The Need
Today the state of Georgia and our community are experiencing many problems as is America as a whole; domestic violence in the home, single parent families, poverty, homelessness, teenage pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, school dropouts and thousands of children living with aging grandparents.
The following evidence is from extensive research for the state of Georgia and for our targeted primary and secondary regions.
Georgia is ranked 43 in overall child well being (1 being best and 50 as worst)
672,150 children live in poverty which is 27.3% of the total number of children living in Georgia
In 2012, 144,000 children lived with aging grandparents
In 2012, 925,000 children lived in a household with a single parent – which is 39% of Georgia’s children
Approximately 14,000 children are in the foster care system on any given day
In 2011, there were 65 confirmed child deaths related to abuse or neglect.
Approximately 20,000 children are confirmed victims of neglect and/or abuse each year. Neglect is a leading cause of death for Georgia’s children – neglect caused or contributed to about 40% of children’s deaths reported to a state review board in 2012.
Every year approximately 700 children will age out of the foster care system in Georgia. The following statistics are for the children who leave the system at 18 years of age:
51% are unemployed
43% end up homeless
3% will further their education
Many will be incarcerated
More than half of the young women will have children who will also enter the foster care system and the cycle continue.
Georgia Children With Substantiated Incident Of Child Abuse
Circle Ranch’s Primary and Secondary Service Regions Combined
The following statistics are taken from information provided by the Department of Human Services for Regions 5 and 7 from December 2012 through November 2013:
GA Children in Foster Care by Placement Type
Approximately 5,900 children in these two targeted areas live in poverty.
Approximately 1,100 children were served in Foster Care.
There are approximately 625 children in Foster Care at any given time.
There were approximately 7,000 reports of maltreatment.
4,000 of these claims were investigated.
1,850 of these claims were substantiated.
500 children were removed to Foster Care .
Of these 500 children removed,
300 were removed for neglect.
180 for caretaker drug or alcohol abuse
76 for physical abuse
47 for incarceration
49 for abandonment
15 for sexual abuse
122 for inadequate housing
Some children were removed for more than one reason and 77 of these children were reentries into the Foster Care system
Each of the previous statistics represent a child and becomes overwhelming especially when you assign an individual child’s face to each problem.
As a result of the unavailability of beds in current Children’s Homes, the lack of Foster Care homes, and the vast population of children who are not being adopted as a result of their age (6-16) in Georgia, the founding of Circle Ranch is overwhelmingly justified. Our Judicial System and the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) simply do not have enough options when it comes to placing children in alternative housing.
As Circle Ranch will care and raise the children who feel hopeless and have no available family ties to raise them, we feel we will also be opening space in other facilities for the children in our regions who must be removed from their homes in critical situations.