WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of teenagers go through the foster care system in the United States every year, but many of them have a harder time finding a permanent home compared to babies and young kids.
Channel 2 Washington Correspondent Samantha Manning spoke to a national nonprofit whose mission is to change that.
The Durard family already had a teenager in the house when they chose to open their home to foster kids in need.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“We weren’t ready to be empty nesters, but we were not ready to be starting over with kids with diapers,” Carrie Durard, an adoptive parent, said.
That’s how the family discovered their passion for helping older foster children, ages 12 and up. They’ve since fostered more than 20 young people, and have become adoptive parents, too.
“Our second teenager came to us at the age of 15 and we were able to adopt him at the age of 18 and it has been the most rewarding experience of our lives,” Durard said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Firefighters battle large fire at Pentecostal church in Buford
- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade: Jonesboro marching band puts on a majestic performance
- ‘I didn’t want to die’: Man jumps out of roller coaster after lap bar unlocks
Teenagers often wait twice as long to be adopted as younger children, and studies show while teens aged 13 to 17 make up 23% of the foster care system, they account for only 12% of those who get adopted.
Kids often enter foster care through no fault of their own, having faced neglect, abuse or abandonment.
“All they need is a loving, stable home that many right now that are watching this could give,” Durard said.
The Durard family started the nonprofit Jonathan’s Path, dedicated to helping teens in foster care access the resources they need and to help find permanent homes.
The nonprofit is named after their adoptive son’s brother who died after being severely neglected.
“Those that have been bouncing home to home, county to county, school to school, endlessly, it’s hard for a kid to do that and have any sort of future and so, the Jonathan’s Path program is really meant to stabilize their path forward,” Durard said.
Because children in foster care generally have experienced some form of trauma, parents who adopt from foster care undergo specific training to be able to help the kids heal.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2024 Cox Media Group
