A single tear made a path down Daniel Martin?s right cheek just before he spoke at the Statehouse on Monday about what Kansas foster care meant to him.
Martin entered the foster care system when he was 15 and through the help of social workers and employees at the independent living centers that became his home, Martin has succeeded in ways he once thought weren?t possible.
Martin graduated from Newman University last weekend and is seeking a master?s degree in public administration from Wichita State University. He also works for the Department for Children and Families now, helping children who, like him, suddenly find themselves without a home.
?The people that actually became kind of a second family to me were the different workers,? Martin said. ?They showed me there?s nothing that can keep me from achieving my goals other than myself.?
Even after ?aging out? of the system, Martin said he is still in contact with many of the workers who helped him.
While Martin has become a success story, Brownback and Children and Families Secretary Phyllis Gilmore said Monday that the goal is to find ?forever homes? for all foster children in Kansas, even those who enter the system late, like Martin.
?We?re going to ask that you all help us remind the citizens of Kansas that we need certainly more foster parents especially for the older children who are about to age out of the system,? Gilmore said during a news conference Monday.
Brownback, who has adopted children, said Kansas currently has 5,636 children in foster care. He signed a proclamation declaring May ?Foster Care Month? in Kansas.
?All young people in foster care need a meaningful connection to a caring adult to become a supporting and lasting presence in their lives,? Brownback said. ?Foster, kinship and adoptive families who open their homes and hearts in support of children whose families are in crisis play a vital role in helping children and families heal and reconnect, thereby launching young people into successful adulthood.?
While many foster care placements are temporary and last until children can reunite with their biological family, department official Gina Meier-Hummel said 990 Kansans are children of those who have had their parental rights terminated and are therefore in need of an adoptive family.
Meier-Hummel said the number of children in foster care has been rising, and identified economic conditions and substance abuse as two of the main causes.
The governor was flanked by other former foster children and foster families Monday, including Christian Sauerman, a Washburn University student who now works with the Kansas Youth Advisory Council, a group within the Department of Children and Families that advocates for youth in the foster care system.
Sauerman said the council is working to improve communication between court officials and youths in the system to ensure those youths have input into decisions about their care.
Dressed in a stylish shirt, tie and vest that drew plaudits from Brownback, Sauerman looked on his way to success similar to Martin?s.
?When I was 15 I never thought I?d actually be here,? Martin said. ?Because of all the support I got from the foster care system I?ve been able to actually achieve the dreams I never thought would happen.?
Source: http://cjonline.com/news/2013-05-13/governor-pushes-more-foster-families
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