skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Consumer health advocates urge governor to sign bill package; NY protests for Jewish democracy heighten as Netanyahu meets UN today; Multiple Utah cities set to use ranked-choice voting in next election.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Pentagon wants to help service members denied benefits under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," advocates back a new federal office of gun violence prevention, and a top GOP member assures the Ukrainian president more help is coming.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

An Indigenous project in South Dakota seeks to protect tribal data sovereignty, advocates in North Carolina are pushing back against attacks on public schools, and Arkansas wants the hungriest to have access to more fruits and veggies.

Report: Ohio Foster Kids Benefit from Safe, Nurturing Families

play audio
Play

Tuesday, May 19, 2015   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - When a child cannot remain with his or her own family, foster care can provide a safe, nurturing environment. A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds about 1,800 or 14 percent of children placed out-of-home in Ohio are not living with a family, but in group placement.

Renuka Mayadev, executive director, Children's Defense Fund Ohio, says there are clear benefits to ensuring more foster kids have the love and support of a family.

"Research shows children fare better in families, throughout their childhood," she says. "But more importantly it makes them better parents one day."

She says group placements are also costly for taxpayers almost seven to 10 times more expensive than kinship or foster care.

The report recommends strategies for states to help keep children in families including strengthening the pool of potential foster and adoptive families and requiring substantial justification before young people are sent to group placements.

According to the report, there are no documented behavioral or clinical reasons for the placement of 40 percent of children in group facilities. But if their situation does warrant time in a residential setting, Mayadev says it's crucial their stay focuses on family first.

"We need to make sure we keep those as short as possible," she says. "That we're always striving to find either kinship care or looking for a foster family because those are two more positive settings for young people."

She adds, public and private agencies can collaborate to place children in family settings. In Ohio, the Dave Thomas Foundation provides child recruitment grants that target the longest waiting children in foster care.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Among 12- to 17-year-olds nationwide, 2.08 million or 8.33% report using drugs in the last month. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

In the wake of the devastating overdose epidemic in North Carolina, the state's Department of Health and Human Services is stepping up to aid …


Social Issues

play sound

In cities across the globe, including the Michigan city of Midland, various organizations are commemorating International Day of Peace today…

Social Issues

play sound

Georgia's young people could shift the political landscape of the state in the near future. New data from the Brookings Institution indicates that …


According to the EPA, tropical storms and hurricanes have become more intense during the past 20 years.(Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

In rural Alabama, where hurricanes and tornadoes are a constant threat, communities often struggle with damage and limited resources for extended …

Social Issues

play sound

A group of West Virginia Democratic delegates is calling for a special session to address West Virginia University's budget shortfall. Del. Evan …

Arborglyphs, or tree carvings, created by Hispanic sheep herders in the Medicine Bow National Forest date back to the early 1900s. (Amanda Castañeda)

Social Issues

play sound

While many Wyomingites of Hispanic descent came from Mexico, there is a lesser-known population from the old Spanish settlements of northern New …

play sound

People in rural America are five times as likely to live in so-called "ambulance deserts," areas far from an ambulance service or station, than those …

Health and Wellness

play sound

The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in Mississippi. About one in seven Mississippians lives with diabetes. Jernard A. Wells, cookbook …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021