Auditor says DCF needs to do more to help kids aging out of system

Abused for much of their young lives, it's not surprising that many former foster children struggle as young adults.

Now the state auditor tells 5 Investigates there are far too many children not getting the support they need.

More >> Auditor says DCF needs to do more to help kids aging out of system

Former foster youth make themselves heard for “sibling bill of rights,” drivers license bill

The longer Davion Bugarin talked, his tears turning into gasping sobs, the more lawmakers began to cry. Someone found a box of tissues so the legislators on the House human services committee could wipe their eyes while Bugarin explained how he lost his sisters in foster care.

More >> Former foster youth make themselves heard for “sibling bill of rights,” drivers license bill

’There’s no way for us to learn how to live’: Foster children who age out of care suffer later in life

Nelly Medina was 9 when her mother, who was addicted to drugs, left her and her two siblings and did not come home.

By the time Medina turned 18, she had lived in 14 foster homes and attended 10 public schools. She asked to be emancipated at 16 so she could abort a pregnancy. She ultimately miscarried.

More >> ’There’s no way for us to learn how to live’: Foster children who age out of care suffer later in life

Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

Kendra Owens doesn’t remember a lot about the five months she spent in foster care before her 18th birthday. Her therapist says that it’s her brain trying to protect her, hiding away horrible memories that might trigger her depression or her post-traumatic stress disorder.

More >> Young adults struggle while ‘aging out’ of Arkansas foster care system

Too many N.J. teens leave foster care homeless and unemployed

Too many young adults who “aged out” of the New Jersey’s foster care system in the first half of 2018 had not yet enrolled in school, landed a job or found a reliable place to live, according to the latest report by a national expert evaluating child welfare services in the state.

The latest report, delivered to U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark Tuesday, reflects the first six months of the Murphy administration’s work toward improving New Jersey’s child welfare services, which was once considered among the nation’s most dysfunctional.

More >> Too many N.J. teens leave foster care homeless and unemployed

Woman denied document in bid to find dad

A young Victorian woman placed in foster care as an infant has been denied access to a government document she believes may contain the name of her birth father.

The woman was taken from her mother at three weeks and placed in permanent care. She only saw her twice and had limited letter correspondence with her before she died in 2017.

More >> Woman denied document in bid to find dad

Steven Tyler's Janie's Fund donates more than a half-million dollars in Support of Foster Youth Across the U.S.

Iconic music legend and humanitarian Steven Tyler, through his philanthropic initiative Janie's Fund, announced a year-end donation of $532,000 to support young women who have aged out of foster care in Boston, New York City, Nashville and the state of North Carolina.

Funds in all markets will be used to support public/private partnerships for YVLifeSet and will be matched directly with public funding and private donations.  In New York City, funds will support a new pilot program and in Nashville, help ensure that every girl that ages out of foster care has access to the program.

More >> Steven Tyler's Janie's Fund donates more than a half-million dollars in Support of Foster Youth Across the U.S.

Baugh: The foster care-to-prison pipeline

Nelson Mandela once said that a society’s soul should be judged by the way it treats its children. In the United States, the soul of our society would be judged harshly, particularly because of the way we treat wards of the state.

In recent years, attention has been given to America’s children in the “School-To-Prison Pipeline.” Zero-tolerance policies, the criminalization of adolescence and the pushing of disadvantaged children out of the classrooms have fed a number of youthss into justice systems — many of them foster youths. Home and state systems, like group homes, foster care and youths institutions, set children up for emotional and relational trauma when children are uprooted from their biological families and have multiple home placements.

More >> Baugh: The foster care-to-prison pipeline

‘It’s like a trap; it’s like they don’t want you to succeed’

For most youths experiencing homelessness, it’s the systems that are – on their surface – intended to protect them that can play a major role in their descent to the streets.

According to a 2016 report from the Homeless Hub, part of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, three in five Canadian youths going through homelessness have experience with the foster system.

More >> ‘It’s like a trap; it’s like they don’t want you to succeed’

Report: Ohio foster care teens entering adulthood lag in education, employment

A first-of-its-kind report on the transition from foster care to adulthood shows Ohio teens and young adults lagging the nation in employment and education.

By age 21, just 43 percent of former foster youths in Ohio had a high school diploma or equivalent, according to data released last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That compares with 76 percent of the overall U.S. foster-care population and about 92 percent of Ohio’s general population.

More >> Report: Ohio foster care teens entering adulthood lag in education, employment

Report Shows Ohio Foster Children Have Problems Transitioning Into Adulthood

New research by the non-partisan Annie E. Casey foundation shows Ohio youths in foster care have a difficult time transitioning into adulthood.

More >> Report Shows Ohio Foster Children Have Problems Transitioning Into Adulthood

Report: AZ Kids Need Support as They Age Out of Foster Care

A study out this week looks at challenges faced by foster children in Arizona and across the country, when they turn 18 and "age out" of the system.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation data found that overall, young people transitioning from foster care are falling behind others in completing high school, finding jobs and acquiring basic life skills.

More >> Report: AZ Kids Need Support as They Age Out of Foster Care

Study sheds light on obstacles foster children face as they age out of system

A study released Tuesday sheds light on the struggles Indiana's foster children face as they get older. The numbers reveal the impact moving around throughout the formative years can have on foster youth's long-term success and the additional support that may be required for them.

The comprehensive data delves into the experiences of teens who are close to aging out of the child welfare system. According to the findings, individuals who spend years in foster care tend to lag behind when it comes to getting their high school diploma, finishing college or getting a job.

More >> Study sheds light on obstacles foster children face as they age out of system

Young People in All 50 States Struggle While Transitioning from Foster Care to Adulthood, New Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation Reveal

The Annie E. Casey Foundation today released Fostering Youth Transitions, a data brief highlighting the most comprehensive data set ever collected across all 50 states to assess how young people fare as they transition from foster care to adulthood.

More >> Young People in All 50 States Struggle While Transitioning from Foster Care to Adulthood, New Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation Reveal

From Growing Up In Care To Becoming A Social Worker – With The Right Support The Future For Care Leavers Can Be Bright

Today, there are around 38,000 care leavers in England under the age of 22, and sadly they often have much poorer outcomes than other people their age.

Shockingly, just 6% of young people with experience of the care system go to university, compared to almost 50% of the general population. What’s more, 40% of care leavers aged 19-21 are not in employment, education or training, compared with 13% of all young people.

More >> From Growing Up In Care To Becoming A Social Worker – With The Right Support The Future For Care Leavers Can Be Bright

Note: I don't post because I agree.  I post because you need to know what they say.

Louisiana must do more to get foster children ready to be on their own

For years foster children in Louisiana had to fend for themselves after they turned 18. The state essentially dumped them out of the system with no help.

Many of them have ended up homeless or in prison, the Louisiana State Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care reported in 2017. Within a year after leaving the foster care system, one in five young people are homeless. Within two years, one in four are in prison, the task force found.

More >> Louisiana must do more to get foster children ready to be on their own

B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform

More than 40 B.C. youth who have experienced living in government care descended on the legislature Wednesday, calling for changes to the child welfare system.

The group met with multiple cabinet ministers and youth transition organizations as part of Fostering Change, an advocacy campaign, to push for more comprehensive supports for youth who are set to leave care, as opposed to the current “needs-based funding” approach.

More >> B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform

‘They are dumping them’: Foster child sent to shelter on 18th birthday, now in prison

Rashaad Piper was 8 years old when the state of Louisiana placed him in foster care following reports of abuse at his home. He remembers feeling relieved at the time. He thought he was finally going to be safe, that he was going to be cared for and given a second chance at happiness.

“I got tired of getting beat,” he said. “I wanted a better outcome.”

More >> ‘They are dumping them’: Foster child sent to shelter on 18th birthday, now in prison

In Arkansas, foster youths who age out often alone

The girl Eric Gilmore saw waiting at the bus stop one day more than 10 years ago had just turned 18. She had one bag of clothes, a bus ticket to Fort Smith and enough bipolar medication to last one night.

And, suddenly, she was alone. After years in Arkansas' foster care system, she had aged out.

More >> In Arkansas, foster youths who age out often alone

Was a thriving teen made homeless by Hillsborough's foster care system?

Travis Bailey, a star student at Armwood High School, was thriving in his home life when Hillsborough County's foster care system sent him back to live with his father in Maine under a judge's order, essentially making him homeless, his brother claims.

Adam Watson is Travis' half brother. They share the same mother, but have different fathers.

More >> Was a thriving teen made homeless by Hillsborough's foster care system?