Why Kids in Foster Care Are Given Trash Bags During Moves

At Foster Love, our Sweet Case initiative has received incredible support from communities across the country because it addresses a small but meaningful need: giving children their own duffle bags for foster care movements.

We believe that something as simple as a real bag, not a foster care trash bag, can make kids feel valued and loved. But we also realize that not everyone may know why this matters so much and we’d love to share that with you!

The Reality of Frequent Moves in Foster Care

For children in foster care, moving between homes is a common and often unpredictable part of their lives. Many kids in the foster care system move from one home to another multiple times during their time in foster care, with an average of at least 2 moves a year. It’s not uncommon for a child to move even more frequently if there are complications with their foster placement, such as caregivers relocating, dealing with employment or health issues, or, unfortunately, experiencing maltreatment. The number of changes goes up the longer a child is in foster care. 

Children in foster care often feel like they’re on the verge of being uprooted.

One former foster youth interviewed by the Kansas City Star says she remembers “wishing I could cement myself down so I didn’t have to go somewhere else with someone else” as she was moved a grand total of 12 times in her 18 years in foster care.

For foster youth, moving can lead to feelings of isolation, instability, and impermanence on top of previous trauma from home and being put into foster care in the first place.

Frequent relocating causes an emotional toll that can be difficult to put into words. Imagine having to leave behind familiar faces, routines, and belongings over and over again. 

Frequent moves cause mental health issues and more

Studies have found that the instability caused by frequent moves affect the part of the brain that is responsible for things like long-term memory, problem-solving, emotional regulation, and creativity. For children in foster care, this means dealing with even more challenges every time they move.

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project finds that kids who are placed in stable foster homes tend to do better developmentally and emotionally compared to those who were placed in institutions like orphanages and group homes. 

What does this boil down to? The more stable a child feels, the more they thrive.

Why Are Trash Bags Given In Foster Care?

In foster care, the use of trash bags is largely a result of a lack of resources within the system itself. With budgets stretched thin, child welfare agencies prioritize essentials like housing, immediate safety, and healthcare first. Unfortunately, limited funding means there is little left for things like luggage, which, while very meaningful, is often viewed as non-essential. 

Other common reasons cited for the use of trash bags are:

• High numbers of incoming foster placements, creating a need for quick rehoming.
• Staff shortages, limiting the time available to arrange alternatives like luggage.
• Inadequate case management, which may overlook small but important details like providing a suitcase or duffle bag.
• Practicality: trash bags are waterproof, widely available, easy to dispose of, and inexpensive
• The potential to prevent bedbugs from spreading.
• A lack of donated luggage or backpacks, leading to the use of the infamous foster care trash bags instead.

Unfortunately, while a trash bag is seen as “good enough” solution in the moment, it is far from ideal. A trash bag unintentionally signals that a child’s belongings—and by extension, the child—are not worth the dignity of a real bag.

At Foster Love, our Sweet Case initiative is one way we’re working to change that by providing durable duffle bags to children in foster care in order to help them feel valued.

How Do Trash Bags Affect Those Feelings Of Stability?

When kids in foster care are given trash bags to carry their belongings, it unintentionally sends a hurtful message: that their things (and by extension, the child themselves) aren’t truly valued. 

“I always got so tired of garbage bags,” a social worker admitted to Foster Love, “It sends a message that you should treat these children like garbage.” A former foster youth agrees with this saying she “often felt like a bag of trash that was tossed from home to home.”

For children who already feel different because they don’t have a permanent home, a trash bag makes those feelings worse. The trash bags remind them of how unstable their lives are and show them that their journey through foster care is uncertain.

How Sweet Cases Help Kids’ Dignity and Self-Worth

A trash bag amplifies feelings that foster children are “less than,” creating an unnecessary source of shame. Carrying their belongings in a trash bag not only affects children’s sense of stability but also impacts their feelings of self-worth. 

In contrast, durable duffle bags for foster care children can be a small yet significant source of pride and dignity for a child in foster care. Foster Love’s Sweet Cases initiative was born to address this need, providing children with their own bags with essential items is in helping them feel valued and seen.

The Positive Impact of Sweet Cases

Families and caseworkers see just how important replacing trash bags with Sweet Cases is. One former foster youth said, “As a former foster child who got thrown around and never got to really keep MY stuff, this would have been huge.” A caseworker in Illinois also shared a touching experience with Sweet Cases:

I had to move a teen boy and his preteen sister this week due to safety concerns in their placement. The girl was struggling so much—tears, anger, all the feels. I went to go collect some necessities for them from our supply closet, as it was such an urgent move that we weren’t able to get their things until later, and I found all of the Foster Love teddy bears among the hygiene supplies. I took one to the girl, and her face brightened. She held it for a few minutes and then felt okay enough to get up and play some while waiting. When we left, she placed it in her bag and said, ‘Can’t forget him! He’s safe in here with me!’ This teddy helped one of my kiddos on what she declared earlier in the day as the ‘worst day of her life.’

These bags and teddy bears provide comfort and security, showing foster children that they are important and deserve to be treated with dignity.

Ways You Can Help Foster Youth and End The Trash Bag Epidemic in Foster Care

If you’re looking to make a positive impact on the lives of children in foster care, there are several ways you can help. Here are a few suggestions:

• Donate Luggage: Help provide duffle bags for foster care children as well as backpacks and other durable luggage instead of trash bags.
• Sponsor a Sweet Case: Sponsor a Sweet Case duffle bag to give a foster child comfort and dignity. Our Giving Tuesday campaign this year is focused on delivering twice as many Sweet Cases to compensate for the higher number of foster placements during the holiday season. 
• Raise Awareness: Share information on social media to spread awareness about the need for proper luggage for foster kids.
• Advocate for Change: Push for improvements in the foster care system to provide more stability and support for children.

Conclusion

A trash bag may seem like a quick solution, but it dehumanizes and isolates. Proper luggage like Sweet Cases is essential for fostering stability and self-esteem. 

At Foster Love, we believe that trash bags being considered “good enough” is not an acceptable solution.  Every child deserves to feel valued and small changes like providing Sweet Case duffle bags for foster care children can make a big impact.