Op/Ed: 44, 32, 0

When children are removed from their homes and put into foster care, it is most likely the worst day of their life. Foster children are kids who have to be taken from their homes due to some sort of safety risk, such as abuse, neglect, parental incarceration, or illegal activity in the household. When a community does not have enough homes to accommodate for foster youth, the children have to move to the closest available foster home, often times being several hours away. At this point, the children lose their home, friends, and social connections, while the community loses siblings, friends, and contributing members of the community. South Lake Tahoe residents need to house the dozens of foster children in order to avoid homelessness and mental illness among the future generation.

To begin, families in South Lake Tahoe need to commit to foster care so we can house the homeless youth in our community. By not accommodating for homeless youth, South Lake Tahoe is facing a double burden. First, because homeless youth are preoccupied with finding their next bed, they are not able to fully focus on school. These adolescents will have a hard time finding a job if they do not have a high school diploma and will not be able to serve in Tahoe’s economy. Secondly, because homelessness can cause health issues, such as Bronchitis, Pneumonia, and mental disorders, we, as South Lake Tahoe residents, will have to take on financial burden in order to pay for their medical care. Fortunately, foster care offers a way out of homelessness, but many local teens are unwilling to become part of the system. On any given day in South Lake Tahoe, there are anywhere from sixty to one hundred children in need of a home. Regional manager of Sierra Child and Family Services, Megan Ciampa, says that there are teens in Lake Tahoe that do not have a home and would qualify for the foster care program, but because of the shortage of foster homes, the Services would have to take them from their community, friends, and schools to find them available homes. These teens would rather be homeless and stay in their community than join the foster care program and risk being removed from the basin. However, the issues do not stop there. Mental problems are even more prominent among fostered youth and potentially more damaging to our community.

Mental illness rates will increase in our community if local foster children do not have a stable home. Although some problems are inevitable with displacement, studies show that the more a child switches homes, the more he or she struggles mentally. For instance, The Future of Children, a children’s research organization, reports that foster placement instability is associated with negative developmental outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. In addition, they say that because of placement changes, children have to switch schools and form new peer networks. Brenda Harden, author at Princeton University, reports that if they can not form these networks fast enough, it can isolate them and cause depression. Locally, children are having to go as far as Southern California for a home. These children face mental health issues, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety, because of the abrupt separation. By failing to address the shortage of foster care homes, mental health problems in the community will continue to rise, but the solution is not complicated.

Homelessness and mental illness are serious threats to our small town, but there are obvious solutions. In 2013, Tahoe Youth and Family Services created a campaign titled “Project 44” that works to find forty-four foster homes in the basin. By simply informing residents about the demand, the amount of foster homes has doubled from six to twelve since 2013. However, information can only help so much. South Lake Tahoe still needs thirty-two foster homes. The reality is that each and every one of us need to find out if we are able to become foster parents, and if we are willing to open up our homes and hearts in order to create a better South Lake Tahoe, free of homelessness and mental illness.

By Zoe D'Angelo
Junior at South Tahoe High School