8,000 foster youth in Tennesse

Foster care program vital this time of year

Tennessean, December 22, 2010.

Of the 200,000 or so children around the country who entered foster care last year in the United States, some 8,000 of them resided in Tennessee.

And of that 8,000 in Tennessee, around 1,000 entered the foster care system in Rutherford County.

"We have so many children who come in every single day," said Lauren Johnson, a senior recruiter and trainer for foster care treatment for Youth Villages, a Memphis-based nonprofit national leader in offering programs and services to help children and their families.

Johnson recruits and trains within eight Middle Tennessee counties, including Rutherford, Cannon, Robertson, Cheatham, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson and Trousdale counties.

"Our mission is to help children and their families live successfully," she said. "And that's not necessarily their birth family, but also could include their foster, adoptive or care-giving families."

And that is especially so during the holiday season.

"This time of year can be really sad for children within the welfare system if they are not with a stable and loving family," Johnson said. "That's the biggest thing we ask of families to provide the children."

Founded in Memphis in 1986, Youth Villages has offices in 10 states and the District of Columbia. According to its website YouthVillages.org, the private nonprofit organization "provides a fully integrated continuum of services, including residential treatment, in-home services, foster care and adoption, mentoring and a transitional living program for young adults aging out of foster care."

Locally, Youth Villages started offering foster care informational and instructional classes taught by Johnson last October. Another series of classes starts Jan. 15 for seven straight Saturdays from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at First Baptist Church at 200 E. Main St.

"The more homes we have, the better we are able to match up these homes to children," Johnson said.

Part of Johnson's battle is perception concerning foster care.

"A lot of people don't realize what foster care is, how it has changed, or that it is even out there," she said. "A few decades ago, people saw a lot of foster care as orphans and the system was a little bit broken. We have come leaps and bounds. There is so much support offered to families for them to be successful with these children in their homes."

There are other ways to become involved other than becoming a foster parent, including mentoring, where adults work directly with youths without housing them.

"The mentoring program gives a child someone to look up to as a positive role model and just have somebody to hang out with," Johnson said.

Last year around 29,000 young adults nationally were "aged out" of the foster care system without a safe and permanent family in which to reside. Several programs target those young adults, including a Transitional Living program at Youth Villages.

For more information, contact Johnson at 615-250-7318 or visit Youth Villages.org/foster.