As National Social Work Month comes to an end, child welfare advocates said social workers in New York and across the nation have complex feelings about legal permanency.
A 2024 poll from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption found 83% of child welfare workers agreed all children are adoptable. But more than a quarter said aging out of the foster care system is a more realistic pathway for older kids than finding a permanent family.
Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the foundation, said misconceptions about finding permanent housing make it harder to achieve.
“I think it’s about the barriers that they believe exist so that there’s not the kind of support for families to have these children come into their homes,” Soronen observed. “Maybe you’re creating a worse environment than keeping them in foster care and giving them the resources to age out.”
The poll also showed 67% of workers felt they did not have significant influence in helping kids find an adoptive family. Contributing factors included legal barriers introduced by state and federal policies and large caseloads, prohibiting child welfare workers from giving individual attention to each case.
Another significant challenge cited in the poll is a lack of resources for all parts of the foster care system. Among child welfare workers polled, 70% said the lack of resources and funding for them, foster families and kids aging out of foster care made finding permanent housing more challenging.
Soronen stressed more kids should see the long-term benefits of proper funding.
“This child of 17 has been in care for 10 years and you’re trying to decide if you are going to help move this child along,” Soronen noted. “There are resources and model programs available to make this work. So, it’s not only changing the attitude but giving the resources and means they can utilize to move children to permanency.”
To address funding and resource challenges facing the foster care system, New York’s 2027 budget proposal includes a $59 million funding increase for child welfare services and an almost 2% inflationary increase for the state Office of Children and Family Services.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.