Compass

Often stories are read in the paper or seen on television of high profile child abuse cases. Children are abused and we cry for justice for their perpetrators. What is unseen, though, is what happens with those kids in between the headlines, in between the abusive situation and the court trials. These children, who are located in the Kearney area, are often removed from their home quickly, taken to an office somewhere, whether at the police station or the Department of Health and Human Services or foster care agency, and wait until they are taken to a stranger’s home. No one thought to pack their favorite teddy bear or doll. There were no clean clothes to take along, and basic items like toiletries are either nowhere to be found or forgotten. These children are isolated and scared and they enter someone else’s home with almost nothing but the clothes they are wearing.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Service, in 2011 there were approximately 400,540 children placed in out-of-home care. In Nebraska on June 30, 2012 there were 4,313 children placed in foster care. Compass typically serves the counties of Buffalo, Kearney and Phelps. On December 31, 2011 there were 111 children placed in out-of-home care in these three counties (according to the Nebraska Foster Care Review Office’s 2012 Annual Report.) Compass plans to make 40 new placements in the year 2014. This is based on the average number of children placed with Compass foster homes in the past seven years and the recruitment of new foster parents in the last year.

According to the Nebraska Foster Care Review Office’s 2012 report, “Most children in foster care have lived in chaotic, stressful environments prior to their removal from the home. Some have had pre-natal and/or post-natal exposure to alcohol and/or drugs. Some moved often, even during the school year.” These children are at a great disadvantage to transitioning to a new home.

While foster families and foster children adjust to the new placement, stress is added to the situation by not having basic essential items, and often the placement occurs at inopportune times when a trip to the store for essential items is not possible or is highly inconvenient for foster parents and child safety workers. One foster parent said, “When he came he had nothing. Ryan (Stanton-Compass Executive Director) went to Walmart on Thanksgiving morning to get him a package of underwear!” These children who have been through so much trauma do not have anything of their own. Compass asked its foster parents what would be helpful to have when children are first placed. Hygiene items like tooth brushes and toothpaste topped the list. They also included stuffed animals and fleece blankets as items that would greatly benefit the children. Now upon placement, each child placed in a Compass foster home is provided with a bag of age and gender appropriate essential items.. While $50 per bag seems like a lot of money, when it is realized that these children will need to be supplied with nearly everything they need, it really becomes a small investment to enhance the quality of life of these at-risk children. The first week the children are in placement they will need socks, underwear, possibly shoes, winter apparel, pants and shirts, hygiene items, toys and books. Younger children have more needs including formula and diapers. Sometimes foster homes need additional beds to place larger sibling groups. Compass often provides these for families as needed.

This project does more than just alleviate a financial burden however; it effectively responds to the needs of children and families by providing an immediate relief to a stressful situation and gives a sense of ownership to children who have been removed from everything they know. When the children and foster families have a smooth transition, they can begin the process of healing and being restored back to their biological families sooner, if possible.