Kuhlman, Mary. Stuck in the Middle: Ohio Ranks 29th in Child Well-Being. Public News Service. July 27, 2010.
Ohio continues to hang around the middle of the pack in the latest edition of an annual report on the well-being of the country's children. According to the 2010 Kids Count data book released today, Ohio dropped one place this year, ranking 29th among the states.
The full report can be accessed at: datacenter.kidscount.org
Ohio's data can be found at datacenter.kidscount.org/OH
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day, Adrian!
Uncle takes on role of dad to keep family together
Wynn, Kelli. Dayton Daily News, June 19, 2010.
Adrian McLemore with his niece and nephew Arayiah McLemore, 3 and Tyiaun Jones, 1, play guitar and sing to Tina Turner in their home in Trotwood. McLemore grew up in Montgomery County’s foster care system. In order to prevent his niece and nephew from becoming wards of the county due to a family crisis, McLemore took custody of the children.
TROTWOOD — In December 2009, Montgomery County officials gave Adrian McLemore two options: Take custody of his sister’s two children or let them enter the foster care system until their mother’s life improved.
McLemore knew that one day he might be faced with this decision given his sister’s background, but hoped this day would not come. The Trotwood resident loves his family and considers himself a brother and uncle who would always come to his family’s rescue in a time of need. But being a full-time surrogate father was not a part of his original life plan. Like his mentors said, this would be a great responsibility for a 23-year-old bachelor enrolled in college and managing a video store.
The decision to take custody of 3-year-old Arayiah and 1-year-old Tyiaun was not about what would interrupt McLemore’s life, but rather stopping the beginning of a family trend. “I refuse to let a second generation of the McLemores be in foster care,” he said.
McLemore, now 24, and his two sisters spent most of their childhood in foster care. They entered the system in Georgia as their mother battled alcoholism. The siblings ended up in Georgia after their mother moved them there from Florida following a divorce from their father in 1992.
The McLemore siblings would not be reunited with their father until 1995. Adrian McLemore was about to be put up for adoption when Ernest McLemore, who was serving in the U.S. Air Force, obtained custody and moved his children to Las Vegas. They lived with their father for two years before he announced that he had received an assignment overseas and gave them the option of moving to Ohio to live with their mother again. The children moved back with their mother, a decision that has Adrian and his older sister Britney McLemore, 24, asking themselves today, “what if?”
All three siblings were in and out of Daybreak, an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youths, from 1999 to 2000.
At one point, Adrian McLemore did not want to return home, so shelter officials called Montgomery County Children Services, who placed him and his sisters in foster care. Britney and Adrian aged out of the system at age 18, and their younger sister, Devanna, was placed in Britney’s custody once Britney turned 21. At the time, Devanna was pregnant with Arayiah, who would have also become a ward of the county had Devanna remained in foster care.
Meanwhile, Ernest McLemore died in 2004 in Georgia at age 40 after suffering from brain cancer. His children were still in foster care.
Even though his time with his children was short, Ernest McLemore was a big influence. Adrian hopes that all the positive things that he learned from his father will help him while his niece and nephew are in his custody.
One of the messages that McLemore said he hopes his actions will send to Arayiah and Tyiaun is that “a man loves his child no matter what” and provides emotional and financial support for his family.
“I am convinced that I made the right decision based on where they are now — as far as development — compared to where they were the day I picked them up,” he said.
“I love them to death. I want to show them that I am here to play, to hug or discipline... Just to be there.”
Although McLemore’s experience in foster care has been mostly positive, he still said he feels “foster care is no system for children.”
He also didn’t like the idea of his niece and nephew potentially being placed in separate foster homes without a familiar face.
“Having a second generation of our family in foster care is unthinkable to me and I wouldn’t allow it,” he said.
Devanna McLemore, 21, was the one who suggested to county officials in 2009 that her brother take custody of her children. She currently has weekly visits with them and her next custody hearing is scheduled for January.
This year, Father’s Day takes on a whole different meaning to Adrian McLemore. He believes his father would be proud of the decision he made. “I could have continued to do what I wanted to do. But instead, I now do what I have to do.”
Wynn, Kelli. Dayton Daily News, June 19, 2010.
Adrian McLemore with his niece and nephew Arayiah McLemore, 3 and Tyiaun Jones, 1, play guitar and sing to Tina Turner in their home in Trotwood. McLemore grew up in Montgomery County’s foster care system. In order to prevent his niece and nephew from becoming wards of the county due to a family crisis, McLemore took custody of the children.
TROTWOOD — In December 2009, Montgomery County officials gave Adrian McLemore two options: Take custody of his sister’s two children or let them enter the foster care system until their mother’s life improved.
McLemore knew that one day he might be faced with this decision given his sister’s background, but hoped this day would not come. The Trotwood resident loves his family and considers himself a brother and uncle who would always come to his family’s rescue in a time of need. But being a full-time surrogate father was not a part of his original life plan. Like his mentors said, this would be a great responsibility for a 23-year-old bachelor enrolled in college and managing a video store.
The decision to take custody of 3-year-old Arayiah and 1-year-old Tyiaun was not about what would interrupt McLemore’s life, but rather stopping the beginning of a family trend. “I refuse to let a second generation of the McLemores be in foster care,” he said.
McLemore, now 24, and his two sisters spent most of their childhood in foster care. They entered the system in Georgia as their mother battled alcoholism. The siblings ended up in Georgia after their mother moved them there from Florida following a divorce from their father in 1992.
The McLemore siblings would not be reunited with their father until 1995. Adrian McLemore was about to be put up for adoption when Ernest McLemore, who was serving in the U.S. Air Force, obtained custody and moved his children to Las Vegas. They lived with their father for two years before he announced that he had received an assignment overseas and gave them the option of moving to Ohio to live with their mother again. The children moved back with their mother, a decision that has Adrian and his older sister Britney McLemore, 24, asking themselves today, “what if?”
All three siblings were in and out of Daybreak, an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youths, from 1999 to 2000.
At one point, Adrian McLemore did not want to return home, so shelter officials called Montgomery County Children Services, who placed him and his sisters in foster care. Britney and Adrian aged out of the system at age 18, and their younger sister, Devanna, was placed in Britney’s custody once Britney turned 21. At the time, Devanna was pregnant with Arayiah, who would have also become a ward of the county had Devanna remained in foster care.
Meanwhile, Ernest McLemore died in 2004 in Georgia at age 40 after suffering from brain cancer. His children were still in foster care.
Even though his time with his children was short, Ernest McLemore was a big influence. Adrian hopes that all the positive things that he learned from his father will help him while his niece and nephew are in his custody.
One of the messages that McLemore said he hopes his actions will send to Arayiah and Tyiaun is that “a man loves his child no matter what” and provides emotional and financial support for his family.
“I am convinced that I made the right decision based on where they are now — as far as development — compared to where they were the day I picked them up,” he said.
“I love them to death. I want to show them that I am here to play, to hug or discipline... Just to be there.”
Although McLemore’s experience in foster care has been mostly positive, he still said he feels “foster care is no system for children.”
He also didn’t like the idea of his niece and nephew potentially being placed in separate foster homes without a familiar face.
“Having a second generation of our family in foster care is unthinkable to me and I wouldn’t allow it,” he said.
Devanna McLemore, 21, was the one who suggested to county officials in 2009 that her brother take custody of her children. She currently has weekly visits with them and her next custody hearing is scheduled for January.
This year, Father’s Day takes on a whole different meaning to Adrian McLemore. He believes his father would be proud of the decision he made. “I could have continued to do what I wanted to do. But instead, I now do what I have to do.”
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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."
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Alex McFarland named 2010 FosterClub Outstanding Young Leader
Alex has served as the Legislative Liaison for the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America for two years. He participated in the 2008 Alumni , the 2009 anniversary of Chafee funding, and presented a workshop at the 2009 NILA Conference. Alex was chosen by Ohio's First Lady to represent the needs of Ohio's foster care youth on Governor Strickland's 2010 .
Alex is known throughout the state for his vision and determination. He testified before Ohio legislators to advocate for the restoration of the state Independent Living Allocation. He arranged for Ohio foster care youth, alumni and allies to visit 24 legislator’s offices in order to promote Ready to Launch, a reminder to Ohio legislators of a front-end investment in transitional youth.
Alex is committed to supporting the national foster care youth/alumni community. During the 2009 NILA conference, he arranged a meeting of representatives from the Colorado, Tennessee and Ohio chapter in order to network and share ideas. He continues to keep in touch with FCAA members in Colorado, in order to be a support to them as they build their chapter.
Finally, Alex is a strong advocate of education reform. He is an active participant in Ohio Reach, a statewide initiative to increase the number of foster care youth who enroll in and graduate from college. In 2009, he participated in the statewide Ohio Reach Summit, including serving on the panel of youth voices. Alex’s words and passion resonated with participants, which included 100 social workers and 100 higher education representatives.
Alex uses his experiences from his entire life, when he was officially in foster care and even before that, as well as all the experiences from the youth he interacts with on a daily basis, to help shape solutions for Ohio’s foster youth. Whether he is on the field in a legislator’s office, at school studying Biology, or working as a Assistant Manager for Jack’s Aquarium and Pets, Alex strives to help the Children, Foster Youth, Former Foster Youth and pets of his community.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Save the Date: May 22, 2010
Message from the Purple Project:
The Purple Project, would like to invite your agency and teens in care, to attend “Finishing The Journey,” Aging Out of Today’s Foster Care System, a youth conference in Cleveland, Ohio May 22, 2010. This is a great opportunity for teens!
Guest Speakers will include Emmy award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Legend Darryl “DMC” McDaniels from the pioneer group RUN DMC, County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, and Philanthropist-Foster Care Alumni and Advocates Tanya Cooper and Tanisha Cunningham.
- Registration form
- Finishing the Journey conference brochure
- Information about the Purple Project
- The Pathway to Success Nomination form
Please contact the Purple Project at (216) 269-6667, email youth@thepurpleproject.com or visit us atwww.thepurpleproject.com if you have any questions or need assistance registering.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Legislation Introduced to Waive Fees for 18-21 Foster Youth
Rep. Snitchler is an attorney from Uniontown, Ohio who is currently serving his first term in the House of Representatives.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Ohio Reach Radio Interview
In 2010, the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America will continue working towards improving Higher Education Outcomes for foster care youth and alumni.
Below is a radio interview that Lisa Dickson participated in regarding Ohio Reach for WCUE/WOTL/WYTN (radio stations covering Toledo, Cleveland and Youngstown).
FCAA Ohio on NPR
Foster Kids Who Age Out of Care Face Tough Road
Mandie Trimble, WOSU News (2010-01-11).
COLUMBUS, OH (WOSU) - Many rites of passages come along with turning eighteen: high school graduation, voting, entering the work force or college. For most young people it means the first time away from home and parents, an exciting, albeit scary, time for which many teens have been anxiously waiting for years. But for youth who reach the age of majority while in foster care, the rite of passage comes with additional challenges.
Mandie Trimble asked FCAA Ohio Communications Chair, Lisa Dickson, about the resources available and the current challenges for Ohio foster youth "aging out" of foster care.
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
Foster Care Alumni of America names Lisa Dickson 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
# # #
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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
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