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Every Child TN is a statewide initiative to mobilize all Tennesseans to care for children, youth, and families before, during, and after foster care. The success of addressing this in your community heavily relies on the active engagement of your faith community. By preserving families, recruiting new foster families and retaining existing foster families, we aim to ensure the safety, stability, and well-being of every child across the state of Tennessee. 

 

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The Importance of Engaging Your Faith Community in Three Priorities

Meeting Tangible Needs (Family Preservation)
Keeping families together is our goal when it is in the child's best interest. There are times when families need tangible items to prevent their children from entering custody, during foster placements, or when reunifying a child with their family. Preservation is a top priority, and using the CarePortal enables faith communities to not only meet tangible needs but also to begin building relationships with the families in need.

Foster Family Recruitment
Each faith community is uniquely distinct, emphasizing the importance of developing a tailored strategy for engaging in serving vulnerable children. Prioritizing recruitment within your community—whether for fostering families or other forms of service—is crucial. TN Kids Belong partners with faith communities to help design and implement their recruitment strategies, enhancing their capacity to serve vulnerable children in their community.

Foster Family Retention
Supporting foster families is essential to ensure their continued success, and faith communities are ideally positioned to provide this support. While not everyone will become a foster parent, everyone can support one. Retention is a key priority, and FAM, powered by Promise686, facilitates easy engagement for faith communities to support families within their own community or those referred by their local Department of Children's Services office.

Why are these three priorities important?

  • 76% of child welfare cases are neglect related to poverty. 

  • There are over 8,000 children in state custody and less than 5,000 approved foster families.

  • Up to 50% of foster families quit within their first year of foster parenting.

View National Statistics by expanding the link below:
National Statistics
  • There are over 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system.
  • 33% of homeless young adults ages 18-25 had once been part of the foster care system.
  • At least 5 of the top 10 leading causes of death are associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences. (ACEs)
  • 7 out of 10 girls who age out of the foster care system will become pregnant before the age of 21.
  • Nearly 60% of young men who age out of the foster care system and are legally emancipated have been convicted of a crime.
  • About 1 in 4 kids who age out of the system will not graduate from high school or be able to pass their GED.
  • 46% of children in foster care are placed in nonrelative homes.
  • A third of children in foster care lived in at least three different places; 20% had lived in four or more.
  • High school dropout rates are 3x higher for foster youth than low-income children.
  • Nationwide, only about half of youth raised in foster care end up finishing high school. And less than 3% graduate from a 4-year college.
  • Over 40% of school-aged children in foster care have educational difficulties.
  • The median age of the children in foster is 8 years.