foster care

Early in her pursuit of becoming a professional comedian, Tiffany Haddish found herself living out of her car. It was a rough situation, but the Los Angeles native figured that if she had to do it, she might as well do it in Beverly Hills.

It’s hard enough to age out of foster care in normal times. It’s that much more challenging during the twin health and economic crises of COVID-19. That’s why state Representative Patricia Williams is asking the governor to pause that process for now — and let young people stay in foster care longer.

Due to the increase of unaccompanied minors entering the country, the Department of Health and Human Services is looking at Virginia, Texas and Florida for potential locations for building a permanent shelter for them. A location already exists in Homestead in the south of Florida and has been met with criticisms. Some, like State Representative Anna Eskamani, believe that placing children in foster families is the best option for these children.

To recognize Foster Care Awareness Month, FosterMore and NPR’s StoryCorps have joined forces in a national effort to collect stories from those touched by foster care. The goal for central Florida is to collect 1,000 stories and encourage Floridians to get involved in foster care.