A Second Grade Teacher Spotted One Student In Her Class And Quickly Reached For The Phone
When teacher Zoe Henry was assigned to a class of second grade students, her life changed forever. You see, that was the day she met little Loralie. The youngster had dressed smart for the occasion, boasting a bubbly personality despite years of struggle. Zoe was immediately taken by her. But the girl’s tough past wasn’t as unique as you might think.
Loralie’s story
We hope you’re ready for the emotional roller coaster to come, folks! You’ll probably need some tissues handy. So, let’s dive into it. What made Loralie’s life so tricky before she walked into that class? Well, the little girl was a foster child. And like we suggested, her story is surprisingly common.
Jaw-dropping figures
Yes, according to the ABC 7 website, close to 19,000 kids find themselves in a similar position across California’s Los Angeles County. Wow. That’s an eye-opening figure, right? In addition to that, over 600 of those youngsters require a forever home. Who knew the numbers could be so high?
A very busy hotline
And the jaw-dropping stats don’t end there. L.A. County’s Department of Children and Family Services’ Child Protection Hotline is heavily involved in this area, taking a huge number of phone calls every day. We’re talking roughly 800 as a standard figure. Holy smokes. How do they cope with that?
Ringing off the hook
Well, when things are at their busiest, some 90 welfare workers are deployed to keep tabs on the phone lines. Incredibly, they can be contacted 100 times or so every 60 minutes. That’s a lot to deal with. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though, the figures decreased rather dramatically across 2020.
