Foster Care's Image Problem

Foster care has an image issue. Both public perception and internal expectations often project a negative image of a system that serves over a half million of our nation’s youth and that watches over 20,000 who leave care as legal adults each year. Open any media outlet and you will find foster youth portrayed as delinquents and foster parents alleged to be getting rich off the system or abusing the children in their care. Television shows almost always associate serial killers with some sort of disturbed and warped experience in foster care. This lopsided media portrayal of foster care has fed the current negative public perception, and recent cases of system corruption and abuse haven’t helped.

Fragmented among federal, state, and private agencies, the annual costs of foster care exceed $9 billion. Foster care at its core is a business that serves a specific community need. Stakeholders include the children who receive services, biological parents and other extended family members, foster parents, and social workers. Shareholders can be lumped into three categories: federal agencies, state agencies, and private foundations or individual contributors.

Most foster care agencies are considered nonprofit, which is a tax status and an organizational structure. These organizations must run like a business—satisfying stakeholders with a great product, providing value for shareholders, and maintaining financial sustainability. For the purpose of this article, I will be speaking globally about foster care as a social cause. Individual agencies and advocacy groups should apply these points as they relate to their specific situation and moment in time.

Best Practices In Rebuilding Brands

Most businesses have plans and resources to protect and, when necessary, rebuild their brand. They have marketing and communications specialists and budgets for advertising and public relations. The standard is that 20–30% of the annual budget is set aside specifically for brand protection through marketing, public relations, and other communications. Additionally, most businesses have operational and process improvement mechanisms in place to ensure that the highest value is returned to their shareholders. On the whole, the private business sector has adapted technology faster than have the healthcare, government, and nonprofit sectors.

Many private companies have successfully revamped their image. J.Crew found innovative products, Burberry went from a “thug” brand to one of the hottest designer labels, Harley-Davidson weeded out manufacturing inefficiencies to create high-performing products, McDonald’s paid attention to what the public was saying and responded with products and services that countered public perception, Target overcame its low-brow image by selling high-quality products at low prices, Walmart rebranded by putting a positive spin on its public reputation, Old Spice used creative ads and smart social media to produce a fresh identity, Apple developed creative products that were well made and beautifully packaged, and UPS leveraged forward-looking slogans to change public perception. In short, rebranding a tarnished image, though challenging, is possible. But it takes more than a new logo and mission statement. The following strategies are crucial:

1. Listen to public perception—perception is reality.
2. Leverage social media and creative communications—make your message viral.
3. Develop innovative products—what was great yesterday won’t work tomorrow.
4. Provide great products at great prices—stakeholders want value.

I would challenge those working in foster care to incorporate these tactics in their strategic plans and everyday operations. Our leaders can make a significant impact on the public’s perception of our cause by keeping these four points on the top of their minds and embedded throughout their organizational culture.

Telling Your Story—Listen, Reflect, Respond

We are at a moment where smart, innovative nonprofits can leverage technology to create awareness and value previously reserved for those with multimillion-dollar budgets. Technology has removed cost barriers by creating free and low-cost distribution channels. Have a great story and watch it go viral, reaching more people for just a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising. The 20–30% budgeting rule no longer applies.

The first step is to cultivate an internal awareness of public perception and public expectations to build a story. We know the public perception is one of delinquent youth, money-grubbing parents, and continued abuse and neglect, all associated with a child welfare system widely perceived as broken. By taking control and showcasing desired services, expertise, current research, and best practices, foster care agencies and advocacy groups can tell their stories and gain more command of public perception than they’ve had.

In today’s world a static message gets lost. Private agencies and advocacy groups need to tell stories of real people and real events that highlight the best of what foster care has to offer communities. Research, analysis, and real outcomes should be shared—let the numbers tell the story. Consistent practices will eventually attract better mainstream media attention, which will overshadow the racy headlines.

Create an intellectual and emotional connection to the cause through the sharing of intellectual capital, thought leadership, and heart-warming stories. Credibility and influence over stakeholders and shareholders are enhanced through engaging features and thought-provoking white papers and research.

Finally, it’s okay to not have original content all the time. As a network grows, it’s common to share or re-blog related content. The key is to include a small narrative or response as it relates to your cause. Doing this is significantly less work than creating original content, plus you’ll have a wider audience as you share with the originator’ s audience as well.

Leveraging Technology

The second step toward revamping our image is to leverage technology.

As a whole, the nonprofit world has been slower to adapt and leverage technology to its fullest potential. A lot of inexpensive or free communication and business efficiency tools are available. Those organizations that have adapted quickly have a better presence in their community, enjoy increased engagement from stakeholders and shareholders, and are bringing innovative services and products that foundations and funders desire. In an era of competition for every dollar, shareholders want the most value possible out of their community investment. Transparency and outcomes have become critical for nonprofits to negotiate sustainable rates and to win funding from foundations and individual donors.

Almost every organization these days has a Web presence. The first thing any entrepreneur does is set up a website, and the first place most people go for information is the Internet. There are free or low-cost options that should be attainable even with the smallest budget. Once up, a website needs to be a living and breathing entity. Content should be easily accessed, intuitive to navigate, and updated frequently. Finally, your website should engage with other free social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the like to expand your organization’s reach.

Not so long ago, to have a commercial or video representation of a cause would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Now any organization can create and upload to YouTube a 30-second video clip representing its cause and its thought leadership. Some of the most viral videos are creative, have a great message, and are simple. These videos can then be connected to a website to provide an engaging experience for shareholders and stakeholders. Currently the use of YouTube videos in foster care includes adoption clips, events, interviews, documentaries, testimonials, and research lectures.

Blogging is another way to get our cause’s story out. Through a series of ongoing narratives, we can share success stories, research, best practices, and other thought- provoking or inspiring pieces. Blogs are perfect because they are short and concise, carrying a one-point message. Blogs also can give community members an opportunity to respond in a comments section. Here is where your organization can have an ongoing conversation with stakeholders and shareholders.