On the steps of the Georgia State Capitol, Midtown principal Dr. Betsy Bockman gave a speech as a part of Georgia Foster Care Advocacy Day. For the past five years, Dr. Bockman has worked on similar initiatives.

While Dr. Bockman has only been actively advocating for the past five years, the issue has been close to her heart since she began fostering 25 years ago.

“I became a foster parent 25 years ago and then became an adoptive parent,” Dr. Bockman said. “I fostered some children, and now I have five that I’ve adopted through the foster parent process.”

A key concern for Dr. Bockman is the transition from Medicaid to United Healthcare for foster care children. She worries the change could disrupt children in care, especially since United has faced accusations of denying mental health claims.

“I was asked, about five years ago, to be part of an advocacy group about insurance, about making sure that kids in care have the best insurance possible,” Dr. Bockman said. “[Insurance] goes through Medicaid. But the legislature is looking at other companies like Blue Cross, Blue Shield. We feel they will not provide the same service that they have now. Kids that are in care often have trauma. If you’ve moved out of your family, there’s a reason that happened, and so that creates a lot of trauma. It is really important that those mental health services remain.”

Dr. John DeGarmo, who has previously worked with Dr. Bockman, founded the Foster Care Institute, which provides support services and training for foster parents and anybody interested in learning more about foster care. He believes the switch in providers is a cause for alarm.

“I’m very concerned about [the switch in providers] because I think we’re gonna lose the kids between the cracks if this new provider does not have the same amount of support services for the behavioral issues or autism,” Dr. DeGarmo said. “That’s a tremendous concern.”

State Senator, former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education member and Georgia Governor candidate Jason Esteves also attended the advocacy day to hear the voices of his constituents.

“I was there doing legislative work on foster care,” Esteves said. “Children and their families were there advocating to legislators like me on behalf of foster families and foster children. It’s important, at the capital, for people to show up and to voice their opinion about things so that their stories are more than just numbers. So that my colleagues and I understand the real life impacts that our decisions make. It’s always important for groups of people to join us at the capital and to advocate on issues. On that day, it was foster families coming and talking to us about the impact that switching carriers would have on those families and I think it makes a difference.”

Dr. DeGarmo said Medicaid offered many beneficial services.

“They had support services for foster parents who had children with behavioral issues, and they had just really strong support services for foster parents,” Dr. DeGarmo said.

Esteves said he hopes those in charge will listen to people like Dr. Bockman when it comes to what is best for children in foster care.

“It’s incredibly important for the governor and for legislators to listen to the families who are caring for and protecting some of the most vulnerable students in the state,” Esteves said. “I certainly hear the concerns about the switch in [insurance] providers and I hope that the department of community health and the Governor are listening to those concerns.”

Dr. Bockman was at the Capitol aiming to convince legislators to consider the issue more carefully before making their decision.

“At the Capitol we had that little press conference, and spent the day down there meeting with legislators and talking about the importance of if you are going to change carriers or providers, please really look at that carefully,” Dr. Bockman said. “Make sure they provide the same services.”

In his position in the legislature, Esteves serves as a member of the Children and Families Committee. He believes he was chosen to join because of his previous experience in education and his love for children.

“The Committee of Children and Families was created two years ago to focus on the most vulnerable populations of children and families and with that is our foster care children,” Esteves said. “The reason it was created was because there were a series of stories and series of issues in our foster care system where, for example, children were sleeping in hotel rooms with adults because there is a lack of beds and availability of foster families.”

Dr. Bockman emphasized the importance of having access to certain resources that remain constantly available to these families.

“Often there are kids with autism or other learning disabilities and we just want kids and foster parents to be able to keep the same providers,” Dr. Bockman said. “It’s very hard to find the right people to provide service. So that continuity is very important to me.”

Esteves agreed with Dr. Bockman, and said the Children and Families Committee was partly created to address the difficulty in getting mental health resources to children in foster care.

“There were also significant issues with getting those kids mental health services and some health services so there’s a lot of concern around the care we were providing to an already vulnerable population of students and this committee was created to focus on those kids,” Esteves said.

Esteves said since the current Medicaid contract was beat out, there will be many changes in care.

“Switching [insurance providers] would hinder some resources,” Esteves said. “The Medicaid contract was bid out. It took a very long time for that bid process to be completed, and now that it’s complete there’s gonna be a drastic change in care and in the coverage that’s being provided to foster care families.”

Children in foster care age out of the system when they turn 18, and 20% of these children in Georgia become homeless. Dr. Bockman believes devoting more resources when the child is younger will help them when aging out of the foster care system.

“These kids often, if they’re in care for a long time, they age out of foster care, and there’s very few services,” Dr. Bockman said. “A lot of kids that age out of care, they become homeless, they don’t go to college. It’s a real, serious situation. The more we can advocate early, when the kids are in elementary, middle and high [school], so they’re not put in that position when they age out of care and then somebody isn’t looking out.”

Dr. Bockman recognizes the need for adequate support, especially in areas that may lack access to resources.

“In Atlanta, as a foster parent, I didn’t have any problem getting to pediatricians, speech therapists and things like that,” Dr. Bockman said. “There are just not very many options small towns provide. Just thinking about it from that point of view, working with some people on that committee from smaller towns, hearing their struggles, and some people that were there in small towns too, talking about that.”

Without proper resources, some potential foster parents could end up not being able to foster kids in need according to Dr. Bockman.

“People are willing to take kids into their homes, but they have to have the support,” Dr. Bockman said. “Whether it’s behavioral learning issues, speech therapy or mental health services. We are very fortunate in the Atlanta area and people that are in the Macon area. Very fortunate. But in small towns, North Georgia, South Georgia, it’s very hard to have good insurance and good services.

Dr. Bockman said anyone can be involved in foster care advocacy, not just foster parents. She also highlighted the importance of lobbying with legislators.

“I think people that are parents, not just foster parents, but parents, could really advocate for this with their legislatures, with the governor, with the lieutenant governor, even if you’re not a foster parent,” Dr. Bockman said. “Parents understand how it’s really important that their child be able to have the same pediatrician forever, and that kind of thing. Anybody can help with this advocacy, anybody can help with this situation, and it would be a huge help if they would write letters, email or call the governor.”