houston – When the students return to the classroom, one group is a little more difficult than the others. I’m a foster child.

According to kidscount.org, 52% of 19-year-olds leave Texas foster care without a high school diploma or GED.

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Many students look forward to the new school year, which is often a time of fear and anxiety for foster children.

“Children in your care don’t have more expensive clothes and shoes than other children might have. A lot of kids these days don’t want to go to school because they’re bullies or new kids,” says Terinisha, foster and adoption supervisor at Arms Wide Adoption Services in Houston. Bang said.

In addition to the inability to adapt and cope with trauma, Bang says one of the main problems keeping foster children away is moving from foster home to foster home, or from school to school. .

“They are going far behind because different districts have different curricula. Yes,” Vann explained. .

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Transferring credits can be difficult, she said, and often young people in foster care are forced to repeat grades or simply drop out of embarrassment. Van says getting more people to open their homes is a good start to closing this gap.

“There is a shortage of foster parents here in Texas, so our agency is trying to recruit new families in our community.

Other local foster agencies say they are working directly with school districts to set up education teams to highlight the importance of foster children getting an education.

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Local agencies caution that there are too many foster children, especially those over the age of 12, who need good homes and parents.

Follow this link for more information on how to become a foster parent.