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Advocates say state does too little for foster children turning 18
Advocates say state does too little for foster children turning 18
By Megan O'Matz Staff Writer Posted June 25 2003 Yusimil Herrera is 19, living with her boyfriend's family after enduring homelessness and trying to succeed as an adult despite a ruined childhood in foster care. Her meager possessions fill a trash bag and Rubbermaid bin, but on paper, she's a millionaire. In 1999, a jury awarded her and her older sister $4.4 million after hearing how the girls suffered physical and sexual abuse in foster care and were bounced among countless homes and private institutions from the time they were preschoolers. Yet neither Herrera nor her sister, who lives in federally subsidized housing in Miami, has seen any of the money. The Department of Children & Families appealed the verdict, and a court ordered a new trial on a technicality, which the girls' lawyer is appealing. On Tuesday, Herrera, who was formerly identified in court papers only as one of the "Two Forgotten Children," came forward at a news conference in Wilton Manors to describe how she and other teens have been fighting to receive support from the state under a new law called the Road to Independence Act. The law is meant to provide for foster children after they turn 18, but children's advocates say the provisions are so flawed that many young adults such as Herrera will be, essentially, homeless. "It's messed up that I have to keep on going through what I'm going through because they don't want to get their act together," Herrera said of DCF. "They don't want to help people. They want to be stingy or whatever it is." The news conference was called by Florida's Children First!, an advocacy group that lobbies on behalf of foster children. Its members want the Legislature, which is meeting in a special session, to take up a bill that would extend foster care services until age 21 for certain children with developmental disabilities and mental health needs. It would also provide government health insurance to all foster children through age 21. Leaders of the House and Senate so far have resisted. And time is running out. The law will be fully implemented July 1, when all teens turning 18 must leave foster care. Those who stay in school and maintain a C average can qualify for a $900 monthly living stipend and Medicaid coverage. Other teens will see only emergency funds of up to $5,000. "I hope the Legislature opens its ears, its eyes and its heart to do something for these kids right now," said Christina Spudeas, regional director of the Agency for Community Treatment Services, which helps foster children. Since leaving foster care in 2001, Herrera has moved from friend to friend's homes. She briefly had her own apartment but was evicted. About a month ago she met a 20-year-old man at a bus stop, and his family took her into their North Miami Beach home. The pair recently became engaged. Though Herrera is excited about her future marriage, she still has obstacles to overcome. "I have no job skills," she said, wearing a top bearing the words "Baby Phat" in cursive writing. She doesn't own a car and never got a driver's license. "I don't know how to go about it," she said. She moved around so much in foster care that she attended eight different high schools, has large gaps in her education and never graduated. She says she taught herself to read by "sounding out words." Two years ago she gave birth to a daughter. Unable to provide proper care, she has left the girl in the custody of a friend. "DCF felt she had such severe mental health needs they kept her locked up in programs most of her life and drugged her with multiple psychotropic drugs," said her lawyer, Carolyn Salisbury of the University of Miami's Children & Youth Law Clinic. "Now, at age 18, they think she's perfectly capable of going out on her own, finding her own employment, finding her own apartment and making her way in the world without any assistance." Last winter, Herrera applied to DCF's Miami office for $5,000 in emergency funds. After many canceled meetings with the agency's Independent Living director, Herrera and her lawyer finally succeeded in extracting a promise from the agency that the teen would receive about $450 a month in aid. Later, a new program director took over and could not find any paperwork on the agreement. The issue is still pending. "They promised me that they were going to give me money every month," said Herrera. "They also said that I had to go look for an apartment, but they couldn't help me look for the apartment, which is really hard because there's no apartment ... that I can afford." Even teens who qualify for the $900 monthly stipend are finding the road to independence bumpy. "I'm learning to be independent, but it's just too fast," said Saheda Stewart, 18, who is studying to be a nurse at Broward Community College. DCF officials in Broward County arranged for Stewart and several other foster teens to rent apartments at Brampton Court, a Lauderhill high-rise. But the arrangement is less than desirable. One girl was robbed there. Some units have roaches. On Tuesday, visitors had to hop over puddles of water on the cement hallway floors. DCF gave Stewart a $501 voucher for Target to buy dishes, bathroom items and plastic storage containers to hold her clothes. She has no furniture except a twin bed donated by a charitable group, a borrowed TV, three kitchen chairs and a small wooden table bearing a computer. DCF spokesman Bob Brooks said the agency is trying to provide young adults with the tools they need to survive on their own. But the program is still new. "Just like anything in life, we probably can do a little better," he said. "And we're trying to do that." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...sfla-news-sfla |
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