About For The Long Run
Have you ever wondered what happens when a foster youth “ages-out” of the foster care system? This year in Arkansas alone, nearly 250 foster youth will enter into adulthood ill-prepared for the most basic life challenges and disconnected from the community at large. Additionally, there are close to 900 youth currently in the foster care system that are on track to exit the foster care system because they have not found a forever family.
Youth enter the world not only unprepared educationally and emotionally, but even more tragically alone. Alone without a place to call home, alone without a place to visit on holidays, alone without anyone to call for a job reference, alone without anyone to co-sign for a first apartment or vehicle, alone without medical insurance, therapy or medication. Alone. Tragically, “alone” takes its toll on youth. Alone leads to a search for belonging; without guidance that search often ends in drug abuse, homelessness, jail or prison, unwanted pregnancy, depression, and even suicide.
They have no one to turn to when they leave foster care because, after over 8 years in care, the young adults are placed in 32 different homes and facilities. They don’t have a relationship with their family because of the trauma they experienced at their hands as a young child and friends are only people they know through their stays in group homes and treatment facilities.
Finally, they are also highly likely to experience incarceration, unwanted pregnancy, and have lower academic achievement than that of their non-foster peers.
In 2009, this described over 32,400 young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 who had exited the foster care system nationwide.
During SFY 2010, in the state of Arkansas alone, 1,223 youth over the age of 16 have either been, or are risk of being, discharged from the foster care system with no family or social support network in place.
While the general age of financial independence in the United States is 26, our current system assumes that these 18 year-old age-outs are fit to live completely independently with no family or support system. Most typical families would not turn their 18 year-old to the street with no job, no financial support, no home and few life skills, however this is commonplace within our child welfare system. Compound the stress of early financial independence with the fact that youth who have aged out of foster care also possess inadequate education, cultural and financial skills, and one understands that these youth are at high risk for substance abuse, poverty, homelessness and crime. While recognition of this social problem is becoming more prevalent, few programs or services exist to serve the needs of this population.
Transitional Living Services offered through Dana’s House, Inc. will serve teens ages 17 through 21 that are on the path to aging out of care without a support system in place. With the guidance of a life coach, and in collaboration with Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, Arkansas County Adult Education, and the Dewitt School District invaluable life and educational skills as well as a sense of independence will be instilled that is often misplaced as youth are moved from home to home within the foster care system. The following services will be offered to youth that participate in transitional living services: assessment and transitional plan development and review, life skills coaching, semi-supervised living, mentoring, educational support, career/job guidance, health care life skills, housing life skills, home management, interpersonal/social skills, money management skills, parenting skills, driving skills, crisis intervention, mental health services, emergency cash assistance, and weekly Bible study.
As children we strive to answer three main questions in life; the roles males and females play, am I loved or unloved, am I good or bad. In collaboration with the CALL of Arkansas County youth who progress through the program will be matched with a mentor to help further bridge the gap from foster care to adulthood. As youth are mentored by individuals within the community some of these questions begin to be answered in a more positive light as forever relationships are being formed.
Furthermore, each individual has four central relationships, any of which can be in a broken state: a relationship with God, a relationship with self, a relationship with others, and a relationship with the rest of society.
Growing up in foster care can easily damage any or all of these relationships. It is in building and putting these relationships back together that we see youth flourish.
Without fundamental life skills and solid forever relationships with adult mentors the likelihood of success in life for foster youth is slim. Transitional Living Services offered through Dana’s House, Inc. will serve to give foster youth the hand up they need to avoid becoming a negative statistic. After all, what good is done in protecting children from abusive situations if we allow them to enter adulthood unprepared for success? When we allow this to happen not only do we fail the youth, but also the child welfare system, our communities, and our society. Ultimately, we further the cycle of abuse for generations to come.
Positive outcomes for youth aging out of foster care can be measured in many ways. Youth served by Dana’s House Transitional Living Services will be given the Casey Living Skills Assessment upon entering, mid-way through completion, and upon completion of the program. This will assess the skill development that has occurred in youth participating in the program. Successful completion will also look like the following: increased educational level, ability to pay bills and save for the future, secure employment, secure medical insurance, and a stable relationship with a “forever” adult role model. As in all things, not all youth that enter this program will have as much success as one would hope. However, if skills are gained that keep a youth from becoming a statistic in that they are homeless, in prison, starving, etc.; they are a positive outcome indeed.
Youth enter the world not only unprepared educationally and emotionally, but even more tragically alone. Alone without a place to call home, alone without a place to visit on holidays, alone without anyone to call for a job reference, alone without anyone to co-sign for a first apartment or vehicle, alone without medical insurance, therapy or medication. Alone. Tragically, “alone” takes its toll on youth. Alone leads to a search for belonging; without guidance that search often ends in drug abuse, homelessness, jail or prison, unwanted pregnancy, depression, and even suicide.
They have no one to turn to when they leave foster care because, after over 8 years in care, the young adults are placed in 32 different homes and facilities. They don’t have a relationship with their family because of the trauma they experienced at their hands as a young child and friends are only people they know through their stays in group homes and treatment facilities.
Finally, they are also highly likely to experience incarceration, unwanted pregnancy, and have lower academic achievement than that of their non-foster peers.
In 2009, this described over 32,400 young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 who had exited the foster care system nationwide.
During SFY 2010, in the state of Arkansas alone, 1,223 youth over the age of 16 have either been, or are risk of being, discharged from the foster care system with no family or social support network in place.
While the general age of financial independence in the United States is 26, our current system assumes that these 18 year-old age-outs are fit to live completely independently with no family or support system. Most typical families would not turn their 18 year-old to the street with no job, no financial support, no home and few life skills, however this is commonplace within our child welfare system. Compound the stress of early financial independence with the fact that youth who have aged out of foster care also possess inadequate education, cultural and financial skills, and one understands that these youth are at high risk for substance abuse, poverty, homelessness and crime. While recognition of this social problem is becoming more prevalent, few programs or services exist to serve the needs of this population.
Transitional Living Services offered through Dana’s House, Inc. will serve teens ages 17 through 21 that are on the path to aging out of care without a support system in place. With the guidance of a life coach, and in collaboration with Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, Arkansas County Adult Education, and the Dewitt School District invaluable life and educational skills as well as a sense of independence will be instilled that is often misplaced as youth are moved from home to home within the foster care system. The following services will be offered to youth that participate in transitional living services: assessment and transitional plan development and review, life skills coaching, semi-supervised living, mentoring, educational support, career/job guidance, health care life skills, housing life skills, home management, interpersonal/social skills, money management skills, parenting skills, driving skills, crisis intervention, mental health services, emergency cash assistance, and weekly Bible study.
As children we strive to answer three main questions in life; the roles males and females play, am I loved or unloved, am I good or bad. In collaboration with the CALL of Arkansas County youth who progress through the program will be matched with a mentor to help further bridge the gap from foster care to adulthood. As youth are mentored by individuals within the community some of these questions begin to be answered in a more positive light as forever relationships are being formed.
Furthermore, each individual has four central relationships, any of which can be in a broken state: a relationship with God, a relationship with self, a relationship with others, and a relationship with the rest of society.
Growing up in foster care can easily damage any or all of these relationships. It is in building and putting these relationships back together that we see youth flourish.
Without fundamental life skills and solid forever relationships with adult mentors the likelihood of success in life for foster youth is slim. Transitional Living Services offered through Dana’s House, Inc. will serve to give foster youth the hand up they need to avoid becoming a negative statistic. After all, what good is done in protecting children from abusive situations if we allow them to enter adulthood unprepared for success? When we allow this to happen not only do we fail the youth, but also the child welfare system, our communities, and our society. Ultimately, we further the cycle of abuse for generations to come.
Positive outcomes for youth aging out of foster care can be measured in many ways. Youth served by Dana’s House Transitional Living Services will be given the Casey Living Skills Assessment upon entering, mid-way through completion, and upon completion of the program. This will assess the skill development that has occurred in youth participating in the program. Successful completion will also look like the following: increased educational level, ability to pay bills and save for the future, secure employment, secure medical insurance, and a stable relationship with a “forever” adult role model. As in all things, not all youth that enter this program will have as much success as one would hope. However, if skills are gained that keep a youth from becoming a statistic in that they are homeless, in prison, starving, etc.; they are a positive outcome indeed.