do everything on this list to make a difference in a foster child’s life. Choose one action and do it this week. Whether you buy a bag, sign up for a CASA info session, or drop off school supplies, you are telling a child in Tennessee something they need to hear: You matter. You are seen.