by Christina Romo, NACAC Program Assistant
On May 24, 2007, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), introduced legislation that would extend foster care for young adults over the age of 18. The Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act (S. 1512) would extend federal foster care funding for young adults 18 to 21, therefore improving services provided to youth making the transition from childhood to adulthood. As Senator Boxer said in an op-ed, "These are not just statistics – these are the lives of the young people who, without our help, have very limited options."
Each year, about 23,000 foster youth age out of care to a bleak future. No longer covered by foster care services, many have no one to turn to and no place to go. An alarming number of emancipated foster youth end up homeless or in jail. While turning 18 is exciting for most of America’s youth, it is a frightening prospect for those who are about to age out of foster care.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 50 percent of young adults age 18 to 24 are currently living at home (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March and Annual Social and Economic Supplements, 2006). With the knowledge that the average young adults in America are leaving home in their mid-20s, it is hard to expect 18-year-olds aging out of foster care to be ready for life on their own.
With the Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act, Senator Boxer’s hope is that federal IV-E funding will be provided to states so that essential foster care services such as housing, food, and legal services will be provided to youth over the age of 18. Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, and Florida currently offer support for foster youth over the age of 18, but state and local monies are used to fund continuing foster care support for youth in these states. Boxer proposes that federal IV-E funding should match state and county funds to provide foster care payments and additional costs for foster youth 18 to 21. This will allow youth to voluntarily remain in foster care until the age of 21, thus providing them with the services and support needed to transition more successfully into adulthood.
In the words of Senator Boxer, “We must do more for these young adults who deserve much better.”
Showing posts with label aging out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aging out. Show all posts
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
We Must Do More for Foster Children
By William A. Thorne, Jr., Judge, Utah Court of Appeals; Member, Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care
There are half a million kids in this country in foster care today. There are 800,000 kids who will be in foster care this year. That is about the population that was evacuated from New Orleans before Katrina. And we were ready to move mountains to help those people—justifiably—they needed help. And yet people don’t seem to be getting upset that we have half a million kids who also need help.
I issue a challenge to all of you: If these kids were your children, would we be satisfied with what we do for them and on their behalf?
I can’t tell you how angry I am when I hear or read stories like Jessica’s below. When we take kids away from their families, we ought to do better for them. Nobody should have to live the life that Jessica went through. That’s why I joined the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care hoping to make a difference.
Enough is enough. More than 20,000 kids are going to age out of the system this year. 20,000 Jessicas. One expert came to us at the Commission and told us that of the 20,000 who age out, 60 percent will be homeless, in jail, or dead in two years. Jessica is a remarkable success and she has my admiration for having gotten where she is today.
I wouldn’t have been able to get where Jessica has without a family behind me. I listen to youth like Jessica, and they ask, “Where do I have to go for Thanksgiving?” “Where in the world is there a Christmas present for me under a tree?” “Who will be a grandparent to my children?”
We send more than 20,000 of these youth out into the world every year, and we have half a million whom we subject to this kind of risk. In spite of these failures, successes are possible. One of the things the Pew Commission talked about was how to reorient the resources so that we achieve better outcomes. We need to spend money smarter so that we do better by children. The Pew Commission recommendations suggest ways to do just that.
These aren’t your kids over here, or your kids over there—these are our kids. And we owe them the same thing we owe our own children.
There are half a million kids in this country in foster care today. There are 800,000 kids who will be in foster care this year. That is about the population that was evacuated from New Orleans before Katrina. And we were ready to move mountains to help those people—justifiably—they needed help. And yet people don’t seem to be getting upset that we have half a million kids who also need help.
I issue a challenge to all of you: If these kids were your children, would we be satisfied with what we do for them and on their behalf?
I can’t tell you how angry I am when I hear or read stories like Jessica’s below. When we take kids away from their families, we ought to do better for them. Nobody should have to live the life that Jessica went through. That’s why I joined the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care hoping to make a difference.
Enough is enough. More than 20,000 kids are going to age out of the system this year. 20,000 Jessicas. One expert came to us at the Commission and told us that of the 20,000 who age out, 60 percent will be homeless, in jail, or dead in two years. Jessica is a remarkable success and she has my admiration for having gotten where she is today.
I wouldn’t have been able to get where Jessica has without a family behind me. I listen to youth like Jessica, and they ask, “Where do I have to go for Thanksgiving?” “Where in the world is there a Christmas present for me under a tree?” “Who will be a grandparent to my children?”
We send more than 20,000 of these youth out into the world every year, and we have half a million whom we subject to this kind of risk. In spite of these failures, successes are possible. One of the things the Pew Commission talked about was how to reorient the resources so that we achieve better outcomes. We need to spend money smarter so that we do better by children. The Pew Commission recommendations suggest ways to do just that.
These aren’t your kids over here, or your kids over there—these are our kids. And we owe them the same thing we owe our own children.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Permanent Families Matter
By Jessica Delgado, former foster youth, Pennsylvania
My early life was filled with chaos and abuse due to my mother’s drug abuse. We never had clothes. We had holes in our shoes and lice in our hair. We went to school and people would make fun of us. Caseworkers would come and check on my brothers and sisters and me and we would lie. Kids get scared when they think they might be taken away from their mom. At least we know what it is like with our mom.
At 13, I thought "I can’t live like this" and I ran away. Eventually I had to call social services about my family’s situation and we all entered foster care when I was 15. I spent some time with a foster family but ended up in a group home. When I turned 18 I was released from the group home with no permanent place to go.
Immediately after being released from the system my therapy was discontinued. I was left to get a job and take care of myself. I had not been prepared to deal with the outside world alone. I had no one to rely upon. I was afraid of what path my life was about to take. Wondering how was I going to make it on my own led me into a depression. Let me give credit to a counselor that I had in the group—she did temporarily provide me with a place in her home. Do to my emotional problems, I managed to disrupt that relationship.
One of lowest point in my life was when I turned 19. My depression had taken its toll on me, which then led me to alcohol. As far as a family, it was the local pub. Every day and every single chance I got I went there and drank. Holidays, I was at the pub. Along with drinking, tattoos and piercings were the out for my unhappiness. I was going downhill really fast. Eventually I got pregnant. What in the world was I going to do with a child? Barely knowing the father of my child just added more stress to my life.
After having my daughter Angelina and struggling for a few years, I’ve finally found a family in Angelina’s paternal grandparents. Phyllis and Derrick are like parents to me. They have accepted me as family. They provided Nina and I with so much support. Derrick helped me with my finances, and Phyllis still listens to me, encourages me to move on in a better direction of my life. I've learned a lot about living a more balanced life from Phyllis and a few other strong women. I have expressed to them that without their love, support, and encouragement, my life would have been a bitter story.
Thankfully, even with all of the struggles and abuse, my life has managed to turn around for the better. And now instead of alcohol being my out, speaking out about it gives me a more fulfilling and satisfying perception on life.
Through all of this, I realize that permanency is so important, and is probably one of the main factors of what makes someone feel secure and loved. I still can't understand why providing me with a family or support system was not a priority with social services during my time with them. Why do we seem to think that these children or teenagers who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned are ready for the real world just because of they are 18? Whether it's 5, 10,or 18 years of age, love, family, consistency, security, and patience are all an important part in shaping the type of people we will grow up to be.
My early life was filled with chaos and abuse due to my mother’s drug abuse. We never had clothes. We had holes in our shoes and lice in our hair. We went to school and people would make fun of us. Caseworkers would come and check on my brothers and sisters and me and we would lie. Kids get scared when they think they might be taken away from their mom. At least we know what it is like with our mom.
At 13, I thought "I can’t live like this" and I ran away. Eventually I had to call social services about my family’s situation and we all entered foster care when I was 15. I spent some time with a foster family but ended up in a group home. When I turned 18 I was released from the group home with no permanent place to go.
Immediately after being released from the system my therapy was discontinued. I was left to get a job and take care of myself. I had not been prepared to deal with the outside world alone. I had no one to rely upon. I was afraid of what path my life was about to take. Wondering how was I going to make it on my own led me into a depression. Let me give credit to a counselor that I had in the group—she did temporarily provide me with a place in her home. Do to my emotional problems, I managed to disrupt that relationship.
One of lowest point in my life was when I turned 19. My depression had taken its toll on me, which then led me to alcohol. As far as a family, it was the local pub. Every day and every single chance I got I went there and drank. Holidays, I was at the pub. Along with drinking, tattoos and piercings were the out for my unhappiness. I was going downhill really fast. Eventually I got pregnant. What in the world was I going to do with a child? Barely knowing the father of my child just added more stress to my life.
After having my daughter Angelina and struggling for a few years, I’ve finally found a family in Angelina’s paternal grandparents. Phyllis and Derrick are like parents to me. They have accepted me as family. They provided Nina and I with so much support. Derrick helped me with my finances, and Phyllis still listens to me, encourages me to move on in a better direction of my life. I've learned a lot about living a more balanced life from Phyllis and a few other strong women. I have expressed to them that without their love, support, and encouragement, my life would have been a bitter story.
Thankfully, even with all of the struggles and abuse, my life has managed to turn around for the better. And now instead of alcohol being my out, speaking out about it gives me a more fulfilling and satisfying perception on life.
Through all of this, I realize that permanency is so important, and is probably one of the main factors of what makes someone feel secure and loved. I still can't understand why providing me with a family or support system was not a priority with social services during my time with them. Why do we seem to think that these children or teenagers who have been neglected, abused, or abandoned are ready for the real world just because of they are 18? Whether it's 5, 10,or 18 years of age, love, family, consistency, security, and patience are all an important part in shaping the type of people we will grow up to be.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Children and Youth Like Me and My Siblings Need Families and Stability
By Michael Drake, former foster youth, West Virginia
In 1998, when I was 12, the state decided that my sister and brothers and I couldn’t safely stay with our mother. After a short stay at a shelter, we were placed together in a foster family. When they decided to stop doing foster care, we were sent to another shelter.
I asked my workers to find my aunt, uncle, or other relatives, but no one did. I was so frustrated and upset, that I ran away. They wanted to do a psychological evaluation on me due to the fact that I had been running away and showing behavior that they deemed was abnormal. So I was placed in a mental health facility in Ohio. In the three months that I was there, they said that I really didn’t have any mental health issues.
After I left there, my siblings and I were placed with a foster family. About a week later our mother gave up her rights to me and my siblings. We stayed with that foster family for about a year, which was the most permanent placement I ever had in foster care.
Between 14 and 18, I moved more than 15 times, bouncing between shelters, group care facilities, and foster families. I did not live with my brothers and sister and rarely got to spend time with them. I tried to remind them that we were still a family, but it was hard.
I wish the state had done more to help our mom keep the family together. If the state had invested the same money they spent putting us in all those placements into weekly visits with our mother and had given her skill lessons, it might not have escalated to us needing to go into permanent foster care.
At 18, I “aged out” of foster care without any family at all. So did my brother Randy. My sister was adopted and my youngest brother remains in foster care. In my opinion, foster care destroyed our whole sense of family in the end. We can’t sit down together and feel like we are siblings. It becomes more like, “Oh, I know that person” but it’s not like, “Oh, he’s my brother.”
In 1998, when I was 12, the state decided that my sister and brothers and I couldn’t safely stay with our mother. After a short stay at a shelter, we were placed together in a foster family. When they decided to stop doing foster care, we were sent to another shelter.
I asked my workers to find my aunt, uncle, or other relatives, but no one did. I was so frustrated and upset, that I ran away. They wanted to do a psychological evaluation on me due to the fact that I had been running away and showing behavior that they deemed was abnormal. So I was placed in a mental health facility in Ohio. In the three months that I was there, they said that I really didn’t have any mental health issues.
After I left there, my siblings and I were placed with a foster family. About a week later our mother gave up her rights to me and my siblings. We stayed with that foster family for about a year, which was the most permanent placement I ever had in foster care.
Between 14 and 18, I moved more than 15 times, bouncing between shelters, group care facilities, and foster families. I did not live with my brothers and sister and rarely got to spend time with them. I tried to remind them that we were still a family, but it was hard.
I wish the state had done more to help our mom keep the family together. If the state had invested the same money they spent putting us in all those placements into weekly visits with our mother and had given her skill lessons, it might not have escalated to us needing to go into permanent foster care.
At 18, I “aged out” of foster care without any family at all. So did my brother Randy. My sister was adopted and my youngest brother remains in foster care. In my opinion, foster care destroyed our whole sense of family in the end. We can’t sit down together and feel like we are siblings. It becomes more like, “Oh, I know that person” but it’s not like, “Oh, he’s my brother.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
