Mike Couick
Mike Couick, CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.
In the August 2010 issue of this magazine, we brought you the story “Saving South Carolina’s Lost Children,” which examined the issues surrounding foster care and adoption in the Palmetto State.
The article was more than just a compelling read, it was a call to action, and it came as no surprise to me that members of our electric cooperatives were quick to respond. Concern for Community is one of the seven cooperative principles, and when our members learned that thousands of children lacked safe, stable homes, they didn’t just shake their heads and wonder why "somebody” wasn’t doing more to solve the problem—they got involved.
“The response to the article was overwhelming,” says Naomi Torfin, executive director of Children Come First (CCF), a nonprofit advocacy group seeking innovative approaches to foster care and adoption in South Carolina. “We realized how many people out there are willing to open their hearts and their homes.”
For all who took action, I am grateful. In addition to being the proud father of two adopted children, I am privileged to serve on the CCF board. Along with other child welfare agencies, we are collaborating with the Joint Citizen’s and Legislative Committee on Children, the United Way, the Duke Endowment and the S.C. Department of Social Services to reassess our state’s approach to children in crisis. At any given time, there are approximately 5,000 kids in state foster care, and our goal is to dramatically reduce that number by helping families stay together and by shortening the time it takes to find permanent homes for the children who need them.
Children who have been victims of abuse and neglect, or who have seen their family disintegrate in the wake of tragedy, need stability in their lives. To quote my good friend George Milner, chairman of the CCF board, “No foster youth likes the uncertainty of not having a family and not knowing where he or she will be living. Permanent families eliminate that fear and let children focus on learning how to be productive contributors to society.”
Make no mistake: Reducing the number of children in foster care, and improving the outcomes for those already there, will be a challenge. In a typical year, social service workers investigate 19,000 calls reporting abuse or neglect, representing more than 40,000 children. About 15,000 of these children are found to be at serious risk. Of those cases, 11,000 children will stay with their parents, assisted by in-home counseling and other services designed to keep the family intact, but about 4,000 children will enter foster care.
The problems that tear families apart are as old as humanity itself. So are the solutions. Volunteers who mentor foster children, become foster parents, adopt foster children and who support sound public policy on child welfare issues, are vital to the cause of creating a brighter future for kids in need. If you feel compelled to get involved, listed at left are six organizations that can use your help.