Ohio foster youth aging out of care

Young adults must find way after foster care
'Aging out' of surrogate system brings challenges for at-risk group
Plain Dealer Cleveland, OH)August 20, 2006
Barb Galbincea; Plain Dealer Reporter

Every year, about 20,000 youngsters across the country "age out" of foster care, the surrogate system that looks after children removed from their families, usually because of abuse or neglect. Too old for the system, are they ready to be on their own?

Studies show that such young adults are at greater risk than their peers of being homeless, unemployed or involved with the criminal justice system.

With some exceptions, Ohioans can remain in foster care only until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.The lucky ones leave having forged enduring bonds with foster parents or other adults. The not-so-lucky have no such safety net.

"Do I worry? Yes. But I try not to think about it, to stay in the present," said a teenager whom officials didn't want identified but who faces the prospect of leaving Cuyahoga County's care.

There's reason to be concerned, according to researchers:
A University of Chicago study tracking mostly 19-year-olds found that a third of those no longer in foster care reported having been arrested in the preceding year or two, and 23.7 percent said they had spent at least a night in jail.

The same study, published last year, found that about 14 percent of those young adults had been homeless at some point since leaving foster care.

Almost 37 percent said they were neither employed nor in school.

Ohio does not track what happens to former foster kids, but the ongoing Chicago study is centered in the Midwest – following young adults in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin as they left foster care.

Based on initial interviews with 736 youngsters when they were in custody, and 603 in a second round of interviews, the findings suggest the pitfalls noted in other studies.

Mark Courtney, director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and one of the study's authors, said public policy often fails the nation's foster children, making them vulnerable by leaving them on their own too early.

"The strongest predictor of success in making the transition to adulthood is the ability to rely on your family," he said.

Yet, kids in foster care often are removed from their troubled families as adolescents, giving them enough time to absorb the household's problems, but seriously disrupting their relationships, said Courtney."We took them away from their families with the idea that we are their societal parents. But then we decide, at 18 or 19 we're going to say, 'You're on your own,' " he said.

If an average person saw a parent able, but unwilling, to provide for a young adult child in need, Courtney said, "we would find that parent irresponsible and subject them to public ridicule. But that's exactly what we're doing."

He contends that such young people should continue to get child welfare services until they're at least 21.

Jim McCafferty, director of the county's Department of Children & Family Services, is all too familiar with challenges facing about 200 youngsters who age out of Cuyahoga County custody each year.

That's why the county staff tries to prepare kids for independence by assessing their individual needs – from housing and employment to education – and then matching teens with services that can help.

Ninety-one young people now are part of the College Bound program, which encourages them to continue their education post-custody by giving them the $20 a day that foster parents are paid.

McCafferty also hopes to pair more young people with adult mentors and the county has a youth advisory council so the kids themselves can weigh in about what they need.

At Adoption Network Cleveland, teenagers can talk openly about foster care and their future during meetings of Get Real.

At the close of one recent group session, a gregarious 16-year-old shared his story: His mom died while he was in county custody. A few weeks later, so did the grandmother who once cared for him. He and his 15-year-old sister are still in separate homes.

Get Real includes adult role models, former foster kids themselves, there to demonstrate that despite the obstacles, teens aren't doomed.

"If I can make it, as rebellious as I was, so can they," says Clevelander Tish Kelley, who was in foster care from age 9 until she grew out of the system.

Dennis Braziel, vice president of clinical services at Applewood Centers – one of the area agencies that teach independent living skills – said the program includes lessons on how to look for a job, budgeting, the importance of being on time and even hygiene.

In addition, each youngster gets what Braziel calls a personal tool box, with important documents like a birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID or driver's license and library and voter registration cards.

Tony Moses, youth resource manager for Applewood, said that besides helping young people find jobs or continue in school, he makes sure they understand the bus system and takes them downtown to places like the federal building, where he talks about the notion of income tax by pointing out the IRS office.

"You can't take anything for granted," he said.