It's sad to minimize a child's lives and the community effort as numbers on a page but that is the metric by which we understand the job in front of us and the effort put into changing it. Looking at the Crisis Report from July 2019 you will notice the statistics have held the same in the past couple of years changing only because of adjustments in the population of the Permian Basin. You will see from the July statistics that most (between 82% and 92%) of our kids in foster care placed outside of the county they came from. Across the region, 61% of our kids in foster care will be in homes and shelters outside of our 30 county region. We say it a lot, kids moved outside of their community will have worse outcomes than those who stay close to home. Family reunification is more likely, the child has fewer lapses in education, the court system runs smoother, the child can stay plugged into their community, and the child’s environment is that much more familiar.
This change is on the horizon. Our community is stepping up in big ways and continues to do so. Take a moment to look at what the community and churches did in our July Good Report. You will see that not only is the Network stepping up to help foster and adoptive parents but we are stepping up to prevent children from going into foster care.
We are particularly appreciative of the dozens of new items purchased for families in need. We are excited that Fairmont Park Church of Christ hosted their first ever FPNO and it was a hit! Community Bible Odessa sent their people out on serve Sunday to help us paint and hang our new signs. Through this The Attic was able to get in front of over 20 new families presenting the sad statistics and offering them way they can make an impact while doing a lot of good along the way. Our goal is to recruit families by putting their hands to work, educating them on the problem at hand and letting God lead us all to the next way we can help.
To keep the momentum into the fall would you consider helping us by giving, purchasing items on our wish list, shopping at Stein Mart to Fill The Bus, or volunteering with us? You are the hero we need!