Editor’s Note: WHYY launches ‘Caring for Kids,’ a civic news exercise on foster care, adoption

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

WHYY News staff is producing ‘Caring for Kids,’ a civic news project that brings attention to the experiences of children living in foster care and adoption, and the people and providers who support their care.

November is National Adoption Month, established about 30 years ago by President Bill Clinton and inspired by President Ronald Reagan and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who both while in office, designated a week in November to spotlight  the needs of foster youth in need of permanent homes.

So it is fitting that the WHYY newsroom would take learnings from a recent pop-up newsroom held last month in Northeast Philadelphia and put them into action.

A woman who attended that event shared with WHYY news staff Tom MacDonald and Mark Eichmann that the City of Philadelphia could do more to help foster parents. She sought help and recognition for the issues she is facing as a foster care parent trying to help city youth.

The news staff took the audience feedback and incorporated it into our editorial coverage plans for the balance of the calendar year. This civic news project in the community includes three pop-up newsrooms and foster care resource fairs dedicated to providing information about foster care and adoption to our audiences.

Additonally, inIn addition, in WHYY’s special news website section, “Caring for Kids,” you will learn how to become a foster care or adoptive parent in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Tthanks to reporting by WHYY Reporter David Matthau.

Moreover, WHYY News staff is producing character-driven stories around the region, such as Billy Penn Reporter Violet Comber-Wilen’s documentation of a pair of foster/adoptive parents who, who through shared experience, have fashioned ties between their families and faith community in South Jersey.

To provide a big city perspective, WHYY Reporter Tom MacDonald reported on Philadelphia City Council’s work to examine the foster care system impacting city youth. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that 43% of Pennsylvania’s foster youth remain in the system until they age out. At present, there are 13,000 to 15,000 Pennsylvania children in foster care.

From MacDonald’s reporting: “Councilmember Cindy Bass summed up the city’s foster care system in one word: trouble.

“I don’t think that we’re doing nearly enough for foster youth in our city,” Bass said. “There’s so much more that can be done.””

The transition from foster care to adulthood can be difficult as many young people face challenges such as housing instability, joblessness and academic setbacks, according to research by Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Delaware Multiplatform Investigative Reporter Cris Barrish reports on how a state program focused on providing higher education assistance to foster youth is faring.

WHYY News’ pop-up newsrooms have served as a catalyst for the news team to execute its public service and journalistic mission and to connect the communities we serve with the latest news and information.

The next pop-up newsrooms give the public another chance to share story ideas and offer feedback to WHYY reporters about their news coverage.

As part of the next few pop-up installments, three foster care resource fairs take place concurrently on Dec. 1 in Cherry Hill, Dec. 2 in Wilmington and Dec. 15 in Philadelphia. Foster care and adoption providers will be on hand to answer questions about foster care and adoption. The Every Voice, Every Vote initiative is supporting the Dec. 15 pop-up by serving as one of our community engagement events in partnership with the EVEV initiative.

On a personal note, as an adopted child myself who spent some months in foster care as an infant, I can attest from my lived experience that more storytelling and attention brought to the complexities facing the youth population is sorely needed.

WHYY News delivers trustworthy news reporting that helps bring deep understanding to our local communities, plus we hope to serve up inspiration as well.

This is a month to give thanks and on this Thanksgiving day, the WHYY newsroom gives thanks to WHYY members, our audience and the public for helping to fuel the newsgathering at WHYY. Your support and membership makes our impactful public service journalism possible. You’re WHYY.

Consider becoming a member of WHYY and/or donate to support explanatory journalism in our mighty local newsroom. We contribute to the content reaching 1.5 million audience members each week across our various platforms and services.

I hope to welcome you to a future pop-up newsroom and we welcome your feedback in person or via newsroom@whyy.org.

Sincerely Yours in Journalism,

Sarah Glover
WHYY Vice President of News & Civic Dialogue