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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Foster Care Study: NC Kids Need Family Connections

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Monday, June 13, 2011   

RALEIGH, N.C. - Times are changing, and mostly for the better, for the nation's nearly 500,000 children in foster care. In North Carolina, 12 percent fewer children are in foster care today than a decade ago.

But a new "Kids Count" data snapshot about foster care in the U.S. shows that, for those in the system, the older a child is, the less likely it is that he or she will be placed in what's considered the best situation for success later in life: a relative's home.

Laura Speer, associate director with The Annie E. Casey Foundation, explains that many teens still end up in group homes or institutions, or living with people other than relatives. She says that puts them at a disadvantage as they are about to "age out" of the system.

"It's kind of a double jeopardy, because they are going to be leaving foster care soon and, if they're in a group home, they're less likely to have that permanent family connection they need."

Speer says kids who lack a solid family connection are more likely to have behavioral, emotional and physical problems as young adults and to have trouble adjusting to life on their own.

The majority of foster children in North Carolina are placed with non-relatives, which Speer says presents emotional and practical challenges. Only 24 percent live with relatives, the situation she calls "ideal" for most kids.

"They can maintain relationships with their siblings, often can go to the same school. They can keep their friends, so it's much less disruptive to them and just better for them overall."

In North Carolina in 2009, there were 9,400 children in foster care. That's down from a little less than 11,000 in the year 2000.

The complete data is at http://bit.ly/kK6bsj. North Carolina data from Action for Children North Carolina, 919-834-6623 x225.




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