United Way Seeks Ways to Keep Teens Out of Foster Care
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The United Way of Anderson County is bringing together a team to help the at-risk families of teenagers keep the young people in the home and out of foster care.
Working with a grant from Annie E. Casey foundation, the United Way of Anderson County has been selected alongside two other upstate counties (Greenville and Spartanburg) to look at the causes of why teenagers are entering foster care.
The United Way’s “Teaming For Teens Anderson County” is a group which represents agencies - law enforcement, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Social Services, the 10th Circuit Solicitor's Office, non-profits, the faith community, and the education community - most familiar with the challenge to find solutions, many of which are centered around undiagnosed mental health issues and poverty and their impact on some families. The group is now working on a short-term strategy to put in place this year and a long-term strategy to meet some of the challenges over the next five years.
“The idea is, what would it look like in 2035 if no teen was entering into foster care?,’ said Zeke Stephenson, Director of Community Impact for the United Way of Anderson County. “We're looking at that short-term solution and then a long-term solution."
“We understand that teens entering into foster care is a big problem, and that problem is only solved with help from the community," said Anderson County DSS Director Bailey Johnson. “Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in teens coming into foster care."
Johnson said the increase can be an additional burden on the system.
"The strain is our case managers are extra stressed, the actual children are extra stressed, the families,” said Johnson. “We have kids in the office, overnight stays, and just actually finding the proper resources, whether it's foster homes, mental health, mentorship that actually help—that's the strength that it takes."
Stephanie Looper, Senior Assistant Solicitor with the Anderson County Solicitor’s Office, agrees the problem is acute.
"Okay, I'm, and I am the juvenile prosecutor for Anderson County."
"It's a pretty big problem,” said Looper, who serves as juvenile prosecutor. “We notice it a lot with families where these juveniles get detained. There may have been some conflict with the parents inside of the home, and it's a situation where there's some concern with them returning to the home because there may be a charge that resulted. The victims live inside the home, whether it be the family, whether it's their parents or their siblings or something like that. And sometimes the only solution that's available to a judge is to put them into foster care while they temporarily figure out a different solution."
Looper is optimistic the new effort can produce results.
"I think it will be a big help for us because I know that a lot of times we end up in situations where juvenile detention is not necessarily the most appropriate location for them. They may be due to a low-level offense, but a lot of times we find that there are some needs that are inside the home that could be met. And so whatever services and family counseling, those kinds of things, I think that this would be really big to keep them out of detention as well as keep them out of foster care and DSS care as well."
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) is a private philanthropic organization dedicated to building a brighter future for millions of children and young people in the United States. It focuses on improving their educational, economic, social, and health outcomes. Its primary mission is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community support that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.
