The organization that I am following
during this course is the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI). One of sections of the website that
caught my attention this week was their section on child welfare. This section
jumped out to me because of all the deep research we have been doing in regards
to the effects of poverty on young children. On the website they articulate their
mission as it relates to the welfare of African American children.
One of the statements that stood out for me was "Across
our nation, almost half of the children currently in out-of-home placement care
are children of color. Black children are more likely to be in
out-of-home care than are White children; they are also more likely to enter
care at an earlier age and to remain in care for longer (www.nbcdi.org)." This was something that I
was not aware of and was shocking for me to discover. During our research on
poverty we talked about homelessness and although these children are not
homeless; it is sad to think that they are not living with their parents. Their
mission is to help providers to include black culture into their homes to help
children maintain a sense of identity.
They challenge politicians and policy makers to look closely
at this issue and find ways to support black families so that more of them and
remain together so that children will have to be placed in out-of home care
situations. This was interesting to me because I never even gave a thought to
children who were not living with their parents and had a out-of -home care
situations. I can see how this cam greatly impacted their development. As a
teacher it is important for me to know the living situations of all my students
so that I have ensure that I am doing everything within my power to meet their
needs of development and provide a stable environment to create a sense of
security.
