Local foster kids dispelling myths
As children who grew up in the care of the Hastings Children's Aid Society, Kasandra Lessard and Kasandra Dodds hope to dispel some myths about foster kids. "I don't like the stereotype people put on foster kids," said Dodds, a 19-year-old child and youth worker student at Loyalist College. "When people say, 'You can't do this,' I say, 'Yes I can.'"
Lessard, a 20-year-old developmental service worker student at Loyalist, said foster kids don't want sympathy, just empathy. "Foster kids just want support and a chance to prove they're like everyone else," she said. "That's what I'm doing."
Lessard and Dodds are two of several young people who will be honoured at the Quinte Children's Foundation's Youth Achievement Awards 7 p.m. Thursday at the Empire Theatre. Both will be presented bursaries to continue with their post-secondary education.
And CAS staff say they represent a growing list of foster children in this area who are defying history and going to college or university. A recent study found that while 75 per cent of the general population in Ontario graduates from high school, the percentage of foster care children who graduate is below 40 per cent. But, locally, the percentage is improving. This year the Hastings CAS saw 18 kids in or formerly in its care go to post-secondary education, a new record.
Another recent study found of 72 Crown wards or former Crown wards in the province in university, seven were from the Hastings CAS, a number which makes the agency more than adequately represented in the province. Christa Antle-Baldwin, a Hastings CAS worker, attributed the numbers to several factors.
For one, she said, the agency has made a commitment to work with schools to ensure foster children are getting the education they need. That could mean putting them in a special needs classroom to treat a learning disability or moving them to a more positive working environment where they're not teased for being a foster child by other students.
Staff at Hastings CAS, she said, also pride themselves on remaining involved with foster children beyond the age they're legally required to. Social workers there ensure that by the time a former foster child is 21, they have a positive relationship with at least one adult in their life, to guide them through crucial life decisions.
But, most of all, she said, staff try to give foster kids as normal a life as possible. They try to help them get involved in extra-curricular activities to build confidence and teach them they are like everybody else. "Our kids are not different," Antle-Baldwin said. "They're normal kids. They just have different challenges. In some ways they're better than normal kids."
Both Lessard and Dodds credit their achievements to having great foster families.
Lessard, who was in and out of custody from Grades 1 to 3, finally landed in a steady foster home by Grade 4. Her foster parents have taken care of her and her two younger sisters ever since. And they do it with the same commitment any biological parent would bring, Lessard said.
Dodds, who became a Crown ward at age 9, was hooked up with a foster mother as a teenager. She made arrangements for her to live semi-independently, then independently. "If I wasn't with her, I wouldn't be in the same situation," said Dodds, who graduated from Moira Secondary School with honours last year.
With the help of foster parents and CAS staff, Lessard and Dodds were both involved in extra curriculars throughout their lives. Dodds took dance and piano lessons and did sports such as swimming and baseball. Lessard did volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and became heavily involved in her church. And both are pursuing education in fields that deal with children because both, one day , hope to work for the CAS, a workplace where they have many close friends. Both say they were teased for being foster children while young, but could serve as a positive role model for kids going through the system in the future.
More than 75 children and youth will be recognized at the awards night. It is being hosted by the Quinte Children's Foundation in partnership with Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Mohawk Family Services and the Hastings CAS. It will recognize children and youth for their success in areas such as arts, academics, sports and volunteer work. Highlights of the evening will include the presentation of the Youth Achievement Awards, funded by Quinte Children's Foundation, to 66 children ages six to 18 from Hastings County and Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
There will also be the presentation of more than $17,000 in Reach for Success Bursaries to 19 youths pursuing post-secondary education.
Stephen Petrick
14 May 2008