Mon 9/16/13 Noon & 7PM Children all across the state are returning to school, but for the more than 1,000 Vermont children in foster care, that can be an especially trying experience. The Department for Children and Families is mandated to try to place children with relatives before anyone else. They also try to keep the child within the same school or school district. This is a big change from a few years ago. In 2008, only 10% of Vermont youth in DCF custody were placed with kin. In 2013 that percentage has risen to 26%.
We'll explore this change, and find out more about how foster care works in Vermont with Brenda Gooley, policy and operations manager for the Vermont Department for Children and Families, and Sara Kobylenski, board member of Vermont Parent Representation Center.
We'll also talk to Michelle Monroe, and Sara Tardiff, a foster parent and youth in St. Albans.
Do you have experience with foster care? Leave your comments or questions below, or email vermontedition@vpr.net
Also in the program, the economic impact on Vernon of closing the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Chris Campany, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, explains the findings of his 2012 report that forecasts the potential impact of decommissioning versus SAFSTOR.
And, we read from your comments to the program.
