We can’t create flourishing communities without flourishing families—and foster care and adoption are crucial parts of achieving that goal. An alarming 97 percent of kids who age out of the foster care system without a stable connection to a family end up in chronic poverty.

At Georgia Center for Opportunity (GCO), we understand the importance that foster families play in creating stable environments for the most vulnerable in our society—foster children.

That’s why we were thrilled to recently welcome Georgia’s leading providers of adoption, fostering, and prevention services to our offices and to tour some of our state’s foster care community organizations. A particular highlight was welcoming Lynn Johnson, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Administration for Children and Families, as part of the group.

Our site visits included allied organizations Faithbridge Foster Care, Bethany Christian Services, Foster Care Alliance, Connections Homes, and Promise 686.

The visits come as Gov. Brian Kemp and lawmakers in the Georgia General Assembly are pushing for legislation to reform Georgia’s adoption and foster care system, including increasing the tax credit for adoptions out of the foster care system from $2,000 to $6,000 for the first five years. The measure would also reduce the youngest age allowable to be an unmarried adoptive parent from 25 to 21, plus create a commission to recommend “systematic reform” in the foster care system.

We hope to see the foster community empowered through the current legislative session, so all of Georgia’s children can flourish—no matter their circumstances. For more, don’t miss this video of our panel on foster care and adoption from Breakthrough 2019.

In the end, we wholeheartedly agree with Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan when he said let’s make Georgia the No. 1 place for foster kids in the U.S.

Family formation is a cornerstone step in the success sequence. It also is a difficult topic to address. We know family is important to upward mobility and opportunity, but how do we foster it? One initiative being discussed, even at a national level, is paid family leave.

Why Time Together Matters

Recently I took the family on a vacation.  We slept in a hotel room with beds mere feet from each other, shared street-vendor meals, crammed into a small vehicle and drove hours together, and walked miles side-by-side for seven straight days.

When we came home, we were tired, smelly and done being with each other. Each child (and adult) immediately found their own room and spent some much needed alone time. Since then, however, we have spent more time hanging out and talking. Less time on our phones and more time just being together. But why?

Because even for an introvert like myself, connection with each other and the bonds of a family are strengthened by proximity.

Time Together Establishes Healthy Relational Bonds

These bonds are even more important at a young age. Time with our children, especially in their infancy, is important to establishing lifelong healthy attachments. These healthy relationships will be the basis for family formation in a child’s life.

That is why we are taking the lead on the discussion of paid family leave. Creating an open dialogue that outlines, not just the importance, but the manner in which we institute such a system is vital to the support of stronger families. The U.S. is one of the only first-world nations that has not addressed this issue at a policy level. 

The issue is particularly impactful to the stability and formation for families in lower income areas. It is why Georgians and the Georgia Center for Opportunity must take the lead on guiding conversations on this.

Join us for our discussion on this important subject
next week at GA Tech!