- Welcome back to "NewsWatch."
On Wednesday, the presidentsigned an executive order
to strengthen childwelfare programs in the US.
It'll provide more supportfor adoption programs,
foster care families and families at risk.
Joining us now withmore is Kimberly Offutt.
She's the national fostercare and adoption director
for Bethany Christian Services
and she has adopted four children
from the foster care system.
Welcome Kimberly.
- Thank you, glad to be here.
- First of all,
you've been working during this pandemic
to continue placing childrenwith foster care parents
and adoptive parents.
How has COVID-19 affected your work?
- Ooh, the greatest impactthat we are seeing right now
is a delay in reunificationand a decrease in families
willing to serve as foster parents.
COVID truly has had a devastating impact
on our re-unification efforts
of those children whose parents
have worked so hard to regain legal
and physical custody of their children.
Many biological familieshave lost their income,
their housing and support.
Court proceedings were delayed
and in-person visits were not possible.
And as an organization,we've just had to pivot.
Recruiting families willing to open up
their homes to new childrenin the middle of a pandemic
has been understandably difficult,
but it hasn't been impossible.
So we've been hostingvirtual information meetings
and trainings and even support groups
for our foster and adoptive families.
- Now, we know that thereare more than 400,000 kids
in the foster care system
and that 20,000 children ageout of the system every year,
finding themselves at age18 with no permanent family.
Many of them go on to college,
but then have become homeless
during the pandemic ascampuses have closed.
What can you tell us about these kids?
- See, we've all seenthe statistics of what
happens when children age outof the foster care system.
Too many of them become instantly homeless
when they age out, when they turn 18.
And then within two years,
these children can become homeless,
like we said, on drugs or incarcerated,
where yet another system,
the criminal justicesystem, is raising them.
And then we're right inthe middle of a pandemic
and you see youth, like you said,
who've worked so hard to enter college
and then the dorms closed.
So now what?
It's so important aswe look at the changes
that have been proposedin this executive order,
it is so critical,
improving those resources thatwill provide enhanced support
for kinship care and older youth
exiting foster care is vital.
- The president's executive order aims
to provide more resources for caregivers,
including trauma-informed training.
How will this help the kids?
- Oh, the trauma-informed training
definitely will help the kids
because our parents willhave a better understanding
of what the impact of traumawill be on the children.
Kids who enter foster care
enter foster care becauseof abuse and neglect
and their behaviors that they display
comes and stems from their trauma.
And so if we have familieswho understand trauma
then they can keep these children safe,
they can bring them to healing
and wholeness within their home,
and then you'll see moreof a better transition
in the families and safety andsecurity with those children.
- The executive order alsowill strengthen partnerships,
I understand, between stateagencies and public-private
and faith-basedorganizations like Bethany.
What are you hoping to see happen?
- Well, I'm telling you this,
we definitely applaud theexecutive order's approach
because it underscoresthe need for all groups,
government, states, nonprofitpartners, faith communities,
and families to work better together
for the sake of vulnerable children.
One sector of society can'tmeet this need on its own.
It takes all of us working together.
So we're very, very excited about this
and grateful for the opportunity
to continue working with them on that.
- All right, Kimberly Offutt
with Bethany Christian Services,
thank you for your time.
And also thank you for your efforts,
including adopting four children yourself.
- Thank you.
- Blessings to you.
