LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A growing crisis in Kentucky has hit a boiling point. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services confirms children in state custody are sleeping in the L&N Building in downtown Louisville due to a lack of foster homes.
The government-owned office space is located at Ninth and Broadway. It's a ten-story building, filled with cubicles and offices.
But right now it's doubling as more than just an office -- it's also a shelter for children in state custody who have been told they have nowhere else to go.
"In Jefferson County there's at least one or two workers each week, sleeping in the office with a child because the entire state of Kentucky has said no. The entire state of Kentucky has said no to a kid," Ashlea Dodsworth, a Jefferson County social worker said in February.
Dodsworth addressed the issue during this year's session in Frankfort, testifying to lawmakers during a committee meeting. She said foster homes are not agreeing to take in teenagers, especially those with a difficult past.
"Our foster parents are not taking our teenagers, they refuse," she said.
Susan Dunlap, a spokesperson for the Cabinet, confirmed the trend.
"During the past several years, there has been a decrease in foster families who are open to accepting adolescents and teenagers with complex medical, behavioral and/or mental health needs, as well as those who have injured a staff member or who have been involved in the juvenile justice system. The L&N building has become an occasional site for hosting these youth," Dunlap said in a statement.
Staff are always present and supervising when children sleep at L&N, she said, and they provide the children with all items needed for sleep, including bedding.
Social workers, like Dodsworth, said their options are limited within the state. So they are turning elsewhere for help placing the children. In February, she told lawmakers she was looking for openings in Texas, California and New Mexico.
"You're trying to sell it to them, you're trying to make them feel loved because they are a foster child," Dodsworth told lawmakers. "I have had kids look me straight in the face and say 'Ms. Ashlea, why does no one want me?'"
The emotional testimony is a reality right now.
Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said social workers are stepping into the role of caretaker all too often and all across the state. He fears the worse will happen before a change occurs.
"Housing the most vulnerable young people in places, that were never designed to house anyone, especially vulnerable young people -- we are courting a disaster," Brooks said.
He said both the Cabinet and state leaders have been open about the issue -- testifying to lawmakers and asking for help. But the population of children being impacted faces very unique challenges, and a solution is not simple.
"What this is going to take is looking at each kid's case individually and figuring out what mental, behavior, health supports, social services that surround the case. I'd love to tell you something different but it's going to be an expensive proposition," Brooks said.
The state said the number of Kentucky children in foster care has decreased after peaking in 2020, at more than 10,000. Still, children are being sent out of state to get the shelter and services they need.
"Increased numbers of children are being sent out of state for treatment so when their needs cannot be met because of capacity, or some of the regulatory red tape that's blocking effective treatment, they go to Virginia or Ohio or Florida," Brooks said.
That too is costly, but for now, he said these are our options as a commonwealth. Brooks is hopeful putting this in the limelight will promote change, something the children desperately deserve.
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