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Safety net slips as foster kids turn 18
Youths who age out of system often not quite ready to live on own 07:18 AM CDT on Monday, August 2, 2004
After living in more than a dozen foster homes in five years, Ayrial Moody thought she was eager to leave the nomadic foster-care system once she graduated from high school in May. Then reality set in. "I was like, dang, I'm out of CPS," said Ms. Moody, who turned 18 this spring and was forced to move out her foster home. "Then I realized I was scared because I thought, 'What am I going to do?' " More than 200 teens in the Dallas-Fort Worth region – and 20,000 nationwide – who become too old for foster care each year ask the same question. "You've been in a shelter all your life, and it seems like they throw you out into the real world," Ms. Moody said. It's a world many cannot handle. Too few can manage money, cook for themselves or drive a car because, some social workers say, they have been bounced around so many foster homes so often that no one taught them such basic skills. Many also have emotional problems from the abuse they've suffered at the hands of their natural parents, in addition to growing up in foster care. So at a time when many teens are focused on college, youths coming out of foster care have a more basic concern: not becoming homeless, the social workers say. They have good reason to worry. One in four becomes homeless for at least a night by age 22, according to the Dallas-based Transition Resource Action Center, or TRAC, in East Dallas, which aids young people leaving foster care and juvenile systems. People ages 18 to 24 have become one of the nation's fastest-growing segments of the homeless population, said Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. "Our tendency in homelessness is to think of the person on the street or the family; we don't usually think of 18- to 24-year-olds," Mr. Mangano said. "We do need to be thinking of them." The young adults often are too old to get into youth shelters, and adult shelters are not appropriate for them either, Mr. Mangano said. But the problem is receiving increasing attention, he said. Congress gave $40 million this year for new programs to help youths leaving foster care, and the Bush administration is asking for $65 million next year, he added.
'Sofa surfers'
Those dollars may help ease the fears of homelessness experienced by many about to leave foster care. Some youths who age out of foster care stay in shelters or live in their cars, while others become "sofa surfers" who go from couch to couch of friends. Others return to their families – and sometimes the physical trauma and neglect they left behind. Foster care officials say that the public often hears much about youths who enter foster care, but little about what happens to them after that. The number of youths in foster care has risen dramatically over the last two decades, jumping by 84 percent from 1980 to 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Alcohol and drug abuse by the parents was a factor in most of those cases. Children are placed in foster care because of abuse, neglect or the death of a parent. Young people in foster care may live with licensed foster parents, but many also live in group homes or institutions. Older children face lower chances of being adopted – 30 percent of all Texas youths in foster care are 14 or older. That means many of them literally grow up in the system. But only one in five can support themselves within four years of leaving foster care, according to the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a national project to help the youths succeed. "It's a real invisible population," said Evy Kay Ritzen, planning director at the transitional center in East Dallas. "Unfortunately, sometimes they find boyfriends or older people who sort of take advantage of them. There aren't a lot of great options."
24 hours to
leave
Ms. Moody had one day to leave her last foster home – a group home – after she graduated from a Houston high school in May. Most youths leave foster care once they turn 18 or graduate from high school, whichever comes first, although some stay longer to finish their educations, because the state no longer pays foster parents or group home officials for their care. Living in foster care made it difficult for Ms. Moody to keep up her grades, and it also posed additional problems. Ms. Moody said she couldn't afford a prom dress, so her guidance counselor bought her one and paid for her to get her nails done for the occasion. But her greatest challenge was something she and other youths in the foster care system can't control – frequent moves. Ms. Moody lived in more than a dozen foster homes and facilities from the time she entered foster care at age 13. She moved four times during her ninth-grade year. "That's the bad part of CPS, you move so many times," she said. "Every time you move, it sets you back."
Living at a
shelter
Michael Brown knows about setbacks. He became homeless after leaving foster care. He said foster care had turned him into a troubled person who carved into his arms, skipped school and got into other trouble when he was younger. He said he was given psychiatric drugs that made him "like a big dummy." He used to go into the bathroom to talk to himself because he couldn't trust anyone with his problems. "I can't say I was a bad kid. I just wanted some attention," Mr. Brown said. "You see other kids, and it seems like they're living in normal environment, having a normal life. You wonder why you can't." Mr. Brown lived in his 1987 Cutlass for a while before going to a youth shelter, then briefly living with another friend. In January 2004, he ran out of options and moved into the Dallas Life Foundation downtown. While at the shelter, Mr. Brown worked late nights as a waiter at a West End restaurant. He eventually lost the job, though, because if he didn't check into the shelter by 1 a.m., he said, hecouldn't get a bed. He had to leave it by 7:30 a.m. each day, so he spent many hours at the TRAC center near downtown. The 20-year-old remembers getting so frustrated one day that he sat at one of the Internet stations at the roomy, comfortable TRAC facility, put on his favorite music video, and cried. "I know it's going to get better, but sometimes it seems like it won't," said Mr. Brown, who's now in the Job Corps program where he gets housing and job training. "My goal is to be successful in life."
A support
system
Jennifer Grant, coordinator at TRAC, and some of her co-workers have become the closest thing to a parent for many of the teens who come to the center. The year-old center, the only one of its kind in North Texas, helps youths ages 14 to 24 leaving foster care and juvenile facilities find affordable housing, advance their educations, look for jobs and receive other services. TRAC plans to open 11 transitional apartments this month in conjunction with the Central Dallas Community Development Corp., an entity of Central Dallas Ministries. But agency officials said that's a fraction of what's needed. Ms. Grant takes her young clients job-hunting and instructs them on how to apply for college or how to shop for groceries. "We're trying to teach them stuff parents teach kids," Ms. Grant said. That includes handling money. Youths leaving foster care are eligible for up to $1,000 in transitional living allowance funds and $300 for household supplies after completing life-skills courses. They can also receive Medicaid coverage until age 21 and college tuition waivers. Those who can show financial need may apply for $500 a month for room and board assistance for up to six months. Many youths who frequent the TRAC center have applied for Section 8 rental vouchers, but the wait is usually two years or more. TRAC officials found that the living allowance runs out fast. "If you're 18 and somebody gives you a grand, kids blow through the first $300 not buying what they're supposed to buy," Ms. Grant said. Andre Harris, who has received help from TRAC, struggled despite the financial assistance. He had a Section 8 rental voucher but lost it because he couldn't afford the rent after his hours were cut at his job. "Every month, I was worried about the end of the month before the month started," said Mr. Harris, 19, who now delivers packages for United Parcel Service. "I have to deal with stuff on my own. It gets pretty thick sometimes."
Life after
foster care
TRAC wasn't around when Karen Tandy turned 18. But despite living at 65 foster homes from age 3 to 18, she was determined not to become a foster-care exit statistic. "Some people call them at-risk teens, but I like to call them products of the system," she said of youths who age out of the system. "It's not their fault; they were not given the fair chance everyone else was given." The 20-year-old Dallas woman, who now has a husband, a child and both a full- and part-time job, said she used to get upset when her friends complained about their parents because they took them for granted. But she said her last foster parents gave her the support she needed to finish high school and go to college. And now she has a grant to run a support group for other foster children. And she has a message for those about to age out the system. "There is life after foster care – you can be somebody," she said. "You can be anybody you want to be." Kim Horner can be emailed at khorner@dallasnews.com Within four years of leaving foster care:
The number of youths in foster care in Texas increased 45 percent from 1999 to 2003*:
*Numbers are based on the number of young people in foster care in August of each year. Resources Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) – a one-stop center for youths aging out of foster care and juvenile facilities. The center needs financial support and volunteers to serve as mentors. For more information, go to www.traconline.org or call 214-370-9300. For more information about the issue of youths aging out of foster care, go to: www.jimcaseyyouth.org and www.fosterclub.com |