Monterey County Calls on Community to Support Vulnerable Foster Youth

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) - The County of Monterey is trying to open doors for opportunities for foster kids in the community.
The county of Monterey is asking for your help, after officials with the county say more foster kids need homes than there are families available.

"There are fewer families able to open up their doors to maintain them in their care. So we started seeing it maybe like a few years back, maybe three years ago, when we really started to see a dip in the number of children that we were placing in home care," says Eva Jeronimo, Assistant Director with the Monterey County Department of Social Services

The county of Monterey says that 36% of California foster youth become homeless within 18 months of emancipation, while 50% of youth who have aged out of foster care, end up homeless or incarcerated.

"One of the things I've seen over the years is that when children can remain in their community of origin, so in their school of origin, in their neighborhood, with somebody who knows and cares about them, they're able to connect in a way that makes sense for them. They're able to open up, they're able to work towards the traumas they've experienced and start the healing process," says Jeronimo.

Where do foster kids go when homes aren't available?
The county says they stay at the emergency shelter, or they're placed out of the county, where they are away from their school and friends.

If you want to take a foster child out of that environment, Supervisor Wendy Root Askew says there are a few steps you need to take…

"We're always interested in having families who are curious to learn more and reach out, go through the process, to begin that training process with us. And we have lots of information available on the county website. We have an orientation that's open to anyone just curious to learn more," says Askew.

Even if you can't open your doors, there are other ways you can help.

"They can become closer, so court court-appointed special advocate and they work with the youth. They get assigned to court and they just really support their peer partner and they support the court process. That's a great way to support them. We do take, and it's really they can also do respite. If they can't do long-term placement, they can do that," says Alexis Boerlage, the program manager.

The orientation is open twice a month on Zoom.