OPINION | MISCHA MARTIN & JEROME STRICKLAND: Show up for kids

Step up, foster every child in state


Every day, children across Arkansas enter the foster-care system hoping to find safety, security and love. Their biological families work with child-welfare agencies to remedy the safety concerns that led to their placement in the system, but this process takes time.

Can you imagine what the children caught in the middle are feeling? Uncertainty, fear, anxiety--a whirlwind of different emotions. How could you help make this time easier and less traumatic for these children?

Arkansas needs more foster families willing to provide safe, stable, temporary care for these children. In December 2022, Arkansas had more than 4,100 children in foster care, but approximately only 1,600 homes were available for placements. Put simply, that's just not enough.

We now have a new partner and amazing technology that will help make it easier for people to step into the gap for these children. Enter Every Child Arkansas, a network of organizations armed with technology to help make this happen.

We need more families from all walks of life to step forward and offer their time, love and homes to children who need their help. We also need to make it more straightforward for interested people to get information, register, get started and stay connected. Every Child Arkansas' goal is to be there for children and families before, during and beyond foster care in every county in Arkansas.

Every Child started in Oregon, where it has significantly impacted the recruitment and support of foster families. Arkansas receives roughly 900 inquiries from interested potential foster families each year. With Every Child's help last year, Oregon received 2,071 inquiries. We want to generate that kind of interest here in Arkansas, and we want to be able to support those families as they move through the process.

Every Child Arkansas allows us to do just that.

The Every Child model works to recruit new foster parents by reaching interested families online, bringing them into a warm, engaged, supportive community of people who care deeply about helping them help children and families. In addition to recruiting foster parents, Every Child Arkansas will recruit volunteers to help meet needs like providing respite care or finding goods that children need.

If you have a calling to help children and families in some way, Every Child Arkansas can get you connected.

But how does a recruitment tool like Every Child Arkansas make these connections? It is collaborating with 27 nonprofits across the state using innovative digital strategies to reach families in the places where children need them most. Additionally, Every Child Arkansas identifies families living in the same places as children entering foster care and invites them to either volunteer with local organizations or consider becoming a foster parent. This is old-school community engagement using new-school technology and communication--it's the best of both worlds.

But recruiting new foster families is not enough. Those families must have the proper support to provide much-needed stability and security for the children in their homes.

Every Child Arkansas will provide comprehensive support for children and foster families to ensure children can stay in their foster homes, remain in their school district, and stay connected to their friends, teachers and family. Keeping children in their community during their foster-care experience increases the chances that children will be reunited with their biological parents, which is the goal of foster care.

Imagine the impact you could have on children and families right here in Arkansas! The relationships you build as a foster parent can create a lifetime of positive change for everyone involved, including you. Every Child Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Human Services' Division of Children and Family Services are ready to help you get started.

Every Child Arkansas officially launched on Tuesday with Gov. Sarah Sanders' endorsement. Get connected at everychildarkansas.org and step into the gap for every child in Arkansas who needs a safe, stable and loving home while in foster care. You won't regret it!


Mischa Martin is the deputy director of Arkansas' Department of Human Services and served as the director for the Division of Children and Family Services for DHS from 2016-2023. Jerome Strickland serves as the executive director of The Contingent Arkansas.


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