Hundreds of kids and spectators will be screaming those words and waving a sea of blue towels Friday night as both Carrollwood Day School and Seffner Christian come together to bring attention to the Foster Kids’ Crisis.
After learning about some of the plights of Foster Kids, one being feeling invisible, CDS students sprang into action. With the motto of “Education With Character” not just following the school’s logo but firmly entrenched in the way the Patriot population operates, once these students were made aware of the issue, they set out to come up with a solution. The first being the idea of a Blue Out rather than the traditional red out at the Wagner Athletic Complex. The word quickly spread through not only the CDS community, but Seffner Christian’s as well and they were happy to join in for the cause. And so Friday, October 8th at 7:00 p.m., there will be a sea of blue at the Carrollwood Day School Wagner Athletics Complex.
After the Family First Act passed in 2018, what was already a crisis of a shortage of homes for kids, got even worse. Currently, states are not allowed to place foster kids in cottage group homes or they will lose federal funding. With the closure of so many cottage group homes, kids who suffer trauma, sexual abuse, have a learning disability, or mental illness are even more likely to continuously be shuffled around because most foster parents aren’t equipped or don’t want to deal with their issues. The result, more kids are sleeping in hotels, offices, tents, rent-a-beds, and even being shipped out of state due to a lack of homes. Many are even left in unsafe environments because there is no other place for them.
Consequences of this dire situation are that more children are being trafficked, they constantly have to move from school to school, and very often don’t know where they will stay at night. This inconsistency in the lives of Fosters Kids is life-changing and debilitating.
Shocking Statistics:
• There are more than 400,000 foster kids in the U-S
• 60% will be trafficked in the sex industry
• 1/2 won’t graduate
• 1/2 will become homeless
• 1/2 will suffer mental illness
• There are more than 22,000 foster kids in Florida
• 80% of trafficked children are foster kids
See Us Now is a non-profit organization and was launched to help form and support legislation to create more stable, safe homes for kids. A national awareness campaign is in development with the goal of educating communities on this devastating situation that is happening right under our noses. Foster kids need help to be seen and heard. We need everyone’s help. Please follow See Us Now on Instagram (See.Us.Now) and join the social media challenge yelling “Do you see me now?” #safehomesforfosterkids #Seeusnow #supportchildact
See Us Now is composed of students in Middle and High School from multiple schools. We’d love for every school to join the initiative! For more information on how you can get involved email Kari Wagner at Kari@karithelight.com or DM us on Instagram.
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Carrollwood Day School is a non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory independent day school accredited by Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). CDS admits qualified students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin and is non-discriminatory in all policies and school-administered programs.
Carrollwood Day School serves students from 2-years-old through high school. CDS stands out as a leader in its mission to educate the whole child and is recognized nationally for its academic excellence and its innovative school-wide emphasis on character development. CDS prepares graduates to be the leaders they have the capacity to be. CDS is one of only three secondary schools in Florida to be both an IB and Cum Laude Society School. In 2020, CDS was recognized by the National Consortium for Entrepreneurial Education as an Entrepreneurial School. In September 2021, Carrollwood Day School opened the Center for Innovation, the largest construction project to date.