To the editor:

I recently heard an advertisement on the radio, sponsored by The Mattress Firm, asking people to bring shoes to their stores for a shoe drive they are running for children in the foster care system. It had lots of firsthand accounts of children saying that they lack shoes large enough for their feet and/or how they’ve never owned a new pair of shoes. Children in foster care are in state custody. The state is their guardian. I have great concerns that the state is not providing basic necessities for children in their care. We should not rely on businesses to collect shoes to match with kids in state custody. This is not good enough.

I don’t believe that it is too much to ask that the state cover basic necessities of the children placed in its care. State budgets should have sufficient resources built in to provide children with comfortable shoes that fit their feet, and replace them as needed while they are in care. As a local school board member, I understand that agencies are often asked to provide more programs and services than they are provided resources to accomplish. But, I am fed up with yet another clear example of the state shirking its responsibility. Grants and/or supply drives should not be needed to cover the basic costs of necessities for kids in state custody.