On Deck Foundation

The inherent idea behind the On Deck Foundation is to promote healthier lifestyles and success for underprivileged, "at-risk," and "high-risk" children and communities. Within some of these communities, there are children experiencing all of the above. There is, and always will be, a special interest placed on wards of the state and foster-care. This idea is played out through awareness and outreach programs established, facilitated, and supported by the On Deck Foundation.

Below are statistics of how the system has been doing raising these children. Foster children are not criminals like the numbers lead many to believe.. They are being raised by staff in a system failing to give this population the necessary tools to succeed. The numbers tell the story. The foster system contains some of the most talented youth in all areas. Each child in the system has a very unique gift, once found, the child experiences immediate self worth automatically increasing percentages of success. The problem is that there aren’t many, if any, programs to discover and develop these children's skills to turn them into tools for adulthood.

*Group Homes in the state of CA is 1266 as of 6.10.10

*LA County 219 (view) | Orange County 61 (view) | San Bernardino 68 (view) | Riverside 90 (view)

Caregivers are required to provide children with transportation to medical
appointments, school, and activities unless otherwise arranged [(FFH
Regulations Section 89374(c)(1) through (3)].

Foster Care Statistics

· 80% of the US prison inmate population was in the foster care system (US Dept. of Justice, 2005)

· 70% of California's inmates have been in the foster care system (Sacramento Bee article by John Burton [chairman of the CA Democratic Party and chairs the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes)

· Children are 11 times more likely to be abused in State care that they are in their own homes. (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect [NCCAN])

· 90% increase of children and youth in the US foster care system since 1987. (Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support *CASEY FOUNDATION*)

· 3 out of 10 of the nations homeless are former foster children. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care are 3 to 6 times more likely to have emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems including:

· Conduct disorders

· Depression

· Difficulties in school

· Impaired social relationships

(Casey Foundation*)

· Approximately 30% of foster children have marked or severe emotional problems. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children and youth in foster care tend to have limited education and job skills and perform poorly in school compared to children NOT in care. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care lag behind their education by at LEAST one year and have lower educational attainment than the general population. (Casey Foundation*)

· Children in foster care are 5.25 times more like to die as a result of abuse than children in the general population. (CPS Watch Inc.)

· 2.1 % of ALL CHILD FATALITIES took place in foster care.

**Since "state care is supposed to be a 'safe-haven', the number of fatalities should have been less than the child fatalities of the general population (less than 0.4%). However, child fatalities that occurred while in foster care were 5.25 times greater than that amount." (CPS Watch Inc.)

See full article at TEAR's for Family Continuity

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