Help Us Save The Youth Of Kentucky
Kentucky’s drug-addiction epidemic is driving a dramatic increase in the number of children entering foster care, forcing the state to take urgent steps to care for neglected abandoned and orphaned children. The number of children in the foster care system waiting to find a permanent home is at an all time high. Most families want to adopt an infant, and when the child reaches the age of 8 and older the likelihood of them finding a permanent home diminishes. Most children entering the system are teens and already past the more desirable age to be adopted. This leaves children in the foster care system for years, going from home to home, and when they turn 18, they are released into society without any guidance or home.
The transition to adulthood is challenging for every adolescent, but for youth in foster care these challenges are further increased by instability. Many youth spend years in the foster care system, experiencing multiple placements and numerous disruptions to their schooling. One study found that more than 30 percent of youth in foster care had eight or more placements with foster families or group homes. Sixty-five percent experienced seven or more school changes. Most youth who leave the foster care system do not receive adequate preparation and support for their transition to independent living. Compared to other youth, foster youth are more likely to be homeless, incarcerated, unemployed, and unskilled. They are also more likely to experience physical, developmental, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Kentucky has more than 8,000 children in foster care waiting for their forever home. There is an unknown, but skyrocketing number of homeless teenagers who have aged out of foster care with no place to go. We at The Brendon P. Bachelor Foundation are focused on helping youth leaving foster care become healthy, productive adults by:
Promoting stable, permanent connections to caring adults.
Helping youth manage and meet their health needs.
Supporting economic success through education and employment programs.
Providing life skills training to help youth navigate the adult world.
Improving access to stable and safe housing.
Your donations and involvement will directly fund saving our youth from this sad epidemic. Through our programs and camps we will be fostering a new generation of youth that transitions gracefully into society so that they may become our next heroes.
Due to Kentucky’s drug-addiction epidemic hospitalizations of Kentucky newborns with addictions is high. During pregnancy, mothers who take addictive drugs can cause their babies to also become addicted. After birth, babies suffer through withdrawal, extreme irritability, inconsolability, tremors, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea and poor feeding. This is called Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). These children are then placed in the foster care system, and will remain until they find their forever home.
