A boy named Samuel expressed having had enough of foster care after enduring three years in state care in Texas. After seeing his twelfth birthday come and go without a family of his own, he has one wish that surpasses all others: to find a “forever family” to call his own.
The people whom Samuel has met, in fact, have become his champions. One person in particular knows just how badly Samuel wants to find an adoptive family: his case worker, Katie Thomas, who describes Samuel as “great.”
“He’s funny, he’s a good kid,” Thomas said with a smile.
Samuel recalls the exact day he was placed into foster care. “I’ve been there since February 8, 2017,” he shared.
Luckily, the CPS foster program that Samuel is a part of makes time for the 12-year-old to explore his interests. During a visit to Texas State Technical College in October of 2019, Samuel was even able to show off his intelligence by trying his hand at programs designed for college students.
During a tour of the college, Samuel was treated to a hands-on lesson from a member of staff and was “able to blend in just like one of the guys,” staff observed.
A Lot of Love to Give
According to his case worker, Samuel relates well to his elders. “He loves one-on-one time with adults,” Thomas explained. “He has a harder time having one-on-one time with students, or his peers, but he’s working on that.”Thomas firmly believes that Samuel will thrive in a loving, adoptive family environment.
When asked what the word “love” means to him, Samuel responded, “It’s like you’re pouring your heart out to somebody, like, somebody that you love best, and you rely on them.”
When Samuel grows up, he has ambitions to open a residential treatment center (RTC) of his own to help other kids in the foster-care system. “He wants to show kids someday, ‘This was me when I was your age, and you can come out of it as well,’” Thomas explained.
For Samuel to have a shot at his dreams, however, he will need the stability of a real home.
“He has the capacity to love, and he wants to love,” said Thomas. “He just needs that family to take that chance on him and give him that home, like all of our kids do.”
There are currently 6,000 abused and neglected children in Texas awaiting adoption. The vast majority, over 60 percent, are over the age of 6. Sadly, the older the child is, the longer they are likely to have to wait for an adoptive family.
There were 5,040 children and teens adopted out of Texas state care in 2018. “While there are many success stories,” the TDFPS explains, “there’s no shortage of children or teens waiting for permanent homes.”
The Outlook for Kids in Foster Care
The system we know today was originally born of Children’s Aid Society founder Charles Loring Brace’s ambition to help the homeless kids of New York City. Brace’s initiative started in 1853 as the “Orphan Train Movement,” which ultimately transported over 120,000 homeless, abused, and orphaned children off the streets of New York and into rural foster homes.
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data indicated that the primary reason for children entering foster care was neglect, followed by issues arising from drug use by their biological parents.
On average, 56 percent of kids in care will have a “case plan of reunification” with their birth parents. Twenty months remains the average length of time spent in foster care, although 15 percent of children and teens in care in 2017 had been there for over three years.
In 2019, Samuel is one of these children; a long-term foster care kid. The right family, however, could make all the difference to this young boy and his big dreams for the future.
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