Kentucky is doing more to support foster care, but kids need your help too

Tears came to my eyes as I recently read about a fifteen-year-old boy sitting in a residential facility where he had been for 14 months. Here was a boy who simply wanted nothing more than to find the safety, love, and comfort of a family. It was one of 20 such reports I read that morning.

As we leave the month of May – Foster Care Awareness Month – we must continue to focus on caring for Kentucky’s most vulnerable populations. I am proud of the recent work Kentuckians have done to address the health and wellness of our families, including the commonwealth’s bipartisan support for Senate Bill 8 — introduced by Senator Julie Raque Adams (District 36—R) and signed by Governor Andy Beshear (D) earlier this year — that increases resources for child welfare initiatives.

I also welcome the increasingly robust dialogue and enhanced awareness among our leaders and within communities throughout the Commonwealth regarding our need to recruit more social workers and increase their wages while also closing gaps in care for individuals and families needing substance use and mental health services.

At Kentucky MENTOR, a foster care group, we believe that children thrive in family settings, and we provide at-risk youth with nurturing supports in a loving home where they can heal and move forward. Over the past year, we have leveraged our innovative care model to recognize and respond to the signs, symptoms, and risks of trauma in order to better support the needs of the children and families we serve. The results are stable placements for 90 percent of the youth discharged from our program and creating a path for 90 percent of them to meet their treatment goals. Most importantly, every child in our program reported feeling safe, accepted, supported, and satisfied with the services they receive.

This is why I have dedicated my 27-year career to empowering others open their hearts and minds to the idea of changing the future through foster care. I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience than to prepare and support families who change a child’s life.

As the Commonwealth continues to address the needs of our children and families, we are proud to be part of that momentum, providing high quality services, supporting our dedicated state and local leaders, and empowering Kentuckians – like you — with tools and resources to change a child’s life. You have the power to be the change you wish to see in the world — right here, in our beloved Kentucky.

Just like Daniel Boone proclaimed, we believe “Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place.” One in which all of our children have a home and family that loves them for who they are and who they will become.

Kenneth J. Williams is the state director of Kentucky MENTOR, a foster care agency in Louisville.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 11:02 AM.