Makayla is a young San Diegan who was eight weeks old when she was abandoned by her mother. In her first foster home, she was one of seven children and, after developing a medical condition, her foster mother passed her along to someone else’s care. At 10 months old, she was living with her third family and was eventually removed after their license was revoked following reports of child abuse in the home.
Angels Foster Family Network founder, Cathy Richmon, with an Angels foster child.
Christopher is another San Diego native whose parents were both incarcerated when he was born. Chris’ mom also admitted to using drugs during her pregnancy, leaving him little opportunity for reuniting with her.
Unfortunately, stories like Makayla’s and Christopher’s are far too common, even here in San Diego. There are currently more than 7,000 children in foster care in San Diego County. These children are placed into licensed foster homes, which are paid $400 per child, can accept up to six foster children at a time, in addition to their adopted or biological children, and do not go through any form of psychological screening during their approval process. Most babies born into the foster care system can expect a minimum of three placements with different foster families in the first year of their lives, according to Angels Foster Family Network, a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that is attempting to understand what is wrong with the current foster system, educate the community about these issues and make positive changes to it.
Nearly 80 percent of these children in state-licensed foster homes will end up in prison, according to Cathy Richmon, founder of Angels. She and others believe this is largely due to the ailing system that allows for overcrowded homes and under-qualified caregivers. As a past Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), she can recount stories of children she witnessed who were in incompetent homes, some suffering from life-threatening ailments as a result.
So how does she describe the link between foster care and incarceration? Richmon explains that the frequent moving of infants from one home to another can develop Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). If a child lacks a caregiver that they can bond with in the first 24 months of their life, the baby can develop this disorder, which has been linked with adult behavior, such as trouble with the law, sexual deviance, violent behavior, absence of guilt or conscience and delays in motor, language and intellectual development. While RAD is not curable, it is preventable.
Chris and Makayla are two of the 300 children in San Diego County that have been placed into homes by Angels since its inception a decade ago. Ultimately, the organization is working to raise the standards for foster homes in San Diego County. It provides its approved foster families with rigorous training and only place one child per foster home. Additionally, it is the only foster agency that utilizes psychological screening as part of the approval process.
There are a variety of ways to support this organization and allow it to continue increasing the amount of children it supports in San Diego, including financial and item donations, volunteering or becoming a foster parent. For more information, visit www.angelsfoster.com.
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