April 15, 2014
early 640,000 young people depend on caseworkers to keep them safe in U.S. foster care each year. But with little training, unmanageable caseloads and long hours on small salaries, adequately protecting kids can be difficult. And, as we see in the cover story of Notes From the Field, the effects can be devastating.
“If he would have noticed that I was completely shut down, I would have never been abused in so many ways,” Steffanie said of her caseworker. “If somebody would have asked me, and told me that they cared about my well-being, I would have spoken up.” You’ll hear more from Steffanie, and others, in our In Focus feature: “For Overwhelmed Caseworkers, Protecting Kids Can Be a Struggle.”
Be sure to check out details on our second annual Fostering the Future campaign In this issue, we introduce you to several inspiring writers who share their raw and personal stories about life in state care for our signature blog-a-day project for National Foster Care Month.