Inspirational Story of Aging Out

Mary Brown's Story

Graduating high school is something that many foster kids dream of. It is something that people from permanent families believe is given to them. Most are forced into going to school daily and are given a diploma when it is all done. This is not the case for many foster kids. By the age of 19, only 57% of foster youth have graduated high school. Even fewer ever graduate college, the statistic being at only 5%.

Mary Brown overcame this challenge. One of her most prized possessions is her high school diploma. She believes that it shows that she has fared better than many of those from a similar background. Graduating high school is a big achievement, but Mary Brown is not done. Now she wants to graduate college.

“It’s not easy coming out of foster care,” she said. “It’s not like you can say to your parents, ‘Say, can you pay my rent for six months while I figure out what I want to do?’ ”

Brown was placed into foster care just after she was born. She turned to reading as her main interest in school. Brown was not the perfect student. She would start trouble when she was bored because she finished her work so fast. She ended up moving when she was 12 because her foster care situation was not working. She moved around New York City, spending time in every borough.

Her senior year she learned that she did not have enough credits to graduate on time due to her multiple transfers. Because of this, she transferred again, this time to John V. Lindsay Wildcat Charter School. It offered a curriculum that would allow her to receive enough credits to graduate on time. She graduated in 2006 and then moved to an independent living program for young adults shifting out of foster care. She briefly attended college, but did not find it stimulating enough.

The Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement helped her settle into her own apartment, where she is currently living. She tried college again, but was too exhausted when it came time for class that she dropped out again. Not being able to pay her heating bills in 2014 led to Brown feeling as though her life was stuck. She was referred to the Community Service Society. This agency gave Brown money for food, a monthly metrocard, and enough money to pay the balance due on her utility bill.

She was also encouraged to enroll in college again. Mary Brown is enrolled at Bronx Community College, and is expected to earn her associate degree in 2015.  

The story of Mary Brown shows the struggles foster youth face when growing up and attending high school. She struggled to graduate due to her constant moving and inability to transfer credits. It also shows the struggles faced when aging out of the system. She was not able to live on her own and support herself at first. When she did start to live on her own, money became a problem due to the lack of a college degree. Mary Brown also shows foster youth overcoming this struggle. She is attending college and will be able to make a better life for herself in the future.

Here is the link to the full story : http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/nyregion/a-childhood-in-foster-care-didnt-diminish-her-dreams.html?_r=0

The Children in Foster Care

Foster Children are children of all ages who have been separated from their families of origin due to neglect and/or abuse and are in need of a safe, nurturing home. Most families become involved with the child welfare system because of a report of suspected child abuse of neglect. There are about 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. In 2012, 254,162 children entered foster care. The age of children in foster care ranges from infancy to age 18. The median age of children in foster care is 9 years old. The median age of children entering foster care is 6.5 years old, while the median age of children exiting foster care is 8.2 years old. The chart below shows the percentage of children in foster care by age. 

Race and ethnicity of children in foster care is also tracked. From 2003-2012, the percentage of African American children in foster care decreased by 30 percent, while the percentage of white children, Hispanic children, and children of other races increased. The chart below shows the race/ethnicity of children in foster care.

The length of time a child spends in foster care can vary. The median amount of time spent in care in 2012 was 13.4 months. The median amount of time spent in foster care has increased since 2003. The largest increase in percentages were for children in foster care for 1-11 months and 12-23 months. The largest decrease was for children in care for less than a month and children in care for 5 or more years. The charts below show the data from the years 2000, 2003, and 2012 and show the progress made.

Overall, progression toward the decrease in the number of children in foster care has been made. Also, children that do enter foster care also exit sooner.

Sources:

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm

http://childrensactionnetwork.org/resources.html

Mental Health in Foster Care

Mental health is the most unmet health need for children and teens in foster care. Mental health requires the presence of a stable caregiver in the child's life. 47.9% of youth in foster care are determined to have clinically significant emotional or behavioral problems. There is also a high rate of psychiatric disability in youth who have aged out of the system. Of the children in foster care for at least a year, only 23% of them received any mental health services. These mental health issues can be caused by past stressors in the child’s life, including repeated abuse, prolonged neglect, or lack of a stable environment during early years of life. One reason there is such a high number of children with mental health issues who are not being treated is the cost to taxpayers. Placement in therapeutic foster care can cost $30,000 or more annually and placement in residential psychiatric care is even higher in cost. Fostering a child can have a significant influence on mental health problems. If the child is raised in a stable home for an extended period of time, severe problems are less likely to occur. Children respond best to being raised in routine environments. There are many charts and statistics on this topic. Many comparisons are made between the treatment of foster care youth versus the non-foster care youth. There is a difference in treatment, foster youth suffer more from mental health problems and are prescribed more medication.

This chart shows the comparison of how mental health issues are covered among kids who are not in foster care in relation to those who are.

These next two charts show the difference in treatment between foster care youth and the non-foster care youth, focusing on the prescription of antipsychotics and psychotropic prescriptions. The number of foster youth prescribed these medications is much higher than that of the rest of children.

This chart compares the number of disabilities and mental health in foster care (blue) against the general population (red).

This next chart is just the general statistics about mental health in foster care and how they suffer from PTSD. 50% of youth in foster care have chronic medical problems. 40-60% have at least one mental health disorder. They suffer PTSD at 2x the rate of returning war vets.

This final chart shows how foster care alumni are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders than the general population.

What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a way of guiding a child in foster care in order for them to have a better future. There are many programs that help accomplish this goal, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Foster Care to Success (FC2S). Foster youth planning to attend college are often at a disadvantage. Many of them are the first of their families to graduate high school and even have the desire to attend college. Due to the fact that foster kids move often and attend many different schools, they are less prepared for the difficulty of college-level work. Also, many of them are trying to accomplish this alone or do not have any connections with caring adults.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a support program that helps to shape a child's future for the better by empowering them to succeed. Through this program, people volunteer to spend time with kids who do not have strong support from families at home. They can help by giving advice and inspiration. There are 21,000 boys waiting for a Big Brother, which is double the amount of girls waiting for a Big Sister. The Big meets with the Little a few times a month. This program is trying to help children avoid risky behaviors and help them improve their self-confidence. They also try to provide success in education. They try to encourage children to set higher goals for high school and college, improve their confidence in themselves, and help them have stronger relationships with their families. They focus this program to those who need the most help, such as kids coping with parental incarceration. They operate in 370 communities across the United States and target the kids who could benefit most from their program.

FC2S is a non-profit academic success program working to set up college funds for foster youth. They have been mentoring students since 1981, and currently do this through a web portal. They match kids with volunteers who are interested in their lives and education. The goal of the academic success program is to provide students with the encouragement and guidance they need to do well academically and personally. This works by coaches making a one-year commitment to support three to four students with at least weekly communication, generally consisting of one to three hours a week. Approximately 5,000 students are helped by Foster Care to Success a year. They provide 24/7 support, always being open to phone calls. Every student in their program receives financial assistance, mentoring, career coaching, care packaging, and just attention in general from an adult who cares. 61% of the scholars from this program graduate within five years, which is a percentage higher than that of the overall U.S. population. Without programs like these, less than 10% of foster youth graduate college.

“Those foster youth who achieve success can generally point to one or two special adults who have supported them along the way. Along with social services, school and community resources and support, studies show that a stable relationship with a caring adult can make all the difference.”
- Eileen McCaffrey, Executive Director of Foster Care to Success.

Starting This Project

When I was home from school one day and watching Ellen, I saw this commercial about adopting kids in Pennsylvania. This became the inspiration for my project. The adoption process has always been something that fascinated me, but I do not know much of the facts on it or what it is really like to be a part of it. My plan is to look deeper into the adoption/foster care system in America. I want to study the effects being part of this has on the kids lives, I want to know what it is like being raised this way, and I want to look at the success stories of kids who were adopted. Through this, I am trying to bring awareness to the adoption and foster care systems and show how much we forget about the people being raised this way. It is a way to see how we take having a family for granted, by looking at the stories of kids who are not as fortunate. I do not completely know where I want to go with this or how to start it, but this is the basics of my idea.