2012 Connecting the Dots Conference - on the Cover of the Columbus Dispatch

Grown foster kids drive state help 

Forum aims to tackle long-standing problems 

Price, Rita. Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 4, 2012.

Daniel Curry, left, helps Arthur Miller III, 22, of Dayton, pick out a suit for job interviews at the Connecting the Dots conference. Photograph taken by Kyle Robertson, Columbus Dispatch.

He left the conference with two new suits, which will come in handy now that he’s in demand as a public speaker. Marcus Henry is 18, soon to begin his senior year in high school and very good at telling people what it’s like to come of age in foster care.

 Want to get your driver’s license? Forget it, because the state of Ohio is your parent and doesn’t want the liability. Hope to keep playing your sport after being transferred to a new foster home and school? Rules designed to prevent athletic recruiting might quash your eligibility.

Hauling all your belongings in trash bags? Henry and others think that’s an unfair embarrassment. They’re starting a drive to provide decent luggage for foster youths.

“When I first came into care, if you worked for children services, I hated you,” said Henry, who lives with foster parents in the Toledo area. “I switched that to, ‘What is bad about foster care, and how can I change it?’  ”

Michael Colbert, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said current and former foster youths — not social workers and government officials — were the force behind yesterday’s Connecting the Dots conference in Columbus. 

More than 200 teens and young adults who are about to age out of foster care, or already have, signed up for workshops to get help with jobs, college plans, and health and legal issues. The conference is part of a larger state initiative called “Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living.”

“This was the brainchild of the youth,” Colbert said. “Who are we to dictate everything that happens in foster care when we’ve never been in foster care?” 

About 1,000 to 1,300 Ohio youths leave the foster system each year without a permanent family, and many experience homelessness. Advocates say Colbert has put renewed focus on the youths’ futures.

“He gets our kids,” said Doris Edelmann, adult facilitator for the Ohio Youth Advisory Board. “And he listens.” Of five wish-list actions sent to the state by the youth board this year, three have been met and two are in the works, officials said.

Job and Family Services sponsored the conference, provided support for a new Ohio Youth Advisory Board website — www.ohioyab.org — and maintained a $2 million independent-living fund that had been cut from a previous state budget. The youth board also asked for two regional coordinators to help with independent living and transitional services for foster youths, as well as a housing task force to study the problem of housing for youths aging out of care. Colbert’s office said applications are being reviewed for the coordinators, who then will help with the housing task force.

“Housing is the biggest piece, and that task force has not yet been established,” said Lisa Dickson of the Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter. “Our young people age out of foster care to homelessness. We need action.”

Dickson, one of the conference organizers, said the aim was to keep all activities and offerings relevant. Many kids lack business attire for job interviews and work, she said, so the Ohio State Bar Foundation and other organizations donated nearly 1,300 items for the foster-care youths to choose from yesterday in the Suits for Success room.

Henry found two that fit nicely, and he figures the speaking engagements will keep coming. “We’ve already changed some things,” he said. “We’re making a difference.”

Article about 2011 Central OH FCAA Thanksgiving Event

ROTC helps families have Thanksgiving 

Sattler, Angela. Chimes, Dec. 4, 2011

Visualize not having a family to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, no one to go home to and no one to spend the holiday with. Thousands of youth in Columbus and around Ohio will be facing that very circumstance next week.

However, members of ROTC will join Campus Ministries, Student Government and President Bowman to sponsor a Thanksgiving event at Capital to help make a difference. Formally titled the Central Ohio Foster Care Alumni of America (FCAA) Thanksgiving Event at Capital University, the meal will take place Nov. 20.

FCAA is a national organization made up of former foster youth and allies. According to Lisa Dickson, Communications Chair of the Ohio chapter of FCAA, this organization exists to connect individuals who have experienced foster care personally, and to transform child welfare policy and practice.

Bethany Koshinsky, a member of ROTC, organized many details for the event, such as obtaining funding and organizing a space to host the event,

“There is a lot of planning that’s going into making this event possible. This year I tried to set a goal of getting more organizations on campus involved. After all, I believe this is an event that truly affects our whole campus,” Koshinsky said.

Geoffrey Maney, another member of ROTC, has also contributed largely to the Thanksgiving event.

“This event is a great outreach for the children in the foster care system,” Maney said, “Many people don’t realize what it is like to grow up in a home that is not yours, raised by parents who are not biologically yours. It is an opportunity for the children to be brought together and form a community bond. I believe this event makes all the difference in the world to some of the foster kids.”

The Thanksgiving event will take place on Sunday, Nov. 20 from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. in the Main Dining Room. Students and organizations are encouraged to volunteer during the event; however, the food will be served to foster youth first due to the set budget.

For youth attending the event, this meal may be the only Thanksgiving dinner they have this year.

The central purpose is “to bring our community together to provide a family for those who don’t have one,” Koshinsky said. “I hope we have made them feel like they have a family and community that completely supports them.”

Northeast Ohio foster-care alumni reunite for holiday meal at Cleveland church

Northeast Ohio foster-care alumni reunite for holiday meal at Cleveland church
Ewinger, James. Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 20, 2011.

LaTasha C. Watts, right, shares a hug Saturday with Zelma Brown during the annual Foster Care Alumni of America Thanksgiving meal reunion at the Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dozens who grew up without family ties forged new ones Saturday at the annual Thanksgiving event for foster-care alumni from around the region.

The Northeast Ohio celebration was at Antioch Baptist Church, while two others were planned for Southwest and Central Ohio -- all under the umbrella of the Ohio Chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America.

It was a family-style Thanksgiving dinner for a really big family: roughly 90, most of whom had been in foster care before reaching adulthood and the rest, aged 16 and 17, still in foster homes.

For some, they renewed old acquaintances or made new ones. For others, they shared experiences. After the meal, there was an open mike session where they could sing, recite poetry or just talk about their experiences and the people who meant the most to them.

Lisa Dickson, founder of the Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter and a founding member of the national organization, said the get-togethers have been going on since 2007.

The first one took place with Thanksgiving dinner on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, she said, to support the Fostering Connections to Success Act which passed the following year.

Betsie Norris, founder and executive director of Adoption Network Cleveland, explained the transition to adulthood for young men and women in permanent foster care can be difficult.

The youths in permanent custody have been taken from their parents by the courts. They are eligible for adoption into new families, Norris said, but the older they get, the less likely they are to get adopted, which leads to aging out of foster care.

Many will have been in numerous foster homes by then, often separated from birth siblings and permanently severed from parents. The process deprives many of them of the stabilizing influences of a permanent family.

Adoption Network Cleveland does not place children in adoptive homes, but brings together the resources to help them as well as helping them find their birth families when they reach adulthood.

ANC joined with the Village Network, a private foster-care planning agency, Foster Care Alumni, Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services and the National Council of Jewish Women for Saturday's event.

Norris said that in 2004 there were 1,700 in permanent foster care in this county. The state-funded Adopt Ohio program helped cut that to 570, she said, but the number is at 680 this year and continues to creep up since the state cut off funds for the program in 2009.

Jurlee Thomas, 63, of Lorain had one of the most dramatic stories to relate Saturday.

"My mother was a foster child," she said, and so was she, as were her own six children. Today Thomas has eight grandchildren and six great-grand kids, all with their birth families.

Thomas said she remains in touch with four of her children and Adoption Network is helping her to find the other two. Meanwhile, she volunteers with ANC and the county "whenever I can."

"Being a foster child does not define who you are," Thomas said. "Your goals and aspirations define you. Foster care is just your house."

But the people who can best help foster youths transition into adulthood are others who have come out of the system.

"One foster child helping another," she said.

Terrell Howard, 18, was in foster care for 11 years -- with 13 different families. Today, he is studying criminal justice at a career college in Independence.

Joe Jackson of Children and Family Services said Howard testified before the Ohio legislature earlier this year, one of many who successfully argued against further child-welfare fund cuts.

"When he said he was going to college, he got a standing ovation," Jackson said.

The Thanksgiving feast, everything from cranberry sauce to turkey and ham, was dished up by a body of volunteer servers, who included Cuyahoga County Juvenile Judge Kristin Sweeney and County Councilwoman Yvonne Conwell.

FCAA Volunteer of the Year Award

Foster Care Alumni of America honors Lisa Dickson

Aurand, Lisa. ThisWeek, May 12, 2010.

When Lisa Dickson "aged out" of foster care at 16, she had a myriad of people who became her advocates.

The list included the English teacher who wrote a "rousing" recommendation for her college acceptance, the University of Kentucky dean who marched her over to financial aid and said, "This girl needs grants," the residents of the Methodist dormitory who became her "family" when she moved in after a year of homelessness.

Now Lisa is fighting for other foster care alumni to have the same chances at success she did.

"The people who were there for me are what motivate me," Dickson said. "All the things that I do now are because of them."

Dickson was named one of four Foster Care Alumni of America Volunteers of the Year in this, the awards' first year. She was a founding member of the group, and is the communications chair for its Ohio Chapter.

She was in foster care in Kentucky from ages 12 to 16 after her mother died, and was able to start classes at the University of Kentucky at age 16.

By 17, Dickson was homeless, but still attending college. It wasn't until she was 18 that she began living in the Methodist dormitory. She tried five different majors and was in college for 10 years, finishing by earning a master's degree in library science.

She was offered a job in Columbus in 1999, met and married her husband, Nathan Dickson, in 2000. They moved to Westerville in 2001, where they live with his two daughters, Rachel, 19, and Carly, 17.

Dickson, a Children's Librarian, said she spends about 40 hours a week volunteering for FCAA. The local chapter focuses on assisting the approximately 1,300 Ohio youths who age out of foster care each year.

"The top two things we do are connect and transform," she said.

The group helps foster care alumni connect with other former foster children, wherever they live.

For the past several years, the group has hosted an annual Thanksgiving dinner, an event that began when foster alumni from all over the country met in Washington, D.C., to talk to federal legislators about federal child welfare financial reform.

"We said we were coming home for the holidays," Dickson said.

The "transform" part of the group's mission involves lobbying on behalf of foster children making the transition to life on their own. Dickson was one of several foster care alumni who testified in front of the state legislature last year, asking members not to cut funding for programs that teach older foster care children how to live on their own.

Though the funding was approved by the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate, it was vetoed by Gov. Ted Strickland, Dickson said. But one good thing came out of that news: Dickson and a few of her colleagues were asked to be part of Strickland's Taskforce for Youth and Young Adults in Transition.

The two biggest needs for fosters in transition are housing and health insurance, Dickson said.

"One in four homeless adults is a former foster," she said.

Even those who end up going to college still struggle with housing and finances, she said.

"Most college kids, when they have (financial) trouble, they call mom and dad. But there is no mom and dad to call (for foster children)," Dickson said.

And though the recently passed federal health care bill will eventually mandate insurance for former fosters, that coverage won't take effect until 2014, she said.

Dickson, who recently was engaged as FCAA's volunteer social media coordinator, said she won't stop her quest to help fosters the way others helped her.

"I love the kicking-butt part and trying to make a difference," she said. "(The people who helped me) were there for me and cared for me. I want that for everyone."

Governor's Steering Committee On Transitional Youth and Young Adults

During 2010, FCAA Ohio officers Alex McLemore, Adrian McLemore, Doris Edelmann and Lisa Dickson participated in the Ohio Family and Children First Youth and Young Adults in Transition Steering Committee.

The committee was convened by Governor Strickland to recommend alignment and consolidation of policies, efforts, and resources and to identify major gaps for this particularly vulnerable and often overlooked population: vulnerable youth and young adults, ages 14-25.

After months of meetings, the committee has released its final report to the Ohio Family and Children First Cabinet Council.  The report may accessed here.

Cincy FCAA Allies in the Faith Community & Child Welfare System

Youth and Alumni Participate in FCAA Leadership and Advocacy Training in Cincinnati

Roleplays of Legislator Visits

Certificate of Completion of FCAA Leadership and Advocacy Training in Cincinnati

10TV News Coverage of FCAA Thanksgiving 2009

Fox News Coverage of FCAA Thanksgiving 2009

Lisa Dickson named Volunteer of the Year

Ohio Foster Care Alumna Named Volunteer of the Year
Foster Care Alumni of America names Lisa Dickson Volunteer of the Year

Washington, DC — The Board of Directors of Foster Care Alumni of America, the only national association for adults who experienced foster care as children, has named Ohio resident, Lisa Dickson, as Volunteer of the Year.

Lisa lived in foster care from ages 12-16, lived in a variety of placements, including group homes and an emergency shelter, and "aged out" of foster care and started college when she was 16 years old.  As the Communications Chair for the Ohio Chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America (FCAA), Lisa has been extremely effective in establishing the chapter and its members as a source of expertise in the state and around the country.  Lisa has led efforts to advocate for reinstating state funding for Independent Living services through advocacy visits with members of the state legislature, coordination with other advocates, and numerous opportunities for chapter members to testify before legislative committees.

The chapter has also been involved in Ohio Reach, a statewide effort to increase the recruitment and retention of foster care alumni in high education, and to establish foster care liaisons at Ohio universities, community college and technical schools.  Lisa’s commitment to supporting the leadership development of other alumni across the state has led to a very well trained and experienced core membership in the chapter and will serve to make the Ohio chapter sustainable well into the future.

Lisa has led the development of a number of trainings for FCAA including Emotional Resiliency, Purposeful Sharing and Real Life 101 workshops. She is dedicated to teaching professionals to effectively and respectfully engage alumni, to create understanding about how childhood trauma can affect an individual for their entire life, and to support young people and alumni to establish healthy boundaries and expectations in their personal, volunteer and professional relationships.

In addition to her activities at the state level, Lisa is a highly visible and effective national leader.  She has a strong presence online as a person who is always willing to ask tough questions about practice and policy in both foster care and adoption.  She has provided her technical expertise to numerous other FCAA members as well as the broader child welfare community (leading the establishment of a number of resource websites aimed at people in and from care and the professionals who serve them).  Lisa is a gifted trainer and often represents FCAA at state and national events as a keynote speaker and/or workshop presenter.

Lisa has recently been engaged FCAA’s Volunteer Social Media Coordinator.  This is a fitting evolution for an individual committed to making her own voice heard through blogs, forums, and social networks that are related to foster care. 

Foster Care Alumni of America’s Board of Directors named four Volunteers of the Year in 2009. In addition to Lisa, they celebrated the contributions of Ryan Dollinger (alumnus of foster care from Texas), Eshawn Peterson (alumna from Arizona) and consultant and retired juvenile and family court judge, Stephen Rideout of Virginia. 

About Foster Care Alumni of America: In 2004, foster care alumni and advocates created a national non-profit association that brings together the expertise of adults who have experienced foster care.  Foster Care Alumni of America (FCAA) was formed to engage the more than 12 million alumni of foster care and to advocate for the needs of the youth and alumni of foster care.

FCAA has nearly 3, 000 members from all 50 states. Through FCAA, alumni of foster care hope to create the ability to connect with one another in an organized and well-supported community and to use alumni expertise to transform the foster care system.

FCAA's mission seeks to provide innovation in the federal and state child welfare systems and effective and meaningful partnerships with child welfare organizations. FCAA has confidence that it can partner with others to reduce the numbers of children and youth in foster care and can improve the foster care experience through investments of their expertise and energy.

For more information on Foster Care Alumni of America, please visit our website at: www.fostercarealumni.org

# # #

FCAA Ohio Thanksgiving 2009

The Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America greatly appreciate the sponsoring organizations that made this year's Thanksgiving event possible, and the press representatives who shared our message with the local community:

• Congregation Agudas Achim
  
• Capital University Student Government
• Kappa Sigma Upsilon
• Jewish Student Organization of Capital
• Catering By Scott
• Franklin County Children Services
• ODJFS
• Columbus Dispatch
• 10-TV
• Fox News
• Columbus Literacy Council

We thank Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland for taking time out of her busy schedule to attend, and participate in, this year's Thanksgiving gathering of current and former foster youth from all across Ohio.

Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving dinner provided for those who have experienced foster care
Crane, Misti. Columbus Dispatch front page, Nov. 23, 2009.

SHARI LEWIS | Dispatch
Riccardo Rushin, 19, of Canton, talks with his Stark County group at a Thanksgiving dinner in Bexley that drew about 100 Ohioans, many of whom are or have been in foster care. Rushin has lived on his own since he turned 18 and "aged out" of foster care.

They might have nowhere to go Thursday, or somewhere that feels safe but is only temporary.

Young people who've known the hardship of living without family and who've been challenged to find strength despite a shaky foundation found communion yesterday at a meal that came four days before the holiday but embodied its spirit.

Thanksgiving is about family. It's about grace and gratitude.

For foster children and young adults who've moved beyond their temporary homes, family in its conventional sense can be elusive.

About 100 people from across the state, many of whom are in foster care or recently "aged out," as they say, gathered yesterday afternoon at Agudas Achim, a Bexley synagogue.

Thanks to the kindnesses of others and the dogged advocacy of former foster child Lisa Dickson, they found camaraderie and Thanksgiving.

Dickson founded the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America. She's 36 and has a family of her own, but she remembers the feeling of isolation that could accompany the holidays, particularly when she was a young adult.

"There wasn't a family to come back to; there weren't those roots," Dickson said.

"For a lot of people, the holidays can be the loneliest part."

In and of itself, being a foster child can be lonely, said Alex McFarland, who is 19 and president of the Ohio youth advisory board. He said it's worse when those outside the situation misunderstand.

"A lot of people have the image that we've done something wrong, when more than likely somebody's done something wrong to us," said McFarland, who lives in a suburb of Dayton.

The dinner was the third-annual -- the first in Columbus -- and was made possible because of a $1,000 donation from Capital University's student government that paid for food. The synagogue gave its space free, said Gabriel Koshinsky, vice president of student government and president of the Jewish Student Union.

The meal yesterday offered an opportunity to meet new people and learn about opportunities for foster children. It also gave guests the chance to reclaim the sense of belonging.

Dre Williams, who is 18 and lives in a foster home, and Kadeem Monroe, who is 19 and on his own, came to Columbus with a group from Stark County.

"I don't know how many days I felt like I was the only foster child in the world," Monroe said.

People who aren't part of the system don't understand the challenges or the emotional burdens or even how foster care works, the two said.

Williams said he wishes more good people would embrace children who can no longer live with their families, and that fewer people would invite foster children into their homes primarily for the money.

He's now living with Jodi Wilson, who has been a foster mom to 14 kids over 17 years. She maintains ties with many of them, and has a warm rapport with Williams.

"These kids are alone, or I believe they feel alone," said Wilson, who also works as supervisor of Stark County's independent-living program.

Bringing them together as a family of sorts is important, Wilson said.

"They have a common language, common experiences," she said.

"I'm 52, and I still talk to my mother every day. They don't have that."

SHARI LEWIS | Dispatch
Lisa Dickson, a former foster child who founded Ohio's chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America, snaps a memory of the event she sought.

Foster-care cuts will be costly to kids, society

Op Ed: Foster-care cuts will be costly to kids, society
Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 5, 2009.

At a time when the needs of foster-care youths transitioning to adulthood are being recognized on the federal level through the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, Ohio has chosen to cut the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families-Independent Living Allocation by 100 percent.

The Independent Living Initiative was the only state program that provides transitional-living services to foster-care youths. These services include drivers' education, life-skills training, job-readiness preparation and food and housing assistance.

Gov. Ted Strickland eliminated this allocation, saying that it constrained county agencies' ability to use the allocated funds in a flexible manner that meets each county's needs to support children.

Approximately 1,300 Ohio teenagers emancipate from the foster-care system each year. Because they have no families to rely upon, these young people are at greater risk of poverty, homelessness, unwed pregnancies and incarceration.

Foster-care youths transitioning to adulthood are not a "line item." They are children who rely on the state to be their parents. They are teenagers entering into adulthood during a recession.

Ohio taxpayers will pay for their needs, whether now or later. Research by the Children's Advocacy Institute has shown that early investment leads to foster-care youths being three times more likely to enroll in college, 65 percent less likely to be arrested and 33 percent less likely to become pregnant.

According to Dr. Mark Courtney of the Chapin Hall Center for Children, every dollar invested in continued foster care supports and services results in a return of $2.40.

It makes better economic sense to intervene during their late teens and early 20s, a time when young people have open minds, high levels of energy and are actively engaged in the process of directing their future lives.

Lack of investment in independent-living preparation will lead more foster-care youths into situations of chronic homelessness, unwed pregnancies, unemployment and incarceration.

Left unchecked, the cycle will continue: One in four homeless adults is a former foster child.

Ohio's foster youths are "aging out" of care in the midst of a recession. They deserve far better than this.

LISA DICKSON
Founder, Communications chairman Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America Westerville

Hopes & Dreams Advocacy Strategy

DREAMS of Foster Care Youth and Alumni:

I am reaching… “To be the best mother that I can be, while pursuing my college degree.”

But I might need a hand to get me started! Independent Living funds helped Vanessa Jackson learn how to cook and budget.

***

I am reaching… “Toward serving my country in the military, while continuing to pursue my college degree.”

But I might need a hand to get me started! Independent Living funds helped Lamar Hammons find a mentor through the College Bound Mentoring Program.

***

I am reaching… “Toward safeguarding the lives and homes of others by working for Jefferson Township’s Fire Department.”

But I might need a hand to get me started! Independent Living funds provided emergency housing for Tim Hill when he first exited foster care.

***

I am reaching… “Toward finding a job after graduating from Wright State University
with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and a minor in Political Science.”

But I might need a hand to get me started! Independent Living funds equipped Sarah Callihan with life skills that helped her transition into college life easily.

***

I am reaching… “Forward to my junior year at Miami University, where I’m pursuing a double major in Psychology and Sociology with double minors in Black World Studies and Political Science.”

But I might need a hand to get me started! Independent Living funds helped Kierra Williams get involved with a youth advisory board, and find out that she has leadership abilities.

***

HOPES of Ohio Foster Care Alumni on behalf of their younger brothers and sisters:

Hoping you, like me, invest in their future: As a former foster child, Denee Foster knows the importance of Independent Living preparation.

Not a handout, but a hand-up… Denee volunteers her time at Children’s Hospital and
teaches life skills to foster care youth at Village Network.

***

Hoping you, like me, invest in their future: As a former foster child, Grace Hilliard has testified several times about the importance of the Independent Living Allocation.

Not a handout, but a hand-up… Grace graduated in May from CCAD with a BA in Fine Arts, and is entering graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

***

Hoping you, like me, invest in their future: As a former foster child, Adrian McLemore has testified several times about the importance of the Independent Living Allocation.

Not a handout, but a hand-up… Adrian was recently named FosterClub’s Outstanding Young Leader of the Year. He is actively involved in Student Government at Wright State University – and he aspires to be President someday.

***

Hoping you, like me, invest in their future: Lisa Dickson is a 30-something former foster child. She founded the Ohio chapter of Foster Alumni of America three years ago.

Not a handout, but a hand-up… Lisa has Masters degree in Library Science, and has used her skills in research to craft workshops for national conferences and to assist the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program.

***

Hoping you, like me, invest in their future: Ralph Wills spoke before an audience of 100+ higher education officials and 100+ social workers during the 2009 Ohio Reach event.

Not a handout, but a hand-up… Ralph recently graduated from Muskingum College and
found employment through Maxim Healthcare Services.

Hannah Report: Special Budget Edition

Vol. 128 – Special Budget Issue Saturday, May 30, 2009
Public Crowds Senate Chambers for Mixed Budget Testimony

The room was crowded Saturday for a public testimony session in the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee, with several dozen witnesses prepared to either praise changes made Friday to HB1 (Sykes), or to urge the chamber to restore funding to a cut program.

Acknowledging the long day ahead of them, Chairman John Carey (R-Wellston) said that he was invoking his powers as a committee chairman and allowing audience members to bring in water and coffee despite warnings against it outside the hearing room.

Independent Living Initiative
The first group of witnesses testified in support of restoring full funding for the Independent Living Initiative through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

They were Lisa Dickson, founder and communications chair of the Foster Care Alumni of America Ohio chapter; Doris Edelman, legislative liaison for the Ohio Independent Living Association; and Alexander McFarland, president of the Overcoming Hurdles in Ohio Youth Advisory Board.

All three advocated restoring the funding to $2.5 million in each of FY10-11.

Dickson, a former foster child and youth advocate, said the program had lost its funding but that the Senate had restored $1.5 million of support. She said Ohio is the only state making cuts to such a program, which she said offers training and life services to prepare foster care children to face the world alone.

She said foster children are not a line item and rely on the state to act as a parent. Without proper intervention, Dickson said, those children are at higher risk for poverty, unemployment and incarceration. "Ohio taxpayers will pay for their needs one way or another," she said.

McFarland shared his experience as a child who spent five years in foster care. "Without these services, I would not have been the person that I am today."

Sen. Dale Miller (D-Cleveland) asked more about the funding mechanism. He was told it had been previously funded using TANF money but now is a line item in the children and family services portion of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' (ODJFS) budget.

****************************************************

*Two misquotes:

- Lisa Dickson didn't say that Ohio was the "only state making cuts to such a program." She spoke about the Fostering Connections Act, and how these cuts come at a time when the needs of transitioning foster youth are being recognized on a national level...

- Nor was Independent Living "previously funded using TANF money but now is a line item in the children and family services portion of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' (ODJFS) budget"

It was and still is an earmark of the TANF budget. Both Lisa and Doris mentioned in their testimonies that Independent Living funding in Ohio should not be an earmark, and that young people transitioning out of foster care each year should not have to fight to maintain the only state source of funding allocated to prepare them for adulthood.

Please don't cut Ohio's TANF Independent Living Allocation

Witnesses Tell Personal Stories of What State Assistance Means to Them

Hannah Report, March 19, 2009

Thursday’s Human Services Subcommittee hearing had a whole different tone as legislators got to hear from a number of beneficiaries of state human services programs – many of whom thanked them for supporting a variety of state programs.

An upbeat group of witnesses were members of the Ohio Chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America.

While they were lobbying for the restoration of $2.5 million/year in Independent Living funds to help foster youth who age out of the system, they themselves were perhaps the best selling point, with Rep. Denise Driehaus (D-Cincinnati) commenting that they were a “thoroughly impressive group.”

Making a notable impression was Adrian McLemore, who addressed the subcommittee as “future colleagues” and who said he hopes one day to be mayor of Dayton, governor of Ohio and president of the U.S.

He also addressed the panel as “Momma Brown, Daddy Burke, Auntie Sears, Sister Boyd and Cousin Driehaus, making the point that it is the state that is family for foster youth.

Gabriel Koshinsky expanded on that idea: “Many of you growing up had the privilege of living in a loving home with caring parents and a strong community that supported you. These relationships provided a basis of empowerment and investment that gave you the reinforcement to believe in yourselves.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case for all children and young adults in this state. Over 17,000 children in the state of Ohio do not have a home and many are separated from their own siblings. They are alone in a world that is difficult to navigate.”

Doris Edelmann honored by Montgomery County Family & Children First Council

Doris Edelmann was awarded the Brother Ray Fitz Award from the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council on Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.

Lisa Dickson, Communications Chair, was one of three people introducing Doris, preceded by Helen Jones-Kelley and Gayle Bullard.

This is what Lisa shared:

Foster Care Alumni of America is a national organization made up former foster youth and advocates like Doris who care about the future of young people aging out of foster care.

In the spirit of our collective voice I will be speaking not only on behalf of myself, but also sharing the words of Gabriel Koshinsky, FCAA Ohio Operations Chair, as well...

As Gabe wrote: "Doris is a leader in the truest sense. She could get hit by a semi and get up in 5 seconds flat. She is a leader and a fighter. The character of a person can be seen in where they invest their time and energy."

As a former foster child who is working to create statewide connections among foster care alumni, including a statewide network of support, I think about Doris on the days when I feel discouraged. I think about Doris on days when my energy level is low.

When I think of Doris, I see her in action:

- I usually picture her in a van, barreling down the highway, transporting young people from one destination to another.

- Maybe they are off to Washington DC to share their voices on Capital Hill

- Maybe they are visiting other counties to share their expertise on developing local or regional youth advisory boards

- But whatever the destination, I can feel the excitement – and it reinvigorates me!

Doris is one of those people who always seems to be in action, even when she is standing still.

If she is sitting in a chair, then she is probably coming up with creative ways to finance resources for young people, and helping other counties learn to streamline their resources as well.

Or she’s poking the person sitting next to her, probably a young person, saying: 'You need to get up there and say something! You have something important to say.'

And Doris is one of those people who always give their all, doing things like:

- Not only co-hosting the FCAA Ohio Thanksgiving Reunion for young people who lack family connections, but bringing her entire family to be a part of it.

Trust comes slowly for those of us who have experienced so many losses and broken promises in the past. And yet we trust Doris. Why?

Because for so many young people, Doris is their only sense of home… She is always available for them, she firmly believes in their abilities, and she committed to paving the way for their future success.

We live in times of danger and uncertainty. Times when the very resources needed to support young people transitioning into adulthood, such as TANF-IL funds, are being stripped away.

But these times are also more open to creative energy than at any other time in history.

Doris exemplifies the type of vision, courage and personal commitment that young people in and from foster care need during the launching period of their lives. As they are catapulted into adulthood:

- They need someone like Doris, who does not acknowledge the word “barrier,” but finds a way to MAKE things happen

- They need someone like Doris who believes that children services is a job that is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

- They need someone who does not just speak FOR them, but who empowers them through advocacy training to speak for THEMSELVES

- They need someone who gives them HOPE. It is the advocates in our lives who make a difference.

In a speech in South Africa in 1966, Robert Kennedy said: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.

“Crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. “

I agree wholeheartedly with Gabriel Koshinsky that: “We often think of a hero as some comic book character, perhaps a General or great historical figure.

"But this room is filled with heroes. When faced with challenges, each person will ultimately make the choice to be a hero, or to surrender to be a spectator.”

So I will end with an invitation to each and every person in this room. You are invited to be a part of the Ready to Launch movement in Ohio. Ask Doris, and she will tell you all about it!

Nothing would make Doris more happy than a public awareness campaign about the needs of young people transitioning to adulthood – and once again, that is why she is my hero.

Great job, Adrian, Alex and DaVaughn!!!

Dayton Foster Youth Fight For More Reforms Han, Carol. News Center 7, Nov. 18, 2008.

WASHINGTON -- When President George W. Bush signed a foster care bill into law last month, foster youth from the Dayton area saw it as a personal victory.

Foster Care Alumni of America estimates that there are currently 700 foster children living in our area. Last year, a group of them traveled to Capitol Hill to ask Ohio lawmakers to support the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act.

The sweeping reform bill helps keep siblings together in foster care and provides federal assistance to family members who become legal guardians of relatives' children. It also extends foster care benefits until age 21.

The bill passed with bipartisan support, and on Tuesday, the foster youth were back in Washington to thank lawmakers and to drum up support for more reforms.

Devaughn Staley, 18, wants to see Ohio foster youth be given the green light to get driver's licenses. Ohio is one of many states that do not allow kids in foster care to get a license due to insurance liability reasons. Staley wants to see the state help take up the liability. He told News Center 7 that it has been hard not being able to drive to the mall or to a job.

"We're pushing for Ohio to close that gap between foster kids and normal kids," Staley said. "Close that gap so we can be normal and feel like we belong."

Other students want to see more help extended to foster kids who want to go to college.

Alex McFarland described how credits from his high school in Tennessee weren't accepted by his school in Ohio. As a result, the 18-year-old could not graduate with his class and had to get a G.E.D.

"It was a big letdown for me because I really had that American dream about going to college with a high school diploma, walking across the aisle, going to my senior prom and I didn't have that," McFarland said.

McFarland now attends Sinclair Community College and has plans to transfer to Ohio State University.

Adrian McLemore, an 11-year veteran of Ohio's foster care system, is now a junior at Wright State University studying business and political science.

News Center 7 first met McLemore in May 2007, when he and the first group of Dayton foster youth lobbied Congress for foster care reform.

McLemore says he's happy to be back in D.C., especially so soon after President-elect Barack Obama's election win.

McLemore -- who plans to run for political office someday -- said, "Barack Obama beat me to it, he beat me to the election. But it's a testament to the resolve [about] working hard and working for the American dream. He just made it that much closer of a reality for me."