Community Support for Children in Foster Care

Introduction
This student’s interest in the welfare of children placed in foster care began with an internship in a local foster care agency. After determining a need held by most of the foster youths, this student sought out verification from administrators, direct service providers and the clients themselves through personal interviews. An in-depth literature review supported this student’s findings with factual information. The following is a brief description of how this student attempted to assist children placed in a particular residential treatment facility in the local area.

Statement of Need
Children who are placed in out-of-home care, and spend a significant amount of time in state placement, often suffer from depression, anxiety, stigmatization, and fall behind academically. Christian(2003) related that, “The poor academic performance of these children affects their lives after foster care and contributes to higher than average rates of homelessness, criminality, drug abuse, and unemployment among foster youth ‘graduates’” ( p.1). This population faces many disparities that cannot be prevented, or solved, by society or their immediate communities. However, individual communities can reasonably affect the lack of educational tools available to foster youths. For the purpose of this project educational tools include, but are not limited to: backpacks, pens, pencils, highlighters, leisure and educational books, white-lined and construction paper, calculators, 8x5 cards, and flashcards.

This student had recently begun working within a residential group home for girls ages twelve to seventeen. These youths had been labeled severely emotionally disturbed (S.E.D.) for several reasons. One of the first problems noticed by this student was the lack of educational tools available to these particular girls. The facility managers were required to use the house petty cash to purchase such items; these funds were often inadequate. Interviews preformed within this local agency revealed that administrators, direct service providers, and clients all felt that the youth’s household could use readily available schools supplies. If these educational tools became available to this population, as they would be for most children in normal living situations, their chances at educational success could be greatly improved.

Intervention
This student proposed a project which included soliciting community businesses, in the Chico and Paradise areas, for the needed supplies. The possible donors included retail businesses, wholesale warehouses, office supply stores, discount stores, and other similar community businesses. The potential donors were contacted by mail, on-line application, and in person during the months of February and March 2005. This student’s goal was to raise $700, and/or enough supplies to furnish twelve children. The needed supplies were expected to begin arriving during April and May of the same year. The supplies that were acquired were used to provide the current residents of a local group home for girls with an adequate amount of the necessary tools and create a stock for future residents. The steps of implementation were left with this agency for future use by facility staff.

Soliciting donations for a non-profit agency requires an early start, and the involvement of several different divisions of the agency. This student was required to obtain agency permission from an administrator to use the agency letterhead for donation correspondence. This included developing a written description of the intended project. This student then utilized the agency fundraising coordinator and residential staff to determine past community donors, and the success of earlier attempts. Independent research was also necessary to determine new donors who could be contacted.

Developing a persuasive letter of solicitation was the next step in this project. This student accessed assistance from the agency accounting director, an administrative assistant, and also information available on the internet to produce an affective letter of solicitation. This letter was then approved to be printed on the agency letterhead, and mailed to prospective donors the first week of March 2005. While waiting for responses, a letter of gratitude which included the agency tax-exempt status number was produced by this student. These letters were sent to all organizations contacted, including those who chose not to donate.

Evaluation
This student evaluated the success of this project in several manners. First, the time-frame developed for the tasks of this project should have been longer. This student was able to complete these tasks promptly, yet, more care could have been taken with more time available. Also, more community donors could have been researched and contacted, if this student had begun working on the project earlier in the semester. Second, compared to the amount of donors contacted, the responses were not abundant. This student contacted 24 community businesses, both privately owned and larger corporations. As of April 15, 2005, only three of these contacts replied.

The more positive aspects of evaluating this project are as follows. This student’s goal was to receive $700 by the end of May 2005. Though only three contacts replied, they did so well before the ending date of this project and their donations totaled $875. The donors were Big Al’s Drive In (a privately owned business) in Chico, CA, Office Depot, and Wal-Mart. The letter produced by this student proved to be affective in encouraging donations for this particular non-profit organization’s need. The residential facility manager was impressed with the results of this project, and is waiting for an example of this student’s work to use in the future. This student is waiting for any donations that have yet to arrive. As of this date, this student has made arrangements with the house supervisor to purchase the needed items.

This student is meeting with the girl’s residential facility supervisor the end of May 2005. During that time this student will purchase the needed items with the donated funds. Evaluating the success of the final outcome will be done at that time. Success will be based on the quantity of items this student is able to obtain with the donated funds. Unfortunately, this student will no longer be placed with this agency to receive feedback from the youths who will benefit from this project.

Reflections
This student began the senior year intern placement with little notion about what this particular population would be in need of. After only two weeks, the need for more readily available school supplies became apparent. This student was reluctant to attempt soliciting donations to meet this need due to the likelihood of failure assumed to occur. Fortunately, this student’s agency contacts and social work professors saw this community project to be possibly successful, and encouraged its induction. Self-doubt was the first major challenged encountered and overcome while developing this project.

This student gained knowledge of more than how to initiate a community project. Learning which departments and administrators were responsible for approving and ensuring the proper steps was taken by this student was beneficial to the knowledge base of this intern. This student was unaware of the fact that some donors may require agency tax information. Becoming familiar with the guidelines of soliciting donations for a non-profit agency was another educational benefit of this experience. The employees of this agency made accessing this information from the correct administrators occur with ease. The assistance of the agency staff had a profound affect on the success of this community project. One person can not hold sole responsibility for a project of this type being successful. This student was able to openly interview, and question all employees approached for direction and/or information. Having a had previously established relationship as an employee, not only an intern, made this even more beneficial. This student would like to appreciate all who helped create a successful project, and improve the educational supplies with which this population will use to learn. It is people like you, and those who donated that make helping youths in this community possible.

This student would encourage others to initiate, or take part in, a community based project to solicit donations for the improvement of the lives of needy populations. The benefits of taking on such a project are not only to the recipients of donations, but also to those involved in soliciting for the recipients. The personal satisfaction gained from all aspects of involvement, not only the outcome of the project, will be a life long sentiment. If repeating this, or a similar project, is attempted this student would make two imperative suggestions. Never doubt what you, as person and as a professional, can do to make positive changes in the lives of others. Allow yourself to trust your ideas, even if they seem to be difficult to achieve in the beginning. Finally, establish relationships with as many people as possible within the agency you are attempting to solicit donations for. These people are not only imperative to a successful working relationship, but also ensuring that all avenues of financial documentation are attended to. This student’s project would not have been a success without learning these important lessons.

References

Administrator I, Anonymous, personal communication, October 15, 2004.
Administrator II, Anonymous, personal communication, October 15, 2004.
Client I, Anonymous, personal communication, October 13, 2004.
Client II, Anonymous, personal communication, October 13, 2004.
Direct Service Provider I, Anonymous, personal communication, October 20, 2004.
Direct Service Provider II, Anonymous, personal communication, October 13, 2004.
Christian, S. (2003). Education children in foster care. National conference of State Legislators; Children’s policy initiative, Dec.