The State of Florida gets 10 days to prep teen for adulthood
Pawns of the system: ‘Aging out’
The DCF has defied orders to teach a foster child to live on her own.
The girl — soon to be 18 — and her child may end up homeless, her
lawyer says.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel wants to know why child welfare
administrators have ignored orders, for more than a year, that a
17-year-old in the state's custody be taught to live on her own before
she is forced to exit Florida's foster-care system.
On Thursday, one day after Zabel signed an order requiring officials
with the Department of Children & Families to explain why they should
not be held in contempt of court, an attorney for the foster child,
Carolyn Salisbury, agreed to give the DCF 10 more days to begin
preparing the teen for adulthood.
Jessica Joyner will turn 18 in 45 days, “aging out”' of state care.
Salisbury is concerned that Joyner, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter,
will end up homeless. “My worst fear is that in 45 days, she will have no place to live,
no independent-living skills training, she will not know how to survive
on her own, and [will] be forced out of foster care into the streets
with a 3-year-old,” said Salisbury, who is associate director of the
University of Miami Law School Children & Youth Law Clinic.
DCF officials did not respond to a reporter's phone call for comment.
Last week, two DCF attorneys and a family services counselor were
fired after the department acknowledged it had failed for several months
to follow judges' orders to remove an infant from the custody of his
14-year-old disabled mother. The infant was badly injured last week, suffering a fractured skull
while still living with his mom.
Plans for the future
Jessica, who has graduated from high school and passed the FCAT,
wants to attend college and train to become a dental hygienist, she said
Thursday. She recently filled out applications for financial aid, but the
documents were handed in late and she was told she would not be able to
register for classes. When Jessica turns 18, she will have to find an apartment, arrange
for electricity and phone service, and open a bank account, among other
things.
She also wants to get a bus pass so she can get around.
“I know I am going to need help,” Jessica said. “I don't know how to do
these things. I'm willing to learn, if only they would help me.”
Orders issued
In September 2002, the DCF was ordered to provide Jessica with
independent-living skills training geared toward the needs of a teen
mother, Salisbury said. The training never took place. Then, last February, Zabel signed a new order, once again requiring
that the DCF provide Jessica with a bus pass, clothing and skills
training, as well as housing, child care for Jessica's daughter, and
assistance preparing for college. Once again, none of the services were provided, Salisbury said.
“The court . . . learned DCF has continued not to comply with the
prior court orders,” Zabel wrote in the order signed Wednesday.
Concern for Jessica
Salisbury said she is afraid DCF officials are simply biding their
time, waiting for Jessica to turn 18. Last June, a Miami appeals court ruled a Miami judge, Cindy Lederman,
had no authority to force child-welfare administrators to help another
young woman after her 18th birthday.
The terse ruling by the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami was a
significant victory for the DCF, which had fought Lederman's attempts in
two other cases to extend her authority over foster children after they
turn 18. By law, foster kids “age out” of state care upon their 18th
birthday.
“My experience is they will not do anything in 45 days. And when the
child turns 18, we will have no ability to hold DCF accountable to the
court's orders.”
By Carol Marbin-Miller
16 October 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2003/10/10/news/local/6976131.htm
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