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Ohio is in the midst of a foster care crisis. There are too many kids in need of a safe place to live, and not enough people willing to provide it. According to an investigation by WBNS-Columbus, that means Ohio children sometimes end up sleeping and living in county office buildings when foster placements can't be found.
One example involved a teenaged girl who had lashed out after being stuck in the Franklin County Children Services building for nearly a week in July. When Whitehall police arrived, she said she had been sleeping there, and had no where to go.
It's not difficult to understand her frustration.
Imagine being a child already in crisis to the degree that officials believed it was best to remove her from the home, and then being stuck in an office for long enough she felt she needed to take over a room to live in.
Perhaps this is a two-fold problem, in that some Children Services agencies don't have their ducks in a row; and there aren't enough willing foster families ready to help.
Ordinary citizens can do something about only one part of that problem -- but it is something more individuals and families should consider. Plenty of us talk a good game about wanting to do what is right for children.
But when the opportunity presents itself to make a real difference for the life of a child, we tend to shy away.
It is tough to imagine the damage being done, as too many across the state are left feeling as the young lady in Franklin County felt. They have no where to go.