Hello friends! Although my project is coming to an end, that does not mean that helping children in foster care should end! Here are some statistics that I have found from my research about the Department of Child Safety that really show just how big of a problem there is in Arizona. There are currently over 13,400 children in foster care in Arizona. Arizona leads the nation in the number of children per capita in group or shelter care. 600 children a month (yes MONTH) are removed from their home for different reasons, and this number is increasing by about 100 children per month. There are 1,300 children waiting in emergency shelters for a family for more than 3 weeks. Additionally, the Children's Defense Fund reports that one child in Arizona is abused every 2 hours with child neglect being the most prevalent form of child maltreatment. These statistics blow my mind and make me so sad that there are so many children out there suffering. By creating birthday bags for these children in partnership, I hope to make their difficult transition out of their home easier by making them feel special, remembered, and cared about on their birthday. There are many ways to both create more birthday bags, and also help children in foster care in other ways:
1. Go in to volunteer at AZ Helping Hands by decorating birthday bags or also donate presents for their birthday bags. This is an easy and fun way to help out, and makes a world of difference. Linked below is their website in case you would like to learn more about them and the wonderful work that they do:
2. Take advantage of the Foster Care Tax Credit. Make a financial contribution to a qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization, and receive credit on your Arizona State Tax Return.
3. Volunteer at holiday, back-to-school, or other events for children in foster care and families.
4. Invite a foster family over for dinner, or take them out to eat.
These are just a few ideas, but for more, click on the link below. There are so many children going through this difficult transition and I hope that through my project and people like you helping out, we can raise awareness about this problem and help out children in foster care and foster families as much as possible. Thank you so much if you took the time to read all of this, and I will update you all again soon!
Link to Department of Child Safety Ways To Help: https://dcs.az.gov/about/volunteer
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