A Response to a Recent Article
We have officially had our longest placement. We had a pair of siblings that stayed with us for a month, and they were reunited with their family on Thursday. I have spring break this next week, so we are taking some time off from fostering because we need a break.
Recently someone shared this article on social media, and I wanted to respond with what we have experienced in the last nine months.
I am not making a political statement. I don’t know what the policies were in 2021. The purpose of this post is to explain what things are like now. I am not an expert, but I can share what I have learned through the fostering we are doing.
The Timeline
One thing I think this article mixes up is the timeline. From the time an unaccompanied minor enters into border patrol custody, they have 72 hours to transfer the child to ORR custody. Unaccompanied children are not allowed to stay in government facilities for more than 72 hours to protect them from adults who may want to harm them.
Then they are transfered to a foster home, like ours. This article does not even acknowledge that this step exists. These foster parents have been extensively trained and received background checks and home studies.
Migrant Children will stay in that foster home for 2 weeks to 3 months while social workers collect information from children’s sponsors, including background checks and sometimes home studies. Once they have all the proper documentation, they submit it for approval. Usually, it is approved within 24 hours, and within 72 hours the child is able to be reunited with their family.
Sponsors
I’ve breifly talked about sponsors in this post. The news article makes it sound like sponsors are volunteers who care for unaccompanied minors when it says, “the adults – called sponsors – who take in migrant children.” However, sponsors are people who have some sort of relationship with the child. We have had eight children in our home since September. Of those eight, seven have had one or both parents as their sponsors. The other one had a sibling as their sponsor. So no one has gone to strangers.
Now, I am sure there are people asking, “how do you know these people were really their parents?” The children call their parents every single night. I don’t speak Spanish fluently, but I do know how to say “I love you,” and I have heard “Yo quiero mucho” on almost every phone call. The children also have supervised video calls with a social worker a few times a week.
Therefore, in addition to things like background checks and home studies, social workers have watched the children and their sponsor interact with each other.
Education that the Children Get
This article also fails to acknowledge what is done for children while they are in foster care. While children are waiting to be reunited with their families, they go to school at the foster agency. They learn things like the fact that they are not supposed to work in the US and what to do if anyone tries to force them to work.
I hope this post brings some clarity on the foster care that we are doing. It is a really important piece in preventing human trafficing and exploitation and in reuniting children with their families. If you want more information, here is an article that may be helpful.