Leaving foster care
Young adults often find themselves at a loss, with no safety net or guidance, once they leave the system
While many parents wonder if their grown children will ever leave the nest these days, Chelsea Faver knows she has to be independent. Moving back home isn't an option for her or for many other former foster children.
Faver, 19, is a native of Spencer County. She entered state placement at 15. She's now a sophomore in college, which makes her an exception among those who "age out" or outgrow the system at 18.
Too often, experts say, these young people struggle in the adult world. Ordinarily, a young person still counts on Mom and Dad for all kinds of help after high school, workers in the child protective system point out. "I have a 24-year-old college grad in my home right now, and he's unemployed — and not for lack of trying," said Kathi Crowe, executive director of the National Foster Care Coalition in Washington, D.C.
A typical parent provides about $38,000 in free food, housing, education, laundry, babysitting and more to his or her child from age 18 to 34, said Martha Raske, the chairwoman of the social work department at the University of Southern Indiana.
The overall numbers of abused or neglected children in state placement has dropped in recent years, but the number of teens aging out of the system — whether they were in care a short time or for years — has grown to 30,000 a year, observers say. Such young people also miss out on the wisdom and life skills children are taught or just overhear during daily family life, Raske said.
Researchers say those who age out of foster are less likely to graduate high school or earn a GED and much less likely to finish college if they ever start. They are also more likely to become homeless.
Transportation to work is an issue. Most former foster kids don't have a driver's license because no one will take the legal and financial responsibility for them to learn to drive. They may not live near reliable public transportation. "A lot of apartment complexes want them to have some kind of credit," said Mandy Osborne, the independent living instructor at United Methodist Youth Home in Evansville. "A lot of these girls have no credit, or their parents have used their name and Social Security number and they have bad credit."
"They're the uncounted homeless," said Kathy Weinzapfel, who used to be educational liaison at Hillcrest Washington Youth Home Inc., where Faver lived for several months. The youths end up staying in abandoned buildings or camp out on the couch of "anyone who will let them come in," Weinzapfel said.
Osborne said one of her clients managed to get an apartment, but failed to check her mail for a month. "That was an eye-opener. You just see how dependent the kids are."
In the last 10 years, states and private groups have been working harder to prepare such young people for independence. Under certain circumstances, they still can get Medicaid and help with educational expenses and a little rent and utility assistance until they turn 21. A fairly new program allows Hoosier young people to stay with former foster parents for a while in a sort of room-and-board arrangement.
Many 18-year-olds are eager to sever all ties with the system, though. "It was kind of frustrating for me with constant eyes watching you," admits Faver, who is on the Indiana Youth Advisory Board, which looks at public policies on foster care.
She still decided to take full advantage of any help available until she turns 21. She realized, "When I turned 18 there, wasn't much of a support system for me."
Karen Owen-Phelps
30 March 2010
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/mar/30/leaving-foster-care/
