Written by Natalie Kerr
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is the act of enslaving one by permitting force onto one to engage in sexual behaviors. With that being said, human traffickers prey on victims who are usually fragile, hopeless, have low income, suffer from trauma, and who do not have an official home. Knowing these factors and the target audience of low-income children who aren’t being looked after dominantly, Foster Care Children tend to fit the perfect criteria to be preyed on. According to the National Foster Youth Institute, it is stated that 60 percent of child sex trafficking victims have a history in the child foster care system. Foster Care children have even reported that Foster Care Parents who take in the children have used the child paycheck to paycheck under sex trafficking, to personally make financial gains.
Abuse Throughout
For starters, a child being removed from their home and placed in foster care is a beyond memorable and traumatic experience for any child, let alone being removed from your home into numerous homes over and over is detrimental. But being removed from your home into abusive homes can scar you like nothing else could. It is recorded that the ratio of children being abused in the Foster Care system is 1:8. A ratio that is too high and clearly shows that a child’s safety is not guaranteed when entering a system that is not by their own choice or fault. It is reported that there have been 23 deaths of Foster Care children since 2019 in Texas due to various types of abuse.
Not only is the child’s safety at stake on a daily basis while being in care, but the ones who do enter the system end up at a 70% chance of being involved in the juvenile justice system. Not only does this imply that abuse is likely, but the odds of entering the juvenile justice system naturally increases if a child was subject to harmful environments including being abused. Knowing that about 30% of children in foster care have severe emotional, behavioral, or developmental problems has me questioning the faith and dedication the Foster Care System has in healing and keeping the children safe.
No Room
Not enough funding and not enough spaces for the steadily growing amount of children being placed under foster care is causing children to sleep in poor conditions, stay hungry, and be pushed to the side. Children have the chance of being recycled in a revolving door when entering foster care, and even worse when there’s a chance there is no space for them physically. Children have the possibility of living in residential treatment centers, group homes, emergency shelters, offices, foster care facilities, and Child Protective Services offices. This involves sleeping on a mattress, bare minimum food, and bare minimum showers. With the number of children skyrocketing through the roof and metaphorically pushed under the rug, the higher the chances of them sleeping on a mattress in a cold room arises.
AFF Knows
At Austin Foster Fellowship, we recognize and feel the responsibility of allowing our followers to know the full truth. To advocate for the children in Travis County’s foster care system, we must be aware of the whole situation and work towards bettering the lives of the children and the system itself as well. It is clear to us that to help the lives involved in the system, fixing the system is a top priority. AFF cannot advocate love and create change without addressing the core root of what is stopping love and change.
https://www.safy.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-foster-care-and-human-trafficking/
https://www.foster-america.org/the-problem
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/06/texas-foster-care-system-lawsuit/
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/19/texas-foster-care-crisis/
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/19/texas-foster-care-crisis/
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