Small Steps Open Doors for Foster Youth

Every year, over 20,000 youth age out of the foster care system without finding a place they could call ‘home’. While all youth need family support, the physiological and psychological challenges that arise from a long-term stay in foster care make that need even more critical. The dynamic journey from youth to adulthood is already filled with obstacles, but in foster care, the absence of even the most basic support leaves scars that most children and teens will never understand. Some individuals might be able to push through these challenges, but the stats suggest that most will continue to struggle long after their time in care.

Since being named National Adoption month in 1995, November has been dedicated to raising awareness around adoption-related issues every year. The theme this year is ‘ Small Steps Open Doors,’ emphasizing the importance of small steps that we can take along the way with youth to help pave their path to permanency.

While battling instability caused by frequent relocation and an absence of consistent financial and emotional support, youths often struggle with basic decision making and extreme self-doubt. To combat this, we must offer unwavering, judgment-free love and support to youth in care. With the right support on both an individual and community level, youth can feel empowered as they navigate the challenges of growing up in foster care.

How can we support the children & youth in need?

• Offering resources for early childhood assistance to underserved pregnant women
• Working with agencies to improve the delivery of foster care services
• Mentoring children and teens on their journey toward permanency
• Providing parents with information on other HHS programs they may be eligible for
• Volunteering with community programs that benefit youth in foster care

Through this blog, we bring to you a story of unconditional love from an adoptive family. Here are some excerpts of the story shared by a beautiful family based out of the Washington DC-Baltimore Area who adopted a child.

Interviewer - Thank you for agreeing to do this interview to help us get a better grasp on adoption.

Interviewer: How did you decide to adopt?

Family: We decided to adopt when after trying to start a family for five years, docs couldn’t find an answer as to why we couldn’t conceive, even after trying various procedures to fight infertility. We knew we wanted to have children to share our lives with no matter what path it would take to achieve that.

Interviewer: What helped you make the decision to adopt?

Family: Basically our love of children helped in our decision, as well as wanting to share our lives with and have a family of our own. We just always felt like we would be missing so much by not having children of our own.

Interviewer: What advice would you give any family who is considering adoption?

Family: To apply to all adoption agencies you can (after researching to be sure they’re legit) and to tell all your friends, as you never know who will know of someone in the same situation as our daughter’s biological mom. Also, I would tell them to pray a lot and to have patience! Lastly, when you get that little baby in your arms, love, love, love them unconditionally and, as a doctor who had also adopted a child told me, don’t ever expect him/her to be like you! Love and accept them for who they are not for who you want or expect them to be!

Interviewer: Do you think technology can ease the process of adoption? What gaps would you want the new age solutions to solve?

Family: Maybe in the search technology would help, but overall, I think it needs to be more personal than using technology. If a company is able to add that personal touch, I would say technology would help. But I would be leary of scams or people adopting illegally.

We are eternally grateful to the family for sharing their experience. It is clear that love is at the center of their journey. Personal touch makes the difference.

Can technology have that ‘Personal touch’?

Human services is a highly sensitive domain, built for people from a variety of cultures and demographics. The uncertainties surrounding the adoption process can be amplified in the dynamic micro environment of the vulnerable population.

HHS agencies are undergoing a massive digital transformation that aims to provide seamless service to citizens and to improve outcomes. Today, technology needs to focus on the user experience for agency officials & citizens, and personalization is critical to making it successful. Personalized recommendations, nudges and interfaces are key elements of a technology solution that improves outcomes for citizens.

In our earlier blog on ‘ Personalization’, we discussed this subject at length. Modernized solutions should not only harness artificial intelligence to arrive at data driven population outcomes but to add a human touch that addresses the needs of users and clients.

MD THINK is a stellar example of modernization of legacy systems and we couldn’t be prouder to have contributed in their journey. Cardinality.ai partnered with Maryland Department of Human Services (MD DHS) to implement a modern Child, Juvenile & Adult Management System (CJAMS) on the MD THINK platform, a secure cloud-based technology platform for human services programs.

And the stats after the implementation of our solution are definitely promising.

Want to know more about it?

Listen to Mike Piercy, Director, Washington County Department of Social Services, as he talks about how our Child Welfare solution is providing the ability to modernize & mobilize the workforce to meet the needs of children and families.

All of that said, there are a variety of ways in which we can support youth as they navigate the foster care system. For us, this means creating innovative technology solutions that allow agencies and caseworkers to better serve children in care. For you, it may mean volunteering with community programs, working with underserved parents, or donating to organizations that support youth in care. Support for youth can take many different forms. This National Adoption Month let’s challenge ourselves to take a step forward, to find new ways to give a helping hand to youth seeking permanency. Together, we can make a difference.