More than half a million children are currently trapped in the foster care system.
Being removed from a home and placed in foster care is a difficult and stressful experience for any child. Many of these children have suffered some form of serious abuse or neglect.
The Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association based in Independence is going to some extraordinary lengths, including hiring private investigators, to try and locate family members who might be willing to adopt a hard to place child who might otherwise languish for years in the foster care system.
They call their program “Extreme Recruitment” and last year they found homes for 22 foster children, including a home for 10-year-old Demaje, whose mother abandoned him in Kansas City. In January, Demaje’s uncle was awarded temporary custody by Jackson County Family Court. Demaje has returned to his family in California.
The Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association says they hope to find homes for forty children this year as part of their extreme recruitment program.
That segment was produced by Bryan Shepard at LINC, a KCPT partner organization which works to improve the lives of children and families in the Kansas City region.
