Family Finding in Mexico

May 1st marked the beginning of National Foster Care Month, when many in America -- politicians, social workers, non-profit
agencies, adoptees and caring adults -- focused attention on the 400,000 children in U.S. foster care.  

Over one-fifth of all children (21%), however, face a specific challenge of spending years in foster care with no connection to
their families – Latino foster children.  There were 84,113 of these children in U.S. foster care as of 2011 according to Child
Welfare Information Gateway.

When a child enters foster care, state agencies are required by federal law to perform “family finding,” a process wherein a
child’s adult relatives are identified, located and notified about the child.  Social services will look for those relatives willing to
be a part of the child’s life, care for him or her temporarily or, if necessary, become a guardian and give the child a permanent
home.

The family finding process to locate U.S. relatives of non-Latino foster children has been refined to where it achieves a success
rate as high as 85%.  Kevin Campbell, Director of the Seneca Center in San Francisco, California, is the architect and leading
expert on family finding practices in the U.S.  On April 23, 2013, he stated before the Senate Finance Committee that he was
able to go online and in 10 minutes find 62 relatives for Antwone Fisher, a former foster child turned Hollywood producer.  Let’
s face it, with Google, Bing and other search engines and easy access to personal information online, you can practically find
out what your family and friends in the U.S. had for breakfast.  This is not the case, however, when trying to find personal
information, specifically in Mexico, to assist Latino foster children.

The Pew Hispanic Research Center revealed a population of 51.5 million Hispanics in the U.S. in 2011, with nearly two-thirds
being of Mexican origin.  Of the 84,113 Hispanic foster children, it’s very likely that more than 56,000 of them have either a
grandparent or other adult relatives in Mexico, possibly including a birth parent, who are beyond the reach of search engines.

In addition, the Departments of Human Services of individual states have woefully inadequate procedures in place to locate
these children’s relatives.  Many state agencies have contracted out their family finding activity to non-profit organizations.  
Despite the good intentions of these agencies, Campbell has voiced serious concerns about the nationwide lack of due diligence
exerted on behalf of these children.

Concerning family finding in Mexico, Campbell writes:

“Connecting individuals to their families is vital to improving safety, well-being, and permanency outcomes for our most
vulnerable youth.  Conducting a hopeful search for an individual in Mexico requires additional knowledge and information
differing from the United States.”

During interviews, several U.S. family-finding specialists and supervisors have commented about struggling and “hitting a wall”
when it comes to locating relatives in Mexico.  Some have been more candid in saying they had “no idea” how to find these
family members.  Dedicated social workers experience frustration when they attempt family finding in Mexico because they
lack the training and/or resources to succeed.

Because of that, Hispanic children may spend years without contact with Mexican family members. Presently, a young Latina
in foster care may have a birth mother or grandmother who has no idea their little girl is in a government facility. Along with
many other foster children, this girl may suffer emotionally while in foster care.  Martin Guggenheim, President of the National
Coalition for Child Protection Reform, wrote, “For a young enough child, it [being removed from their home] can be an
experience akin to a kidnapping.  Children feel they must have done something terribly wrong for which they are being
punished.”  

The end result is that this young Latina is now separated from her family and probably surrounded by social service workers
who don’t speak Spanish or understand her culture.  She is very likely to remain in a facility alone for years simply because
states and their non-profit partners are not performing effective family finding as mandated under federal law in the Fostering
Connections Act of 2008.

Antoine Morrison, one of world’s leading experts on Mexico, would ask two qualifying questions of social service workers
charged with family finding: “Have you done this before?” and “Have you done this in Mexico?”  Some social workers and
supervisors bristled when asked about their success rate finding family members in Mexico, but none has been able to give a
range during interviews as to the number of cases they handle monthly.  Further, none has stated that they have been 100%
successful or explained why some cases didn’t result in locating relatives.  The bottom line is that thousands of Hispanic foster
children languish for years in county institutions while untrained staff applies U.S. family-finding techniques that fare poorly in
Mexico.

Fortunately, over the last five years, some judges have begun to demand that agencies exert more effort to locate relatives in
Mexico.  Without this attention, many more children would suffer years of isolation from their families. One Mexico family
finding case that my company handled involved a foster child under the care of a county agency on the East Coast. The only
time the social worker would take quick action on our requests for documents and information was when he was scheduled to
go before the family court judge who demanded updates showing progress.  Without the pressure the judge placed on this
social worker, it’s very likely that the case would have dragged on for more than a year.  Instead the case was closed within a
few months, the child was adopted by a loving family, and the county saved thousands of dollars in foster care costs.  

Having parents deported forces children into foster care.   This not only breaks apart families but creates a tremendous
financial burden on individual states and agencies. In early 2011, nearly 1,500 children in San Diego and Los Angeles counties
were placed in foster care because their parents were deported, most of them to Mexico.  If these children were to stay in
foster care for the average duration of 23.9 months, the cost to these counties would be $191+ million.  Yet excluding these
cases, every year there are tens of thousands of Hispanic children, both U.S.-born and those from Mexico, who are isolated
and disconnected from Mexican relatives who, in most cases, would at least be willing to provide “emotional permanency” for
the child.

A new, hot topic being debated in several states is that of extending the time children stay in foster care by raising the age limit
from 18 to 21.  In many states, children are forced out of foster care when they “age out” at 18.  If you remember back to
when you were 18, you may not have been quite ready to go out on your own.  Even if you were, experts agree that the
majority of teenagers are simply not mature enough to handle living on their own and make a success of it.  However, even
increasing the age to 21 does not guarantee a bright future for these children.

Shocking stories were given during the Senate Finance Committee hearing about what happens to children who age out of
foster care.  Author Antwone Fisher, subject of the film “Antwone Fisher,” shared his experiences after he got dropped off at a
hotel with $60 in his pocket:

“There we [foster children] were on the street and in the world alone wondering how we were going to fend for ourselves.
Winter came and I was still out on the streets constantly searching for food and stealing it when I felt I had no choice,
panhandling, running and hiding from predators, bullies, and every situation that would bring me in contact with the shady
people and the police.”

Fisher was fortunate that he was able to get into the Navy before he ended up dead, on drugs or in prison. Many other foster
children aren’t so lucky. Government studies document that foster children suffer because of disrupted education, as well as
physical, emotional and sexual abuse while in foster care.  The Indiana Youth Project estimates that 22% of foster children will
be homeless once they age out while another 25% will end up in prison within two years. The project also noted that 25.2% of
children will “suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), twice the rate of U.S. war veterans.”

To highlight the cost to you and society, Gary Stangler, Executive Director of Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, shared
with the committee that his organization “will release a report in May that very conservatively estimates the cost of poor
outcome for one cohort of young people aging out of foster care to be $8 billion dollars over their lifetime.”
With billions of dollars in real costs for caring for these children while in foster care and the projected billions in social services
they will need once they age out, this problem impacts the future of all of us and our children, whether we are Latino or not.  

Fortunately, there are simple and cost-effective solutions that can put Hispanic children in contact with their family members in
Mexico and start the process to move them out of foster care.  Specialized family finding services exist at a faction of the cost
presently incurred by states to keep children in foster care.  

Funding should not be the problem for agencies needing to conduct effective family finding in Mexico. Kern County’s
California Permanency for Youth Project stated in a 2008 report:

“Over $200,000 a month could be saved if only 37 youth were placed, resulting in millions in annual savings. The calculations
provide solid cost justification for permanency programs, aside from the immeasurable benefits that come from providing youth
with homes.”

Yet until more funding is earmarked for family finding efforts outside the U.S., Hispanic foster children are at risk of staying in
institutions or being adopted while their family members remain out of the picture.

Sometimes change takes place because we, the People, take action. You can make a difference by contacting your favorite
Latino organization and telling them to champion the cause of these children who desperately need not only a voice but
concerted action on their part. Their advocacy can start with demanding that better family finding service be provided by state
and federal agencies. After all, it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the law.  

You can be part of the solution by becoming a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer.  This allows you to
become the voice in court for these children.  As a CASA you can push for quality family finding and help ensure their relatives
are found and notified.  The emotional rewards could be richly satisfying.

During National Foster Care Month, take time to consider the hundreds of thousands of children who are in U.S. foster care.  
If you have children or young nieces and nephews, be grateful they will spend this month knowing who their family is and
living among people who love them.  Their present is stable and safe, while their future is open and full of opportunities.

Then do one more thing: think about the 84,113 Latino foster children who have no control over their lives. They’re separated
from their parents and families and probably traumatized by their surroundings. Instead of spending time living and loving with
their families, these children are alone.  No child deserves that.

But you can be a hero to a child by becoming a foster parent, a CASA volunteer or by engaging with your local and state
representatives to encourage more support for family finding efforts in Mexico.  Together, we can create the awareness and
actions necessary to help connect all foster children with their families so they have a chance at a brighter, healthier and happier
future.