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Article: Foster Care: Does It Deliver? ; A New Statewide Report Suggests Lancaster County Children In Foster Care Languish Too Long In The System Before Finding Secure, Permanent Homes.
- Article from:
- Lancaster New Era Lancaster, PA
- Article date:
- December 2, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Lancaster New Era Lancaster, PA. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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For children in foster care, the journey to a stable home is long
and sometimes never ending.
Here in Lancaster County, the median length of stay for a child
in foster care is 19 months, according to a new report.
Of the 517 children in foster care in Lancaster County as of
March, when the report was written, 128 had been in the system for
longer than 17 months, despite a federal law that requires
proceedings to terminate parental rights to start in 15 months for
most cases.
Of these children, 82 percent, or 105 of them, had not been freed
for adoption.
Children who spend too much time in the foster care system lose
stability in their lives and the sense of belonging and support that
they ...