You’re numb, scared, and confused, then your ears perk up when you hear, “no one will take all four of them”, “no one wants the oldest kid so maybe the 5-year-old can go by herself”, “some of them may have to sleep here in the office.”

These statements send even more fear in your heart as thoughts race through your mind, “First, I was pulled out of my bed in the middle of the night. Then they said I can’t be with my mom anymore. Now, my brothers and sisters are going to be taken from me!”

Sadly, these thoughts are reality for so many children in our community.

First, they lose their parents, schools, homes, neighborhoods, friends, plus so much more, and then they wait for the verdict of whether they will be placed together or separated from their siblings.

They wait and hear they’re too old, not the right race, not good enough for someone to say ‘yes’ to.

So many sibling groups get split up because families don’t have space for more than one or two kids, or they only want the younger kids in the group and not the older youth.

These kids lose everything when they are removed and then they lose each other. Some only get to see each other one hour every week or every other week and for some, they are split across the state and only get phone calls and zoom once or twice a month. Many have survived unthinkable trauma and need each other for safety, love, and survival. The oldest child often becomes the parent to the younger children and the younger children have only known their big sis or big brother’s love.

Today, in the state of Texas, there are thousands of kids in foster care and many of them find themselves in situations just like this one.

This past summer, even though we had empty beds, we had to say no to 36 sets of sibling groups because we didn’t have the financial resources to say yes. The financial struggle since COVID and inflation has taken its toll, and our hearts broke every time we had to say no.

It doesn’t have to be this way.