Report Finds Ohio Kids More Likely To Repeat Time In Foster Care

Child welfare advocates say a new study released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, offers the most comprehensive data ever collected across all 50 states about young people in the foster care system and their transition to adulthood.

"In a lot of ways, Ohio mimics the national data, so as a country we all have a long way to go to ensure permanancy for young people, to make sure they have forever families," said Brandi Slaughter, CEO of the advocacy group Voices for Ohio's Children.

According to the Casey Foundation report, Ohio's foster children face added challenges in two areas compared to national averages: They're more likely (40 percent vs. 32 percent) to have multiple episodes in foster care; and African-American children make up 36 percent of the foster care population in Ohio, compared to 14 percent of the state's overall population. Nationally, African-Americans make up 28 percent of youths in foster care.

"We know that every time a young person is moved, they experience trauma over and over again. So there's got to be some things done to limit those frequent moves," Slaughter said.

She added that more diversity in staffing and training would help African-American children in the system, and also might prevent so many of them from entering the system at all.

"There is a bit of implicit bias in the system," Slaughter said. "You know, you need more practitioners of color. Employees on the ground could use more support in having some training around cultural diversity but overall, for me, it's promising that we are able to now use some of those dollars to prevent young people from even entering in the system."

Flexibility with federal funding is helping with prevention, she said, along with kinship care programs that encourage extended families take in kids who otherwise could be headed to foster care. Ultimately, that's Slaughter's goal: To keep kids from entering the foster care system, but she's also dedicated to improving the current system.

"I would like to see more investment in educating staff, making sure that we have a workforce that's culturally sensitive and also culturally diverse," Slaughter said.

Voters passed 15 out of 17 children's services levies in counties throughout Ohio last week and some of those dollars will help the foster care system. But Slaughter argued that state funding has been lagging.

"Ohio ranks dead last in the country for our state share of funding for child welfare," Slaughter said. "When the local levies pass, they will support what we draw down in the federal dollars (and) what the state is contributing."

Slaugter said she's encouraged that Governor-elect Mike DeWine released a comprehensive children's agenda during the campaign.

"Some funding for child welfare is a part of that, so we're really hopeful to sit down now that we're in the transition mode, to really spell out what these investments look like and how we can position Ohio's kids to live their best life," Slaughter said.

She pointed out it had been more than two decades since advocates had comprehensive data like the Casey report to assess the foster care system, and she is eager to share the findings with elected officials so they can target resources more effectively.