Last Sunday, the three Democratic candidates took the stage and debated everything between Wall Street reform, foreign policy and guns. But one issue that has gone unmentioned at each of the debates, political TV ads, and presidential stump speeches is that of homelessness, specifically child homelessness.
I have spent my entire career working closely with children, youth and families in various capacities, and once I moved to Iowa, I became personally involved as well, by becoming a foster parent. In Iowa, the Department of Human Services is working relentlessly to reduce the number of children requiring a foster care placement by providing services to keep families intact when possible, and to make sure all children and youth are safe. There has been significant progress made in these areas. However, no large-scale system is perfect, especially in the often murky, gray areas of doing the least amount of harm.
In Iowa, as across the country, there has been a lack of awareness that a large number of youth who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender are disproportionately present in the child welfare system, often informally known as the "foster care system." However, there are currently a lack of policies and "best practices" in the Iowa standards that govern the foster care system, and as a result, the unique needs of LGBTQ youth are often unmet, and there is a chance they could experience additional hostility and rejecting environments if their identity becomes known or perceived.
To address these unintended gaps in one of Iowa's major systems of care, a few colleagues and I built a statewide coalition of children and family serving organizations, mental health providers, educators, and concerned stakeholders to partner with the state to craft more effective policies. This coalition is known as AFFIRM , and our work continues today, and possibly for several years to come.
A man I much admire, Benjamin Franklin, once said something like "justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." This has become one of the defining values of my personal and professional life, along with the belief that every single child and youth deserves profound love, respect, and a safe environment in which they are encouraged to thrive. These values aren't always convenient, or socially popular, or politically expedient. As I began to examine the three Democratic candidates in this presidential election cycle, I discovered that one candidate in particular had a long-standing record of exemplifying similar values, even when it wasn't popular, politically expedient, and even in the face of extreme adversity. That candidate is the former Maryland Governor, Mr. Martin O'Malley.
After researching the candidates, I learned that in his time as governor, Martin O'Malley reduced the number of children in foster care to its lowest number in 27 years, a 50 percent decline over the course of 8 years. His administration was able to place 19,900 children into adoption, guardianship, or safely back home .
Needless to say, tackling the challenge of finding children permanent, safe homes is never easy. When he first took office as governor, 20 percent of Maryland's foster children resided in group homes. Compared to similar-sized cities, Baltimore had three times the national average of children in foster care. O'Malley's predecessor failed to collect and analyze data regularly and compounding the problems, utilized a poorly designed software system to store what information was gathered.
Upon taking office, O'Malley brought in new leadership to fix the broken system in a comprehensive manner. His staff was first directed to reform child welfare with a simple credo: Nothing matters more to a child than a place to call home. The focus was to find permanent families, update social work practices, and begin involving families in decisions affecting children in foster care.
Dubbing the program Place Matters, the administration set forth specific data-driven performance standards to measure success in key areas while developing and executing best practices found across the country and strengthening outreach and engagement with families and communities . And by all means -- they achieved results that will positively affect Marylanders for generations beyond O'Malley's tenure as governor.
I urge all of you to take the following actions: Support the candidate who has worked on behalf of all children, no matter how invisible they may have been in our collective social awareness, and caucus on Feb 1 for Governor Martin O'Malley, and consider carefully whether you can serve Iowa's most vulnerable children and youth by becoming a foster or adoptive parent.
Penny Kai McGee is the Founder of AFFIRM and a career social worker.