One Former Foster Child’s Approach to Fixing a Broken System
Ask students: Why does Sixto Cancel say the child welfare system should prioritize placing a child with a family member if they must be separated from their parents?
Each year, 22,000 young people age out of foster care without family structures in place to support them. It's an issue Sixto Cancel is working to address. He's the founder and CEO of Think of Us, a nonprofit organization that aims to change child welfare systems across the country. He's also experienced foster care himself. He shares his Brief But Spectacular take on kinship care.
View the transcript of the story.
Key Terms
foster care - a temporary arrangement where a child is placed in the care of a non-biological parent or caregiver, known as a foster parent.
kinship care - an arrangement where children live with relatives or close family friends when their biological parents are unable to care for them.
Warm-Up Questions
- How old was Sixto Cancel when he was placed into foster care?
- What issues did Cancel face with his adopted family?
- When did Cancel start his nonprofit, Think of Us?
- How many young people are in the foster care system at any given time?
- What are the benefits of kinship care?
Focus Questions
- Why does Sixto Cancel say the child welfare system should prioritize placing a child with a family member if they must be separated from their parents?
- Do you think this solution would work for every child in foster care? Can you think of any situations in which kinship care might not be the best choice?
- What are other ways that you think the child welfare system could be improved? Brainstorm ideas and share with a classmate.
Media literacy: Does your state support kinship care? How can you find out?
What Students Can Do
For more on policy information and reforms to the child welfare system, watch the News Hour video below.
Sixto Cancel says that while there is encouraging bipartisan support for improving foster care, there is still work to be done on kinship care. For example, when a child goes to live with a grandparent, many do not receive the same financial support that foster parents get.
Discussion questions:
- Why were Valencia Polk's six grandchildren taken from her?
- What is the mission of the Think of Us nonprofit?
- When did Sixto Cancel find out he had nearby family members that would have taken him in?
- What percentage of all Black children experience foster care?
- Where are children sent who aren't placed with relatives?
Do you think states should prioritize placing children under kinship care as opposed to foster care and provide more financial support to family members? Explain why or why not.
You can learn more about Think of Us and their mission at their website. You can also hear more from Sixto Cancel by watching his TED Talk.
Written by Gianfranco Beran, PBS News Hour Classroom's production assistant, and News Hour's Victoria Pasquantonio.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
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