Editorial: Caring for children

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

One of the repeated tragedies of Southern Nevada's child welfare system is the routine separation of siblings.

It is simply a question of supply and demand. There are not enough foster homes big enough to take large groups of siblings.

After closing down children's homes in the late 1990s largely as a cost-saving measure, the state has been left with little choice but to place siblings in separate foster homes or county shelters.

As reported in Monday's Las Vegas Sun by Abigail Goldman, Girls and Boys Town of Nevada has taken a step toward addressing that problem. Thanks to a $350,000 grant from Nevada Women's Philanthropy, the group will build a home for siblings. The home is designed to accommodate nine children who will live for a period with a married couple.

Clark County has a similar facility at its Child Haven shelter, which can house 12 children.

These facilities might not seem like much in a system overflowing with children, but this is a worthy and laudable effort.

Thomas Waite, executive director of Girls and Boys Town of Nevada, said the goal for the children is "to experience what a normal large family would look like."

Nevada Women's Philanthropy and its members should be applauded, as should Girls and Boys Town, for trying to make the system friendlier to children.

When they enter the child welfare system, children have already experienced trauma. They were taken from their families because they were in some sort of danger. Separating them further from their siblings only adds to their distress.

Children are the state's responsibility, and policymakers and state leaders should find ways to support more projects that keep siblings together and bring more compassion and humanity to the system.