Up to 70% of foster kids end up in human trafficking, you can help stop this

Foster kids are very vulnerable to being trafficked in our society for several reasons:

1. Often foster kids are sexually abused and have been conditioned since young children that this is the norm.

2. Often girls in foster care run away to be with their boyfriend, who often turns out to be a pimp (trafficker).

3. High percentage of youths who have been in foster care end up homeless or in shelters leaving them vulnerable.
4. Children can slip through the cracks of the DHS system, which makes them more susceptible to traffickers. 


Some Information on kids that go through the foster care system:

• Some experts estimate that 45 percent of those leaving foster care become homeless within a year
• An FBI agent in Florida estimates that 70% of trafficked kids are out of the foster care system *
• A Florida shelter director estimates that 8 out out 10 kids come out of the system *
• A California study in Contra Costa County found that a third of children placed in foster care eventually end up homeless, and 35% are arrested while in foster care
• According to the 1994 Green Book Overview of Entitlement Programs: "Several surveys conducted during the mid-1980s showed that a significant number of homeless shelter users had been recently discharged from foster care."
• A New York City survey found that between 25 and 50 percent of the young men in the homeless shelters were former foster care wards
• In Calgary a study consisted of interviews with so-called "street kids." It was found that an astounding 90 percent had been in foster care prior to winding up living on the street. 
• A study in an Illinois prison showed 80% of prisoners spent time in foster care

What we as a community can do to protect the most vulnerable of our society:

1. Get involved in a Foster Care ministry or outreach:

In OKC, Church of the Harvest is a partner of RFKC, Royal Family Kids Camp, a ministry that provides camps and mentoring to kids in the DHS system. 
In OKC The Anna's House Foundation is a special ministry working with babies in the DHS system. 
In OKC  the YWCA that helps women and children who are victims of domestic violence. 

2. Become a local CASA volunteer, Court Appointed Special Advocates.
3. Volunteer with organizations that help teach parenting skills like Family Expectations in OKC 
3. Think and pray about becoming a foster parent. This decision could literally change a young persons entire direction in life. James 1:27 says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Foster kids are America's orphans. Keep in mind some foster kids have never had a birthday party or even know their birthday. They desperately need someone not only to take care of their physical needs for a while but to believe in them and speak to their God given potential. Every person is precious and valuable to God. 


There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children- Nelson Mandela

*The information and statistics are from from the websites below:
http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/most_trafficked_children_used_to_be_foster_children

Here is some information from The Dream Center in Chicago on human trafficking and who is the most vulnerable. 

http://www.chicagodreamcenter.org/ministries/human-trafficking/
Statistics on Foster Care kids and homelessness:
http://www.liftingtheveil.org/foster14.htm