Statement of Opportunity

Perhaps there is no issue in greater need of a grass roots driven revolution than our nation’s foster care system. On any given day, over 400,000 children have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect. Over 90,000 children have called the foster care system “home” for more than 3 years. 26,000 of these youth will age out of foster care without ever having had the promise of a permanent family fulfilled. This leads to abysmal outcomes once those youth “age out” of the system: just over half earn a high school diploma and a mere 3% ever earn a college degree. Further, 84% of former foster youth will become parents outside of marriage, 51% will be unemployed, 30% will survive on public assistance and more than a quarter will experience homelessness at some point.

Despite these tragic facts, there is limited attention in the public policy and public awareness arenas. This limited awareness and attention results in a dearth of media coverage of the foster care system.  Those stories that are created often rely only on the misery of isolated situations rather than the systemic conditions and improvements that are the true narrative of foster care in America.

There is an opportunity to systematically utilize media tools to influence and improve public policy and practice, which benefit the lives of children in foster care.  Specifically, there is a need to promote successful institutional solutions as well as to identify gaps in current policy and practice (and encourage improvement).

FMC’s work straddles the fields of child welfare, education, public policy and communications.  This synergy of traditionally disparate domains allows FMC to drive national level policy, usher in state-by-state implementation of federal law, enable coordination between the silos of public administrations and inspire a grass-roots movement bent on improving the lives of children experiencing foster care.

FMC highlights the key challenges facing foster care, specifically in the areas of educational stability, educational achievement, enhanced permanency and the unique needs of transition-aged youth.  FMC advocates for the implementation of existing public policies to help children and encourages replication of highly effective programs and best practices.

FMC has become a trusted resource for foster care information to policy makers at both the federal and state level.  The fundamental difference between FMC’s work and that of a PR company is that unlike a PR firm that repurposes materials fed by the client, FMC does journalistic reporting irrespective of any client.  This independence allows for credibility with a circumspect media corps in FMC’s other core activity of sharing story pitches and placement of media packages and stories created by FMC.  In the future, FMC hopes to replicate this media-based advocacy model to address other key policy issues affecting underserved children and families.

The work described hereafter represents opportunities for significant social impact and meaningful reach within the foster care community and beyond.