It’s a great day when the cover of the New York Times has a
story that puts you in a good mood. Today, the Times profiles a nonprofit that places the children of mothers in crisis with volunteer
families, who care for the kids as their own until the mothers are able to get
back on their feet.
By placing children with temporary parents, Safe Families
for Children keeps kids out of the foster system, while ensuring that they are
removed from dangerous situations. The Chicago-based organization has proven
life-saving for women who are in abusive relationships or who get kicked out of
their homes for any number of reasons, such as job loss or health problems that
prevent them from working. Safe Families does background checks and house
visits of potential volunteers, and mothers are able to see their children as
much as they want during the unofficial foster period.
Praising the program, the Illinois director of child and
family services said, “Where parents recognize issues they need to address and
ask for support before abuse or neglect takes place, it’s a great thing.”
Even more important than recognizing the issues is having access
to remedies. 25-year-old Janai Parahams certainly recognized the problems of
staying with her violent partner, but she may not have felt able to leave were
it not Safe Families, which placed her four young children (one of whom is
pictured) in temporary homes while Paraham took a job-preparation course, found
employment with the Census Bureau, and moved into a new home.
This unofficial foster care also makes financial sense for
all taxpayers:
"In Chicago, Safe Families expects to place 1,000 children
this year, for average stays of 45 days. Administrative costs total $350,000 a
year, with $100,000 coming from the state and the rest from churches and
foundations. If those children ended up in foster care instead…the cost to the
public would be millions.”
Would you consider opening your home temporarily to children
from troubled families?
Photo: New York Times
