FOSTER CARE

Statistics show only about 50 percent of foster students graduate high school. Leaving school and the system without a family can be scary, and that's why organizations in Bexar County are stepping up to make sure that transition into the world, is safe and successful.

For a local foster care organization exploding in size, there are some crucial necessities, like transportation for over 800 foster kids they serve.

Inflation is hitting nonprofit organizations that give children a safe place to sleep. Foster care homes have had to make adjustments to care for those children in need.

Two twin brothers are on a walk of life - that is being described as a true labor of love. The two hope that each step will help children who they believe are being left behind by a broken foster care system.

The state is in the process of privatizing the foster care system. Placement and casework will be left to private organizations divided into regions. SJRC Texas is now one of those main organizations. For 40 years, SJRC was mainly a large residential foster care campus.

The number of calls to the state hotline to report child abuse decreased during the early part of the pandemic, but the calls are starting to pick back up, according to local advocates.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month

**IN FOSTER CARE - APPOINTMENT ONLY FOR MEET AND GREETS** Camellia came to us as a stray, so we do... View on PetFinder

After conducting a national search, The Children's Shelter has picked their new president and CEO.

Currently, Bexar County has no children’s shelter or pediatric psychiatric hospital. So, these kids are being placed in hotels.

Foster children who age out of the system often lack support, making college seem out of reach. That's why local colleges like UTSA are taking action.

The transition from foster care to adulthood can be terrifying and even dangerous, sometimes leading to homelessness, trafficking, or unplanned pregnancy. That's why mentors are so important.

Roy Maas Youth Alternatives has been helping local children in crisis for years and its success is being recognized nationwide.

“The whole thing about McKinney-Vento is the law and to make sure that any educational...

The departure of CEO Annette Rodriguez, who led The Children's Shelter for the past decade, caps off a tumultuous year for the organization.

Children in the custody of the state are no longer allowed to be housed at The Children’s Shelter after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services terminated its contract with the shelter for its General Residential Operation.

The director of Child Protective Services for the San Antonio area cited emotional and mental exhaustion and was sharply critical of the state’s foster care agency when stepping down from her position this summer, according to a copy of her resignation letter obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders.

The grandmother of a 5-year-old boy who was killed, allegedly at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend, is raising awareness about child abuse and the need for grandparents to have better rights when it comes down to child abuse cases.

Hundreds of displaced children in Texas have fallen through the cracks of the foster care system, but there are local organizations working to make sure some of those children have a safety net as they age out.

This episode examines how a state foster care system with 15,000 children is supposed to work, the ways it’s currently failing and what you can do to help.

EAGLES Court was established in 2020. The mission is to help teen boys in foster care reach their full potential.

Advocates in Bexar County are calling on community volunteers to help foster families who need breaks and extra support.

Right now, 43 Bexar County foster children are sleeping in offices or hotel rooms because they have no where else to go. A local restaurant group is joining South Texas Alliance for Orphans to pull in donations for them.

The decision marks a triumph for a new brand of conservatism on the court, which is putting the Constitution's guarantee to the free exercise of religion at the highest level of protection.

Local nonprofit The Children's Shelter will lay off its Family Tapestry division.

On Wednesday’s KSAT Q&A, Steve Spreister and Myra Arthur spoke with Sondra Ajasin, CEO and Founder of Trulight127 Ministries, about the state removing foster children from the care of Family Tapestry.

A teenager who is gearing up for adulthood and hopes to one day become a mentor to kids in the foster care system is urging families to consider becoming foster parents to other teens.

A state-wide non-profit dedicated to helping child and youth serving organizations believes a start to improving the foster care system is understanding the challenges that cause community-based care programs to close down.

A DFPS spokesman was unable to definitively say when the contract would end but said the state would be taking over that role until “if and when” they decide to put the contract out for bid again.

Family Tapestry, the wing of The Children’s Shelter responsible for its community-based care initiative, has canceled its contract with the Department of Family and Protective Services, a DFPS spokesperson confirmed late Monday.

Twenty-three foster care children in Texas have died the past 21 months while in state custody, according to a massive report filed Tuesday as part of a decade-old federal lawsuit.

The Children's Shelter says it was a financial decision, and it expects to extend the furloughs by 60 days while it works to get the placement hold lifted.

SJRC already has about 100 children in its care. Under the contract, it would be responsible for approximately 700 more children.

SAN ANTONIO – Right now in Bexar County, more than 200 kids are waiting to be adopted. Family Tapestry has launched a new website hoping to make the process easier for potential families and also as a way for the kids to share their own stories. Texas Adoption Portal or TAP launched last month and features a profile page for every kid with what they are interested in, details about their personalities as well as information about their needs. “It’s not just about featuring them,” chief public relations officer for Family Tapestry and The Children’s Shelter Anai Biera Miracle said. Family Tapestry is hoping the portal makes it easier for potential families to step up and give some of these kids a forever home.

SAN ANTONIO – Jabez Tompkins isn’t letting foster care or a global pandemic stop him from graduating high school. He has spent the last three years at SJRC Texas, formerly St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, a campus for high-risk foster youth. He is one of 562 foster youth in Texas graduating high school this year. ”Adopt a Senior was really just aiming to give graduating foster children a graduation gift. AdLast year Beaton started the Adopt a Senior program, giving those same bags to graduating seniors, filled with gifts including $100 gift cards.

I write this article to share some things I’ve learned that I hope maybe could help anybody else who is a foster parent or thinking about fostering. As a foster parent, I’ve learned that some things just don’t work and have to be adjusted. Foster parenting not only means having to have patience with the child and the situation but with the foster care system as well. Kids are resilientThe greatest pleasure of all this is seeing how much our little one has improved, learned and grown. Related:The realities of being a foster parentSan Antonio gay couple share their experience adopting a child during pandemicThinking of adopting?

SAN ANTONIO – False stereotypes about foster kids being troubled or difficult are keeping children from the futures they deserve. As KSAT has reported, research shows it’s even harder for foster children of color. Hispanic, Black children wait longer to be adopted in Bexar County, experts sayThose stereotypes are even worse for foster children of color. To extinguish that fear, Keyes holds workshops every quarter with other churches, welfare organizations, foster kids, future foster families and advocates like Hernandez. “I want you to know, you’re going through so many placements, so many homes, so much right now.

SAN ANTONIO – Throughout the child welfare sector, experts say children of color have worse outcomes in the system when it comes to placement and adoption. Simmons, who sits on the Texas Advisory Committee on Promoting Adoption of Minority Children, said in Bexar County, Hispanic children wait the longest for adoption, followed closely by Black children. The extreme disparities have experts like Simmons reviewing parts of the system in desperate need of change. “Right now, the State of Texas has done a really great job of engaging with kinship programs reducing disparities for Black and Hispanic children,” Simmons said. Their adopted boys are Hispanic and Black, the two specific types of children that have historically and currently need adoption the most.

Ramirez, who was in the foster care system throughout her life, said she was not prepared for what she would face as a first-year university student. At 29, Ramirez is now a mentor to other foster care kids as part of the new Learning Independence Fosters Empowerment program (LIFE). “This is a coaching program that helps them create a plan.”Mahan says 45 local foster care youths have signed up for the program that started in September. The program is partly funded through Family Tapestry and legislative funds distributed through the county’s Fostering Success pilot program. Related: Federal judge says she will again hold Texas in contempt of court for failing to meet foster care reforms

San Antonio The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is desperately looking for foster families in rural communities west of Bexar County. How a San Antonio foster care campus is getting creative amid COVID-19 pandemicCheronda Tillman, a foster care and adoption recruitment specialist, said it has always been challenging to recruit in rural communities. Its always been an issue trying to increase capacity when it comes to finding families that reside in those 27 counties surrounding Bexar, especially turning our attention to our rural west, she said. However, in rural communities recruiting is more personal, she said. Upwards -- somewhere around 200 children will come into the foster care system each and every month.