Sarasota Foster Children Lose Hope During Corona Virus Outbreak

The number of inquiries by potential adoptive and foster families for children in Sarasota and Manatee counties has nearly come to a halt in the past 30 days, making the likelihood that children in foster care will be placed in a stable and loving home during the time of the Corona Virus outbreak is grim.

A leading indicator of number of families who are pursuing adoption of foster children, the adoption inquiry portal hosted by the Heart Gallery of Sarasota, is reporting a 96% decline in the number of parents seeking adoption of children in state care in our area. The Heart Gallery of Sarasota is one of 84 Heart Galleries nationwide that recruits foster and adoptive parents and are responsible for over 7000 adoptions of children in state care since 2004.

Children who have been removed from their birth parents and grown up in foster care have experience with trauma and isolation. They are commonly moved to different homes more than a dozen times, often due to behavior problems that are the result of earlier abuse and neglect. The decline in inquiries by parents hoping to adopt is a concern for the Heart Gallery.

 “These people who inquire through our site are emotionally committed to the process required to adopt a child from foster care.  It  can take years between completing the licensing requirements and finally being matched with a child,” according to Matthew Straeb, President of the Heart Gallery of Sarasota. Straeb is also the co-founder of the Heart Gallery of America.

Training and licensing classes for potential adoptive parents including home visits have been cancelled, so children who have already been in foster care most of their lives, will continue to languish. Converting these classes to an online program has been a stumbling block for state agencies handling foster children, who find that it is important to get to know the parents in a personal setting.

The Safe Children Coalition, our lead agency for licensing adoptive and foster parents, holds the state mandated 8-week training classes at their locations in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Their foster parent training classes are already available online.

As organizations had to evolve quickly in light of current events to overcome concerns about conducting business online, we hope this is a turning point for the overburdened foster care system as well,” according to Straeb.

The Heart Galleries of Florida have led lobbying efforts for a state funded $1M technology pilot expansion that reduces the time to adopt and increases the number of licensed foster and adoptive parents, by making training available online.