Children of the System

I am a 16 year old girl who's currently in foster care but i am in the ILS system which they help you with the finacial problems, sex problems, any kind of issue that you will need to know before you turn 18.
*~Jill F~*

Very informative article. It's good to see that some of that government money is being spent in the right places.

Anybody who questions "the system" should first ask whether they have done anything personally to help remedy the situation. We can't keep looking at this thing we call government to solve all the problems. Our communities and its individuals are better at raising children than the government. The government can't even run the post office correctly, how can they decide how these foster children should be handled? Mentor, teach, show someone how to do a job and how to make money at it. Give somebody a place to stay or something to eat. Can't 300 million Americans help 500,000 foster kids?

Speaking of cutting things off, this article cuts off in mid-word.

Speaking of cutting things off, this article cuts off in mid-word.

cut off their funds at 17 by then they can work or join the military, the teens irresponsibility is no the problem of the government...It is s bad life but by the time their are 17 they chould be able to suport themselves, maybe due to the government support all their lives they have come to depend on it too much.

These foster children did not ask to be in the situations they are in. Some of you that are babbling about the Constitution stating promote,blah, blah, blah. Unless you have been in these children's shoes, shut up. For those who claim to be Christians and shut off compassion from your hearts, your only a religious tool and nothing more. Here is something that ONLY pertains to Christians....an interesting fact is that those who claim to be Christians and believe the Bible to be God's Word, only 3% of claimed Christians are faithful in their tithes and offerings...that means that 97% of you people who claim to be Christians and believe the Bible is true are LYING...you don't believe Malachi 3 is true. Another interesting fact is that if 100% of those who claimed to be Christians would be faithfully tithing and offering, the wellfare system of our government would not need to take care of most of the wellfare cases...the Church would be doing their job. These children need help and since the Church is not being fully obedient, the government has to do something to help these children...so, if you claim to be Christian and have ignored Malachi 3, then SHUT UP!!!

The issue with investing a bit more in this, and a bit more in that is the stark reality that we could give twice as much as we do and there still would be need.

The constitution says the government should provide for the common defense, but only PROMOTE the general welfare.

If we attempt to legislate the general welfare rather than promote it, it will become an unendurable burden on those who currently survive in a day to day existence themselves.

Many of us exist in a sinking lifeboat, in fear for ourselves and our families, and while we may mourn for those who are in the water, we cannot permit those amongst us, no matter how well intentioned, to swamp us all in pursuit of some imaginary greater good.

The solution is simple.

As the State of California demands that non-custodial fathers in certain cases dwelling upon college education or medical infirmity pay child support for their children beyond the age of 18 [19-20 if a late high school grad even without the previously mentioned conditions],then they need to get off their asses and do the same thing that they demand of others. Obviously,as this state has the highest amount of ''arrearage assets'' in the nation ,garnering the state between 3 and 5 billion dollars annually,then they can use this dough to help pay for this program.

I aged out of the system (at 18) to which I entered at age 7. Bounced around for several years (to no fault of my own), before finally finding a home with a school teacher who took me in because of the situation that surrounded me. I can say continuing support for these youth is imperative. I personally had no family that I could rely on once I turned 18, made a many mistakes before finding my footing, and finally finding a continuation program which gave me the opportunity to go to community college/learn a trade/pay a reduced rent, etc. Unfortunately there aren???t many of these programs now with budget cuts, etc. here in California. But this is definitely something I support. We should support!

We had a foster daughter who had a lot of potential and a desire to go to college. The Guardian Scholars Program at Cal State Fullerton has made this possible. Not only do they provide financial support if she progresses according to set standards, they also provide counseling and encouragement. We learned that many foster children have not developed independent living skills and are even less prepared to be cut loose at 18. This program, which is supported primarily by private donations, is producing productive young people who might otherwise perpetuate the cycle of dysfunction and dependency.

Here is something to think about: You raise your own children- infants through high school, see them off to college if they are lucky enough, and support them to your highest means until they graduate and become self sustaining adults. 18-22 is an intricate time to develop the skills needed to become a successful and stable adult. How many of your own children know enough about real life: credit, finances, self sustaining at the age of 18?

Now look at these kids. Wards of the state. The STATES kids. Taken away from their homes, their families and coping with the resulting personal struggle because of the system. Moving from one home to another, unaware of their personal rights, with no one to turn to for support, because who are we kidding- case workers, even the best of them, are way too overloaded to help guide all of these kids to face the challenges of adulthood at 18. And none the less, you want to kick them out at 18 and watch them struggle to survive- with a higher chance of becoming homeless, and potentially starting the cycle all over again with a new generation of struggling foster youth.

Would you kick your own kid out at 18? Your flesh and blood, your own pride and joy? And watch them dig themselves into homelessness, credit problems, and become potential criminals, all because at 18, it's "time to cut the cord"? I find that highly unlikely. If you own 19 year old called from college for guidance, or with personal turmoil, you would just turn them away? I doubt that as well.

Then how can you say, that kicking these kids to the curb at 18 is the way to go? With the right support, encouragement and training, these kids could be positive future roles models. Instead of the people who live under bridges, begging for your money. The system needs to change drastically. And I'm not suggesting hand outs. But for those foster youth who are motivated to be successful, and all they need is the extra support from "home" AKA "The State", then by all means- give it to them. Because I am damn sure that whatever they archive in life because of that support, is only going to come back around 10 fold- with young adults who are motivated to make the system a better place, and give back to society in a positive way.

The bottom line- look at the big picture. Try to see through the common stereotypes, and fix the problem BEFORE it starts, even if its just a little bit at a time. Give the foster kids who want to succeed, who have the drive to become something, the chance to do that. Otherwise you're looking at generation, after generation of undeserved youth who will only add to the multitude of problems our society is faced with.

Shame on the states, for letting it go on this way for as long as it has. And many thanks to the multiple programs across the US who support, train, and empower these youth to beat the odds.

Any parent who has had a premature/preterm baby will tell you that it's suvival and development is significantly enhances when it can stay in the womb beyond 30 weeks. Children in foster care derives the same benefit when they are allowed to stay in the care of the state until such time they can provide for themselves, and that's at the age of majority. At 18 the state can assist the child with entering a job training program (remember Job Corps), a technical college or apprentice program, or college. Then when they reach the age of majority, they're have the skills to be productive.

Youth for Christ West Puget Sound (www.yfcwps.org) has been addressing this issue in Kitsap County since 1998 under contract to DSHS. When they turn 15, we assess the readiness of each foster child succeed as an independent adult, formulate an individualized training plan to address deficiencies, and then help him or her transition after turning 18. The training includes a lot of mentoring and some classroom training. We provide limited financial assistance and "things" needed to get a job or set up home contingent on the person continuing to participate in the ongoing mentoring. Last year 17 of our kids graduated high school and we have several in college. Our DSHS contract requires us to enroll 70 kids, we have over 115 participating (and a waiting list). To do this requires donations from concerned people to augment DSHS fees.. If you would like to help, you can contact Deanne at (360) 377-1899.

I am all for developing effective transitional services for young adults exiting the child welfare systems across the country. However, I take exception with with the focus not including the millions more young adults who are not exiting hte child welfare system, but rather find themselves in a forced position of "independence" exiting the assumed protection of their nuclear familiy. These are the young adults not involved in hte legal system who do not have family, core or extended, resources available. These young adults may have good work ethic, or the desire to continue their educations leading ultimately to a job from which they can get closer to achieving their concept of "the American dream". However, for most of them the assistance to obtain and maintain needed basic housing is not there. The means to obtain basic health insurance is not there. FAFSA rules to establish "independent "status for financial aid access eliminate millions of young adults right off the bat! I believe the crisis identified in the article extends exponentially to an uncounted number of similarly aged young adults who live day to day at high risk of financiial and health disaster striking, in addition to the potential negative effects upon their mental health. This new "change" administration absolutely must immediately begin to direct close attention to solutions to the nationwide financial, health and social epidemic facing our young American population in the "transition" stage to adulthood.

Despite the fact that I think taxes in CA are way to high and am actually thinking of moving out of the state for that very reason, I actually support this particular expense and am willing to pay for it. (Now bilingual education at the expense of art, music, and advanced classes is another thing.) Young people at 18 are just not ready to take care of themselves in this society. And what if you turn 18 in January and are still in senior year of high school? I had so many worries and felt so overwhelmed at 18, I thank God at least I had a place to stay until graduation and then had a residential college waiting for me a few months after that. As it was I went from a boarding school (during which time my family had moved to a home that had no room for me) to needing to stay with an older sister (who had an extra room) during that summer of transition between schools. To think how much worse all that could have been if I had not only had no family to help, but also 1) nowhere to live during the last semester of high school and 2) no college waiting for me at the end of summer, well it just seems like way too much to ask of an 18 year old. Let's really support these kids who wound up with no one to take care of them through no fault of their own. These are all our kids.