Even in pandemic, CCKids makes gains in permanency, safety and well-being

July 31, 2020

Saint Lucie West –

Communities Connected for Kids, the organization that oversees the local child-welfare system, this week released its 2020 State of Our Children report, showing gains in key areas despite working through a pandemic and statewide shutdown.

Among the successes highlighted in the report are a record number of adoptions, increases in relative caregivers and fewer children in group care.

A total of 190 children were adopted in the period from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. That’s 14 percent more than the previous year, and significantly higher than the year’s goal.

Likewise, 5 percent more children lived with relatives, while 21 percent fewer were placed into group care. Both are considered measures of a child’s overall well-being because it’s generally accepted that children do better when they live with people they know and in home settings.

The number of children entering care decreased – a welcome change, but one that may be misleading, said Christina Kaiser, community relations director.

“We saw the number of children entering care decrease by 28 percent,” Kaiser said. “That’s wonderful if it means that child abuse is decreasing, but we suspect it has more to do with the fact that schools have been closed for six months and fewer reports are being made to the state’s abuse registry.”

The total number of children served in the year also decreased, but only by a slight 3 percent. That’s because the measure reflects all children in the system and not just those entering for the first time.

Challenges for the past year include a net loss of five foster homes in Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Additionally, achieving permanency in 12 months – through adoption, permanent guardianship or returning home – has been difficult in the COVID-19 environment.

“All in all, we had a pretty good year,” Kaiser said. “We were able to swiftly adapt our practices to the virtual, COVID-19 world and continue the momentum of system-wide improvements we started in previous years.”