How You Can Help: 3 Major Ways To Provide Support to Foster Youth Aging Out

We are an ailing nation suffering from wealth in the midst of poverty. In 2014, close to 600,000 people were homeless. This number is just continuing to grow. At least 10% of the recorded homeless population are individuals who were once in foster care. Less than 20% of the nation's wealth is distributed to this population of people. 20% of the wealthiest of Americans own 84.6% of the distribution of wealth. So, one fifth of the population owns more than four fifths of the wealth.

The biggest problem with this country is that we are handing all of our money to the wealthiest people and giving little to those who need it. We don't suffer from poverty, but from the lack of distribution of wealth to a starving nation. How can we change this? Ideally, we could redistribute the wealth so that is is far more even, as can be seen in the graphs above. However, this likelihood of this happening is slim. So where do we go from here?

Unfortunately, a majority of those who wish to help do not have the funds to do so, but there are many other ways that can benefit those in need. Let's start by focusing on the 10% of the homeless population that are aging out of foster care. There are so many ways that people can help young adults as they make their transition from being supported by the system to being dropped at the doorstep of a homeless shelter on their 18th birthday. One way many do not even think about is adoption. Even though these individuals are technically adults, they can still be adopted and most of the time it is free. 

If adoption isn't for you, also consider being a surrogate family for a young adult aging out of the system. This would include being a mentor to the teen as well as providing a place for them to stay when they have nowhere else to go. It would be like being their family, but without the legal documents stating the child as your own. Similarly, you can provide a job. These are both ways that lack a sort of commitment, but focus more on being a friend and confidant to someone who most certainly needs it. 

Finally, you can support a foundation that is working to provide transitional housing, mentoring, or therapy for such individuals. Most times, foster kids do not leave the system unscathed, and need support as they make their transition. They lack the necessities needed to survive. By giving not only funds but also materials to foundations who already provide services, you can give back to those who need it the most. 

(To find a group to support, click this link. Resources for aging out.)

Some foundations provide therapy and counseling,  others are looking to provide housing or just funds in general. There are so many ways to give to those who are in need. Make the sacrifice. Help redistribute the wealth by giving what you can.

When They Are Giving Back

Foster care is a concept that has been around since the beginning of times. Orphaned children during the Bible times were placed with widows, who were paid by the church to care for the child. Since then, this practice has been passed along from country to culture to governments. In 1853, the Children's Aid Society and the orphan train system was formed. There are now several different agencies that help place foster children and encourage adults to help care for them, as well as three ways children in the foster system can be cared for.  These ways include single foster family, group home, or kinship care. The world has continued to develop and brainstorm ways to improve the system and better care for children who have been orphaned or are just unwanted.

However, the same attention and diligence is not given to the very same kids once they exit the system, which happens on their 18th birthday. They are legally adults and sent out into the world with nothing more than what they have collected over the years. Some live on the streets and struggle to survive each and every day. Others manage to improve their lives. Some handle their new found freedom with care, nurturing their ability to finally make decisions for themselves. Amy and Amber Haskill are two such individuals. Twin sisters, they spent years separated as they were moved around from foster home to foster home. They often left their previous "home" with just the clothes on their backs. When they were reunited through adoption, the twins found they wanted to help foster kids who had suffered through the system.

Closet2Closet began two years ago. It is a program started by the Haskill sisters with the help of their adoptive family. It gives donated clothes to foster kids, age 10-18, for free. They are currently doing quarterly shopping days. Case workers, foster parents, and foster kids come to receive clothing as well as care packages. The care packages include toiletry items, socks and underwear, and other personal items. All of the clothes are given to the girls and they are laundered before they present the items to children in need. Recently, they have begun reaching past their community by sending out care packages to other parts of the state through the Center for Youth and Family Solutions.

It is not uncommon for past foster kids to reach out and try to make a difference in the system that shaped their life. If they can move past the obstacles that are placed in their lives, what more can we do? What more could we provide with the fortunes that come with privileged lives? When they are giving back, we should be too.

A Reminder Not to Judge Someone By Their Cover

We don't know what's behind foster care doors. Some children will find a temporary good home, possibly a permanent one if they are lucky. Humans of New York share this story of a man that was placed in a boys' home.  Please read his story and put Caldwell's House in your mind when you read this man's tragic story. Majority of youth aging out of foster care has a higher rate of incarceration and being homeless.That is why we, Caldwell's, strongly believe in our mission: creating housing options for young adults aging out of the child welfare system in Oklahoma City area. So that they can have a home while we help them prepare for the adult's world. Everyone deserve great opportunities.  

 

“My dad gave me up to the boys’ home when I was four. He told me that he was taking me fishing. He got the poles, the bait, everything. I was excited. He said he knew about a new spot. We pulled up to this huge building. He told me to wait in the car while he ran inside and got permission from his friend. Then he came back with two men. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but you have to stay here.’ I kept screaming: ‘I’ll be good! I’ll be good! I’ll be good!’ And he kept saying, ‘It ain’t you. It ain’t you. It ain’t you.’ I ripped his shirt off his back trying to keep him from leaving, and he drove off without a shirt.” “I was in the home for 13 years. It was a very abusive environment for everyone there. There were four staff members in particular that were especially bad. One of their favorite forms of punishment was the ‘full burn.’ First they’d make you take your clothes off and lay on the carpet. One of them would sit on your back, and the other one would pull you all the way down the hall. The worst was The Ice Man. If I saw him today, he’d be dead. He was like one of those guys you see in the movies, where even when he smiled, it was ice cold. He’d come in your room and tell you that you had a date with The Ice Man. Then he’d fuck you and make you suck his dick. Then afterward, he’d tell you when your next date was going to be, just so you’d have to worry about it all week. Ten of us tried to escape when I was seventeen. I had a date with The Ice Man coming up so I figured I had nothing to lose.” “Ten of us got together and decided to escape. We were all 17 except for two really young kids who wanted to come with us. We had no plan really. The only time we’d ever left the boy’s home was when they brought us to Barnum and Bailey’s circus one time. Other than that, we knew nothing about how to survive in the outside world. The first night, two of us went into a grocery store and tried to steal a bunch of food for the group, but the owner called the cops. We all ran different directions when the cops came. I was the one they chased. I started to run up this mountain and I remember them shouting to me: ‘It’s going to snow tonight!’ All I had on were Nikes. And that night a blizzard came. I’d never been in a blizzard before. So I tried to get off the mountain, but it was dark by then and snowing hard so I fell 30 feet into a ravine. I was unconscious for a long time. When I woke up I was covered in snow, and my foot was frozen solid.”  http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

Hopefully after you read this post, that we remind ourselves that we don't judge someone standing on a median asking for money. Because they could've been ones that aged out of of foster care, with no plan and home to go to. 

Times Up: Aging Out of Foster Care

    "Each year, approximately 25,000 youth age out of the foster care system having no place to call home." However, that number has risen. It has now increase to 28,000. That is why we, Caldwells House, strongly believe that by creating housing options for these youth aging out of foster care is the best solution for them. Without a home, these youths have no identity and no motivation to succeed in life. Some will eventually be homeless, unemployed, or incarcerated.  Below is a post by Shamberg, introducing people on a book that deals with this topic. Hear the youths' voices and experiences in this truly & inspiring book. http://www.agingoutsoutherncalifornia.com/store/p1/AGING_OUT_-_THE_BOOK.html

Stories of aging out of foster care

Caitlin Shamberg/Aug 2, 2015

 

Aging Out 

There are 28,000 children in foster care in Los Angeles County. It’s a big number and the challenges are immense. Less than 50 percent graduate from high school and very few finish college. 

Within 2 to 4 years of leaving the system, 25 percent of young people become homeless, many are unemployed and 20 percent end up in prison. Those are tough statistics. 

In an effort to raise awareness of the challenges facing kids who are out of the system, a group of writers and photographers got together to tell the stories of 11 foster care youth who have recently aged out. 

The book, “Aging Out: Southern California” is on sale and all profits go to organizations working to support these young adults. 

Ernesto. Shot for the book, Aging Out: Southern California —————————————Roughly two years ago, a group of friends who happen to also be talented photographers, started meeting each month to have some drinks, dork out over all things photo and motivate each other to do better work. Our first project to come out of this fusion of photographic eyes is the book, Aging Out: Southern California. The 7 of us collaborated with 10 writers to share the stories of 11 men and women who have recently aged out of the foster care system in Los Angeles. 

A photo posted by Aaron Fallon (@aaronfallon) on Jul 16, 2015 at 4:09pm PDT

The book launch event is July 30 at Quixote Studios West Hollywood, 1011 N Fuller Ave. West Hollywood, CA 90046. 

Too Many Foster Youth Enter The Adult World Without A Safety Net

Too Many Foster Youth Enter The Adult World Without A Safety Net

By: Brandon Crawford
Via OK Policy Blog | Oklahoma Policy Institute

For most Oklahoma teenagers, turning 18 is an uncomplicatedly exciting time in their lives. However, for foster children, turning 18 means exiting the state’s foster system – and that can mean transitioning to a world fraught with intense uncertainty and anxiety, including a significant risk of experiencing homelessness. Through federal funding, a new program in Oklahoma is identifying the factors that place former foster youth at risk of homelessness.

Most Oklahoma foster youth exit the system with a support network servi­­ng as a safety net. Between 2009 and 2012 in Oklahoma, nearly 90 percent of youth exiting care were reunified with their family, adopted, or had someone other than the state step forward as their guardian. This is referred to as “achieving permanency,” and these placements provide a safety net for these young adults as they transition to adulthood.

However, within that period, 7.4 percent of youth exited without permanency. These young adults had no family or guardian to go to after leaving foster care. They may not have had the opportunity to find a job, learn to drive, or learn to make simple decisions – such as whether to get a haircut, or how to stock a refrigerator – on their own. Aging out of the foster system leaves them without any help to learn these skills that so many of us take for granted. And for a variety of reasons, pre-exit planning with a caseworker may insufficiently equip foster youth for the future.



Although these young adults should be eligible for Medicaid and have access to some support services through the Oklahoma Independent Living program, these programs can be cumbersome to use, especially without a caseworker to help them navigate the processes. And in addition to a lack of permanent connections, former foster youth frequently still carry the traumas of the abuse and neglect that led to their entry to foster care in the first place, making the transition even more difficult.

From 2009 to 2013, 1,639 young adults in Oklahoma aged out of foster care without permanency. At least one in four went on to experience at least one episode of homelessness within 1-5 years of aging out of care, although due to difficulties in identifying youth experiencing homelessness, they are likely undercounted. Young adults who age out of foster care without permanency may be one of the most at-risk populations for experiencing homelessness while at the same time having the least amount of support. In 2014, Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) established The Road to Independence (RTI) Network to identify youth most at risk of experiencing homelessness, as well as a variety of other poor outcomes, including low educational and job skills attainment.

RTI identified risk factors both while in care and within five years of leaving care that are associated with a greater likelihood of a former foster youth experiencing homelessness after aging out of care. Among other factors, RTI found that former foster youth who access safety net services such as SNAP and TANF after exiting care are more likely to experience homelessness. The fact that those young adults who are accessing services are more likely to experience homelessness does not mean that these services are causing homelessness, nor does it mean that these services are ineffective. What it means is young adults in need are reaching out for help – but the services available to them aren’t designed to prevent or alleviate homelessness. Young adults who are transitioning from foster care to adulthood need services that focus specifically on housing. They need services that not only provide housing but also the skills necessary to retain that housing and achieve self-sufficiency there.

The RTI team will continue compiling data from a variety of state and local agencies to inform how we combat homelessness among young adults formerly in foster care. With the data collected, the RTI team is preparing an intervention strategy to provide youth with housing-specific services to alleviate their risk of homelessness.

When children enter foster care, they become the responsibility of the state. However, too many former foster youth are falling through the cracks. These former foster youth need more support in their transition to adulthood, and the Road to Independence Network is developing solutions to provide it.

This article is what our advocacy is all about. Over 18,000 youth age out of the foster care system each year in the United States.  There is no place to call home for very many of these youth.  Oklahoma has no housing options for the general foster care population.  We want to be the solution.

When There's No Going Home

 By: Susan Kools  --Via Huffingtonpost.com

It's that time of year when many young people head back into the comforting orbit of their parents' home -- home for the holidays, home from college, home from work, back into old rooms, clean laundry and the protection of family, food and familiarity.

But for some young people, there is no going home, not ever. For them, the place just doesn't exist. And their ranks increase every year, when


some 23,000 foster children become too old for our social services system at age 18 without ever having found a secure place to call home.

What happens to this group -- nearly a quarter million individuals over the past decade alone - should concern the lot of us. These are children that we as a society have decided can have a better chance away from their family of origin, but the fact is when they don't have meaningful and sustained social connections during their adolescent years, things don't go well as they emerge into adulthood.

Everyone should know and care about this, because like it or not, we all pay for it. And there are incredible and disquieting costs -- social, financial and human -- as a result.

A Midwest study found that of 600 young adults who'd aged out of the foster care and child welfare system, less than half were employed by age 24 with an annual income of just $8,000. More than a quarter had been homeless. Twenty-five percent had no high school diploma and just six percent had earned either a two- or four-year degree -- educational attainment thought to be the entry ticket for a decent-paying job and a chance at a financially stable life. The majority of these young women and men had already had children and received needs-based government assistance. Forty-two percent of the young men had been arrested and 23 percent had been convicted of a crime.

The costs of aging out of foster care drain our collective, taxpayer-funded coffers, too. The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative found that taxpayers and communities pay roughly $300,000 for the public assistance, incarceration and lost wages for each young person who ages out of the foster care system. That's close to $7 billion spent every year on this group of vulnerable adolescents in the U.S.

With National Adoption Day soon to arrive, we'll hear a lot about American families that generously open their hearts and doors to children in need, as well as heart rending statistics about how many more children are still waiting for a permanent home. But behind the gleam of adoption lies a darker truth about its sister social program, foster care, and the often debilitating results of children who -- most often plucked from their biological families for a host of good reasons -- never find a place to call home, the right kind of support, or a level of stability and constancy and end up 18, on their own, and entirely lost right at the moment when they're supposed to be finding themselves.

These are young people who are bright and open and determined but wholly unprepared for life in ways that the average, family-fortified youth cannot fathom. Without connection to one or two -- or more -- consistent, positive, connected adult role models in their communities, these adolescents will continue to flounder.

It's high time that we understand the lost human capital of this group and be proactive in our approach to to usher them into adulthood -- really, just another three to five years -- the right way. That means fostering meaningful social connections with supportive adults, facilitating their educational attainment and job training, and providing transitional housing, health and mental health care.

Of course having a family matters. It shapes the raw, malleable stuff in us that lies between our genetic material and our circumstances. But where one's family comes from, and who can comprise it, is truly open and diverse. If we rally to support children aging out of foster care with the kinds of support they need, they will flourish as those with permanent and stable families have had the opportunity to do.

The great Nelson Mandela asserted that "there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." In our celebration of National Adoption Day, let us not forget society's children -- our children -- those who grow up in foster care.

Susan Kools is the Madge M. Jones Professor of Nursing at the University of Virginia School of Nursing. A long-time advocate of adolescents, she has studied the health and development of adolescents in foster care, and aims to improve the outcomes of young people aging out of foster care.