Did You Know About This Progress in Florida?

Normalcy for Foster Care Youth
"For many years youth in state care were not able to participate in the same types of activities as their peers. In order to fix that problem, the state is now required to include a “normalcy” component in the case plan.

According to Fla. Admin. Code 65C-30.007(10), youth should be encouraged and supported in taking part in extracurricular activities, obtaining work, attending social events, learning how to drive and doing all the other normal things that youth do.

Preparation for Adulthood
Florida law requires that transition planning begin for youth in state care at age 13 with the adoption of an education or career plan The state is required to conduct a “pre-independent living assessment” for all youth between the ages of 13 and 15.

It should then identify services needed to meet the needs identified in the assessment. The state must then conduct a staffing once a year to ensure that the youth receives the services and training necessary to develop independent living skills. Florida Statute §409.1451(4)(a).

Forging An Education and Career Path
Beginning at age 13, the youth’s case plan must include “an educational and career path” component based on the abilities and interests of each child. Florida Statute §409.1451(3) (b)1.

This path must be incorporated in the case plan and must be reviewed at each judicial hearing. The youth, assisted by foster parents and DCF or the CBC, must chose one of these post-secondary goals:
1. Obtaining a 4-year university degree.
2. Obtaining a 2-year college degree.
3. Obtaining a career/technical certificate.
4. Beginning employment or apprenticeship after completing high school or enlisting in the military.

2010 NE Ohio Independent Living Summit

The 2010 Northeast Ohio Independent Living Summit, sponsored by Stark County Children Services, took place on Friday, October 29, 2010, from 9:00 am-4:00 pm at First Christian Church, 6900 Market Avenue North, Canton, OH, 44721.

This event was dedicated to “Supporting Success for Youth Transitioning From Foster Care.”

Supporting Organizations included: Stark County Children Services, OACCA, Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter, Adoption Network Cleveland, Community Care Network, Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, Family and Community Services of Portage County, Institute for Human Services, Lorain County Children Services, Lowery Training Associates, Lucas County Children Services, Mahoning County Children Services, Montgomery County Department of Job and Familiy Services, Pressley Ridge, Starr Commonwealth, and Voices for Ohio’s Children.

Parental Support Provided to Adult Children After Age 18

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately half of young adults ages 18 to 24 in the United States live at home with their parents:

• In 2003, 54% of young men and 45% of young women ages 18-24 lived at home with their parents. 
• In 2005, the numbers shifted a bit; 53% of young men and 46% of young women lived at home with their parents. 

A 2007 study sponsored by Ameriprise Financial on Money Across Generations revealed that nine out of 10 Baby Boomers have helped their adult children financially expenses such as college loans, automotive and home costs, medical expenses and/or allowing their adult child to move back home.

According to a 2005 research study on Family Support During the Transition to Adulthood:

"On average, for those living at home and those living independently, parents provide roughly $38,000 in material assistance – housing, food, educational expenses, or direct cash assistance – throughout the transition to adulthood (from age 18 to age 34). This averages to approximately $2,200 annually."

Please note that the amount of material assistance, $38,000 is cited in 2001 dollars. When the amount is adjusted to 2009 dollars using the CPI Conversion Calculator, it is $46,694.

Permanency Or Independent Living? It's NOT an Either/Or Situation

As a former foster child, I've been saying this for years:

"The child welfare system tends to focus on where to place youth.

"But regardless of placement, whether a young person ends up being adopted, reuniting with biological parents, being connected with family members or staying in a group home, foster home, institution or juvenile facility...

"They still need to have the tools necessary to build relationships and to ensure their long-term physical and emotional survival."

Glad that the experts are catching up!

Ohio Advocacy Efforts throughout HB 1 Budget Process

The official version of HB 1 was released earlier this week, and the Independent Living Allocation was preserved:

SECTION 309.45.15. INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES
Of the foregoing appropriation item 600523, Children and Families
Services, up to $1,500,000 in each fiscal year shall be used to provide
independent living services to foster youth and former foster youth
between 16 and 21 years of age.

https://webmailcluster.perfora.net/xml/deref?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legislature.state.oh.us%2FBillText128%2F128_HB_1_EN_N.pdf Page 2900

Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies should be proud.

Youth and alumni who experienced foster care firsthand were HEARD by the Ohio House of Representatives. We were HEARD by the Ohio Senate. We were HEARD by the conference committee.

We fought for an earmark to be amended into the bill from the very beginning. We successfully fought to maintain this funding, despite many rounds of funding cuts.

Without our efforts, this money would not have been inserted into the bill for transition age youth.

It's time to celebrate and give thanks!

1.) We are thankful to our legislators for hearing our testimony, reading our letters and maintaining this important funding allocation.

2.) We thank Mark Mecum of OACCA, Doris Edelmann of Montgomery County Children Services, Bryan Brown of Starr Commonwealth, Anita Wainwright of Mahoning County Children Services, Susan Ignelzi, and Brandi Scales, adult supporter of the OHIO YAB.

3.) We thank Nick Bates and Angela Lareviere, for taking the leadership role in facilitating Ready to Launch Day, for proudly wearing Ready to Launch stickers and for empowering YEP youth to speak out on behalf of young people throughout Ohio.

4.) We thank YEP youth, VISION Board youth, Mahoning County youth, Franklin County youth, OHIO YAB youth and FCAA Ohio alumni for sharing their voices and a strategic piece of their stories.

There truly is a foster care movement going on in Ohio...

Next Steps:
a.) Sending thank you letters to legislators, including personalizing letters to legislators who asked us thoughtful questions during our testimony and legislative office visits.

b.) Planning a shared celebration that includes foster care youth, alumni and allies from all over Ohio who were a part of this advocacy effort - including YEP youth and supporters.

c.) Meeting with Representative Sykes, in order to further reform the way that Independent Living is funded in Ohio in the future.

Miracle Makers led to adversity

New York Times photographer Ozier Muhammed captured this moment after the young lady on the right was forced to wait nine years to be adopted by her foster mom (on right), due to ineptitude by the Miracle Makers foster care agency.

New York City paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to Miracle Makers foster care agency as per their contract to provide classes in independent living.

Yet when a 16-year-old client who was preparing to age out of foster care tried to enroll in one of those classes, she found out the truth: The independent living workshops did not exist. They had not been offered for over a year.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what was uncovered in the New York Times' investigation...

New York City officials had no reason to believe that Willie Wren, founder of Miracle Makers, was qualified to lead a foster care agency in the first place. He was a church deacon with no experience working in foster care.

Yet, in 1986, city officials approached Mr. Wren, telling him that they were flooded with abandoned children, due to drugs, AIDS homelessness and teenage pregnancy, and calling on him to help.

The staff and board members of Miracle Makers were equally unqualified. The board consisted of a pastor, a homemaker and a bank employee, none of whom had social work training or experience. Board members did not evaluate Mr. Wren’s performance, approve budgets or receive copies of financial statements.

The agency was staffed by family members of its founder; his wife, his niece, his sister and his sister-in-law. Additional staff members, recruited from the general public, reported lack of training.

How did Miracle Makers end up turning into a multi-million dollar agency?

For the most part, this was because its services were not subject to regulation. In 1991, the city’s foster care oversight committee was disbanded and replaced with cursory evaluations. While this might have saved the city money in the short-term, in the long-term this decision did nothing to safeguard the safety of children.

And so Miracle Makers continued to exist – and even expand.

The warning signs were evident:

1.) A letter from the State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities in 2001, citing serious flaws in its housing program for the mentally handicapped

2.) The results of EQUIP(Evaluation and Quality Improvement Protocol system) revealed that Miracle Makers was in last place regarding foster care; the waiting time to reunify children or free them for adoption was longest and their program to prepare teenagers for the adult world rated a zero.

Miracle Makers continued to finish at or near the bottom for the next three years.

3.) An investigation of Miracle Makers uncovered: huge caseloads, lax hiring practices, poorly supervised staff, poorly trained supervisors, unqualified administrators and an ineffectual board.

4.) Miracle Makers bounced at least 280 checks, costing their agency thousands of dollars in overdraft fees (one month, the overdraft fees totaled $2,340). Apparently no one on staff was trained in basic bookkeeping principles and funds for various programs were intermingled.

5.) Miracle Makers claimed to have spent $2,399 on Palm Pilots for pre-kindergarten children. Yet, when questioned by the city’s Education Department about why these devices were considered appropriate for such young children, the agency claimed to have ‘lost’ the Palm Pilots.

My greatest concerns are for the children and teenagers being ‘served’ by this ineffectual agency, such as:

- Two children who weren’t given counseling after being sexually abused, because of staff turnover and a foster mother who kept missing appointments

- One girl who was forced to languish in the agency’s care for nine years before being adopted by her foster mother. Miracle Makers did not file the petition to terminate her abusive father’s rights. Nor did they respond when the court threatened the agency with arrest for not showing up at hearings.

- Miracle Makers lost the documents necessary to terminate parental rights for another child, and as a result, she is still in foster care. In another case, staff neglected to read the birth certificate, and wasted time and resources proceeding against a man who was not the biological father.

To read more, please visit my source:
Weiser, Benjamin. City slow to act as hope for foster children fails. New York Times, Nov. 6, 2007.

Laying the groundwork for a statewide independent living survey

SAMPLE: Young people ages 17-23*, residing in licensed public / private foster and group home facilities in 10 counties across the state.

*We will be focusing on cases in AFCARS data... which unfortunately does not include kinship care placements. And, logistics dictate that the survey of youth who have already aged out of care will be done through a random sample of ETV recipients, for this initial study.

COLLABORATION: This survey will be most useful if it is a collaborative effort including the statewide Youth Advisory Board, statewide public and private foster care agencies, statewide independent living association and the state chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America.

Each group has insights to offer in terms of: questions to ask, method of asking questions, logistics of surveying, usability of information – reporting out and using results.

PREPARATION:
1.) Compile a list of independent living coordinators in each county and find out how many counties have after-care coordinators.

2.) Schedule a conference call with organizations listed above to invite them to partner on this project.

3.) After identifying the independent living experts in each county, they should be invited to participate in a conference call as well.

BACKGROUND:
An examination of the current county level of funding for independent living services divided by the number of youth in care in each county has revealed that the money is indeed being dispersed fairly and equitably to each county. The discrepancy lies in how this money is being spent to help young people who are public wards of the state.

Independent living services differ greatly by county. Some young people have reported receiving a lot of guidance and support, while others report receiving none.

PROPOSED TIMELINE:
1.) OCT - DEC 2007 – Identify independent living specialists in each county.

2.) JAN - MARCH 2008 – Analyze type of independent living services provided, annual budget, amount of staff, number of youth served, barriers/challenges to providing services.

3.) APRIL - MAY 2008 – Random sample of foster home and group home providers, knowledge of services available and barriers/challenges to accessing services.

4.) JUNE - AUG 2008 – Youth questionnaire: types and amounts of IL services provided, perceived usefulness, knowledge of available services, barriers/challenges to receiving assistance and support.

I think the best part of this proposed research project is the fourth step: eliciting feedback from young people in and from foster care. We are the "consumers" of the child welfare system -- and professionals can learn much from our insights and experiences!

A circle of support helps teens age out of foster care

Since young people aging out of foster care lack the “roots” relied upon by young people from intact families, they will need to work to create and recreate support systems of their own.

I created this diagram of examples for teens in the foster care system to consider while preparing to age out of care.

According to Children’s Rights, half of the young adults between the ages of 18 - 24 in the general population live at home with their parents. Most people within this age group rely upon their families for assistance with a place to live, financial support and other guidance as they transition to adulthood.

Meanwhile, 20,000 foster children "age out” of foster care each year, and enter the adult world.

We can make it. We can survive.

But because we often lack the "roots" relied upon by our peers, we will need to build the skills to create and recreate a circle of suport for ourselves.

This is the first step... stayed tuned.

Matching funds for foster care youth and alumni

Graphic from www.jimcaseyyouth.org

Young people transitioning out of foster care are at a higher risk for dropping out of high school, becoming homeless, going to jail and having children at a young age. They often lack a safety net to catch them if they fall.

What can be done to assist them with this transition?

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative includes:

- A personal debit account for short-term expenses

- A matching savings account, also known as an Individual Development Account (IDA), to be used for specific assets, such as education expenses and housing down payments/deposits.

In Michigan, the state folded the Michigan Jim Casey sites into the Department of Human Services several years ago. But they still offer matching funds through the Michigan Youth Opportunities (MYOI) for foster care alumni who are saving money for an asset like a car or college education.

The matching funds come from a Jim Casey grant backed by the Annie E. Casey and the Marguerite Casey Foundations. Youth in the program can receive money for participating in MYOI events like the youth board and other outreach programs. But the idea is for them to deposit earned income, not grant money.

My friend, Bill Schramm, drew on MYOI support to support his own disc jockey service. He is a full-time student, majoring in business administration, at Northwestern Michigan College. Currently, he plans to utilize matching funds to make a downpayment on a house for him and his wife Laura.

As a young person aging out of foster care, the matching funds initiative offered Bill just the help that he needed.

"The initiative has been a phenomenal amount of assistance for me in changing my life around. I used to do a lot of negative things and now I’m a successful person. I’m married. I’ve got my own business. I’m full-time in college, I went back and got my GED because I had dropped out of school. This initiative has helped me out with all those things."

For more information, please visit www.jimcaseyyouth.org

Sources:
Ellison, Garret. Foster youth program hopes to promote fiscal responsibility. Traverse City Records-Eagle, April 26, 2007.

Proposed $17 million cuts threaten Rhode Island teens aging out of foster care

Photo of Gov. Carcieri from http://www.coneg.org













While other states explore options to extend their services to young people transitioning out of foster care, Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri has proposed lowering the cut-off age for foster care services from 21 to 18 years old.

According to his spokeman, "It is the grim reality of having to reduce spending by $360 million. We have to balance the budget. We have no other option."

You have no other option? I think you do. These teenagers did not create the deficit. They did not choose to have parents who cannot or will not accept responsibility for them. Other young adults in "normal families" between the ages of 18-24 can live with their parents - and, statistically, 50% of them choose to do so.

Teens who have aged out of foster care know what it's like to have limited options. Has anyone in our lives taught us how to budget? How to cook? How to drive? We know what it's like to have limited options because there is no one in our lives to catch us if we fall.

A federal study of youth who had been in foster care found that one-fourth had experienced homelessness after leaving the foster care system. We former 'foster kids' are at risk for homelessness, incarceration, unwed pregnancy and joblessness.

Governor Carcieri, as a former foster child and someone who has done the research, I have some news for you. You will 'pay' for former foster children. Either you will be proactive and help them transition to adulthood, or you will be negligent and end up paying welfare or prison costs.

When I left foster care, I attended college. I started college when I was 16 years old. I was thankful for grants. I was thankful for loans. I was thankful for temporary guardians until I was 17 years old. And, frankly, the state where I lived was lucky that I chose to seek higher education, rather than repeating the cycle.

Would you rather pay for me to receive a welfare payment or loan me the money for college and grad school?

I agree wholeheartedly with Lisa Guillette, the executive director of the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association, "It's almost like building the bridge and not connecting the rest of the highway. When we get them to the most critical point of their young lives we're going to abandon them? It's immoral and it's bad policy. It's walking away from the investment we've made in them."

Sources:
Bayles, Fred and Sharon Cohen. "Chaos often the only parent for abused and neglected children." (AP) Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2000.
Norton, Justin M. Rhode Island ponders future of foster care. Associated Press, March 16, 2007.