Statistics

May is foster care awareness month.

My goal this month is to post in some medium on a daily basis to create greater awareness of needs, dispel some myths and encourage those impacted by foster care.

I’d be so delighted if you are able to join me this month. Additionally, if anything I say sparks curiosity, resonates with you or inspires you, please take the time to share that in some way with someone in your life.

It takes a community to care, to create lasting change and to build support around the vulnerable. It all begins with a conversation.

May 2: The Statistics

“Without knowledge, action is useless; and knowledge without action is futile.”

-Abu Bakr

According to the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, in 2024 there were an average of 8200 children and youth in care in Ontario each month. Over half (56%) of those were youths aged *16-22+.

Every region in Ontario is in desperate need of more foster homes in order to be able to place these children in safe, loving environments while the agency works with the caregivers to try to increase safety and well being. Many children are needing to be moved far from their home, family, school and services to be placed in a foster home. This makes the process of supporting and reunifying the family unit much more challenging. It also increases the traumatic impact on the child and the losses they incur during that separation process.

Poidata states that there are 4 841 churches in Ontario. When we compare this to the average 8200 children in care each month, this means that if each church in Ontario cared for just two children in care, there would be more than enough homes for the 1% of children who are removed from their families and in need of a safe place to stay.

So how do these families become connected to a child welfare agency?

Most of these families will get connected throuh referrals from concerned individuals such as teachers, neighbours, family members or friends. Some referrals are made by police or other public service agencies.

Everyone in Ontario, including general citizens and people who work closely with children, are required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect of a child under the age of 16 to your local child welfare agency. While this may feel like a difficult decision, it’s always best to ere on the side of caution and allow professionals to decide whether or not your concerns are in need of further investigation.

More than 125 000 calls or referrals requesting family assistance were made in Ontario in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Out of these, 63 000 (just under half) required a full child protection investigation. The rest of these referrals did not require a full investigation and/or were connected with community resources that would further equip and proactively offer protection.

When a full investigation was completed,

• 97% resulted in children and youth remaining at home with their families while agencies work alongside to offer support and buffering care
• A mere 2% of those investigations resulted in a child needing to be removed from their home and placed within the home of a family member, friend, neighbour, etc.
• Only 1% of those investigations resulted in a child or youth being removed from their home and placed into foster care

Child Welfare systems are overwhelmed, undersupported, working with minimal resources and surrounded by legal “red tape” that governs their ability to provide services and protection to children and families. Despite that, they are working diligently to provide support to families that will enable them to keep children at home with their parents. This might look like finding funding, respite or educational opportunities for caregivers. It may also include assistance for parents in navigating challenging systems and connecting them with community supports. It might look like offering 1:1 parenting coaching, group parenting classes or connecting parents with services needed.

Child Protection Workers work hard to find creative, supportive and respectful ways to support struggling families.

Contrary to popular opinion, children are not taken from families lightly and child welfare agencies certainly are not interested in removing children without proof of significant danger and only after many attempts have been made to remediate the situation in other ways.

So what can we do about these statistics?

1. Pray – Offering support to hurting, vulnerable and broken families requires much grace and wisdom. Pray for the families, youth and children represented by these statistics. Pray for the social workers and agencies on the front lines attempting to offer support to these families. Pray for families currently offering care to these children and pray that more families will step into the gap to fill these needs. Pray for churches to get involved – that as Jesus followers we would be willing to bridge the gap between child welfare agencies and Christians who are eager to care. Pray for the hands and feet of Jesus to be evident in Ontario’s foster care system in undeniable ways.

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,^[a] you did it to me.’”

Matthew 25:35-40

2. Start the Conversation – Whether this is at your dinner table tonight, in your weekly small group, your workplace or with your neighbours…start a conversation that is both factual and compassionate. The way we speak about foster care and the people within this system matters. Talk to your spouse about how you might be able to get involved as a family. Talk to your teens about the reality that many of their peers are living in. Talk to your kids about why a child at school might be having a hard time and how not all families look the same. Talk to the people in your church about how you might be able to offer care to those in your community who are struggling. Talk to foster, adoptive, kinship and customary care families about their experiences and ask how you might be able to offer support to them.

“⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

-1 Peter 4:8

3. Act – Lastly, however you are prompted by the Spirit – take action. Make a phone call to your local foster care agency or a family you know who is providing foster care. Make a plan for how you are going to support a foster family or how you might be able to help support a struggling family. Continue to educate yourself about how foster care is impacting your community and what efforts are being made to alleviate risk factors.

Thank you for caring!

-AF

*Did you know that child welfare agencies provide supports to youth “aging out” of the system up to the age of 22 and even older? There are myriads of ways you can support these young adults in your community.

Some practical needs include: housing in the form of an extra room to rent out to a youth attempting independence or lacking family support, providing transportation, mentorship opportunities, etc.

Think of all the things you didn’t know at age 18, 20 or 22. College applications, healthcare, employment opportunities…all of these are huge and scary realities that a teen emerging from foster care or a dysfunctional family environment may need support navigating.