Kids exiting foster care lose out on state's help

Kids exiting foster care lose out on state's help

Short-staffed Mich. agency let U.S. aid slip away

July 20, 2004

BY JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Foster children in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 21 other states are
benefiting because the Michigan Family Independence Agency turned down
more than $1.2 million offered by the federal government to help
children aging out of foster care.

"It's an outrage," said Sharon Peters, president of Michigan's
Children, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"With Michigan being a donor state already, putting in more federal
dollars than we receive back, it is unacceptable for us to not be
getting federal resources for vulnerable young people," she said.

Two years ago, the FIA decided it could spend only $1 million of the
$2.2 million that was allotted to Michigan by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services through the John Chafee Foster Care
Independence Program for education and training.

The money was to be distributed for 2003-2005. The FIA said its
dwindling staff couldn't process the full amount offered.

The program, named for the Republican senator from Rhode Island who
died in 1999, is designed to help the 20,000 foster children
nationwide who age out of foster care each year and can be used for
kids as young as 14.

Many foster kids face bleak prospects when they turn 18 and are no
longer eligible for foster care services, although exceptions can be
made for kids with special needs until age 19. Many former foster kids
haven't completed high school, have little or no family support and
few marketable skills.

Thomas Westerfield, 20, was dismissed from Michigan's foster care
system when he turned 18 in January 2002.

Although eligible for funds to help in his transition to living on his
own, Westerfield said his caseworkers never told him and he got no
help from the FIA.

"No job, no money and barely any clothes," Westerfield said.
Concern for other states

The Chafee funds provide up to $5,000 a year in tuition reimbursement,
about $1,400 to set up an apartment and even help with purchasing a
vehicle. States must match 20 percent of the Chafee money spent.

More than $41 million in Chafee Education and Training Vouchers was
available to states for use between 2003 and 2005. Utah is the only
other state that declined to use its total allotment.

Under federal law, the $1,278,724 Michigan rejected and the $97,414
that Utah turned down was reallocated to 24 other states, the District
of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Michigan's neighbor Ohio got $79,114 of
the money; other states received even larger shares, including Florida
with $119,229 and California with $395,168.

FIA Director Marianne Udow said the agency must do a better job of
accessing all sources of funding to help the more than 1,000 children
who age out of the foster care system each year.

Shortly after she became FIA director in January, Udow said, she
learned that the FIA had turned down the majority of Education and
Training Vouchers money from the Chafee program.

Udow said she was told by FIA managers that there was not enough staff
to handle the paperwork needed for Chafee fund help, and, if Michigan
couldn't use it, kids in other states would still benefit.

"They were being altruistic," Udow said last week. "They felt there
were so many other priorities in the department and so many other
things they were working on that they weren't sure we could organize
in a way to really effectively use those funds.

"In some way, they felt they would be depriving another state that
could more effectively use the funds."

Udow said the FIA is seeking to amend its Chafee fund request and is
looking for a coordinator to run a new unit in the agency's Children's
Services Bureau to get all available financial help for foster
children.
Employee exodus

In 1999, the Chafee fund's first year, Michigan lapsed $737,000 but
did use $3.4 million. Since then, the FIA has accessed more than $21
million in Chafee dollars for its Youth in Transition program but
still turned down the $1.2 million of education vouchers in 2002.

"It's deplorable that that money doesn't get spent in Michigan and
goes back to the federal government and other states," said Sean
Blume, the Wayne County coordinator of the Jim Casey Foundation's
Youth Opportunities Initiative.

The Jim Casey initiative helps kids in the foster care system become
independent by using Chafee funds and other financial grants and
programs. The initiative also matches money the youths put in savings
accounts until the initiative's yearly $75,000 allocation for such
accounts is exhausted, Blume said.

The program helps kids fill out the paperwork to file with the
appropriate FIA people to receive the Chafee funds. Blume said the
Wayne County FIA has an excellent Youth in Transition coordinator.

"We've been very successful," Blume said. "We've enrolled over 200
participants and opened bank accounts for them."

Udow and Longino Gonzales, acting deputy of the FIA's Children's
Services Bureau, said the FIA's decision to let the money lapse was
partly due to early retirements by hundreds of FIA workers in 2002
that caused more work for remaining staff members, many of whom had to
be re-trained for unfamiliar jobs.

"I know that the state FIA and other agencies that care for kids who
are in care would have been able to do a lot more with all this
money," Gonzales said.

Sharon Rivera, president of UAW Local 6000, which represents 17,000
professional state employees, said: "Why would someone that works for
the State of Michigan give up funding for children of the state of
Michigan?"

The answer is that there aren't enough workers to do the job, Rivera
said.

"These are very dedicated professional staff people that want to do
the best they can. But they're not given the tools and equipment they
need to do the job that they want to do," Rivera said.

The FIA has 14,536 employees, about 4,500 fewer than in 1997.

Local 6000 has lost 2,000 members because of early retirements over
the past two years, and the state is making no effort to reinforce its
workforce, Rivera said.

"The subcontracting of services plays a large part in the siphoning
off of tax dollars that would be better spent hiring qualified state
workers," Rivera said.
Left in the dark

Westerfield said he often had trouble communicating with the FIA and
that several different workers were assigned to his family's case.

"They don't have enough FIA people," Westerfield said. "They're so
overworked that they just get mad at everyone. They don't have time to
complete the things they need to be doing. They should have enough
people to deal with the kids."

He entered foster care at age 5 with his brothers, a twin and a boy
one year younger. They had been neglected by their parents, and
Westerfield had been accidentally shot in the left hand by his twin
brother.

He said they spent time in foster homes, group homes and institutions
such as Methodist Children's Village in Redford Township.

The boys were adopted for a short time by an aunt, but they were
institutionalized because they kept acting out and running away,
according to court records.

In 1998, Nancy Olkowski of Dearborn, a layperson trained to advocate
for foster children, was assigned as the court appointed special
advocate for the Westerfield boys.

"Nancy was more of a worker for me than the FIA worker," Westerfield
said.

Wayne County Family Court records show that Olkowski pushed the FIA
and institutions to provide better services to the Westerfield boys.

"I saw potential in Tom," Olkowski said. "He always seemed to be
level-headed, and he was very instrumental in helping his younger
brother. I'm very proud of him."

After leaving his last foster care institution, Westerfield lived with
an aunt and with friends and worked "crappy" jobs until he was hired
as a security screener at Metro Airport.

Then, Westerfield heard about the Michigan Institute of Aeronautics in
Belleville.

Tuition is steep -- nearly $20,000, including tools. But the result --
certification through the Federal Aviation Administration to repair
the airframe and power plant of planes -- allows graduates to work in
any state, said Kevin Burchett, the director of the institute.

"Eight-five percent of our students work 30 hours or more per week
along with 30 hours of school," Burchett said. "Many are raising
families. I really respect them."

A grant of $5,000 from the Chafee fund to pay some of the tuition
would help his young family, Westerfield said. He lives with his
pregnant fiancee, Rachel Lang, and her 2-year-old son, Caleb.

"I feel like I was being cheated," Westerfield said.

FIA spokesperson Maureen Sorbet said the agency would look into
Westerfield's situation to see whether he qualifies for assistance.
Kids exiting foster care lose out on state's help

Short-staffed Mich. agency let U.S. aid slip away

July 20, 2004

BY JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Foster children in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 21 other states are
benefiting because the Michigan Family Independence Agency turned down
more than $1.2 million offered by the federal government to help
children aging out of foster care.

"It's an outrage," said Sharon Peters, president of Michigan's
Children, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"With Michigan being a donor state already, putting in more federal
dollars than we receive back, it is unacceptable for us to not be
getting federal resources for vulnerable young people," she said.

Two years ago, the FIA decided it could spend only $1 million of the
$2.2 million that was allotted to Michigan by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services through the John Chafee Foster Care
Independence Program for education and training.

The money was to be distributed for 2003-2005. The FIA said its
dwindling staff couldn't process the full amount offered.

The program, named for the Republican senator from Rhode Island who
died in 1999, is designed to help the 20,000 foster children
nationwide who age out of foster care each year and can be used for
kids as young as 14.

Many foster kids face bleak prospects when they turn 18 and are no
longer eligible for foster care services, although exceptions can be
made for kids with special needs until age 19. Many former foster kids
haven't completed high school, have little or no family support and
few marketable skills.

Thomas Westerfield, 20, was dismissed from Michigan's foster care
system when he turned 18 in January 2002.

Although eligible for funds to help in his transition to living on his
own, Westerfield said his caseworkers never told him and he got no
help from the FIA.

"No job, no money and barely any clothes," Westerfield said.
Concern for other states

The Chafee funds provide up to $5,000 a year in tuition reimbursement,
about $1,400 to set up an apartment and even help with purchasing a
vehicle. States must match 20 percent of the Chafee money spent.

More than $41 million in Chafee Education and Training Vouchers was
available to states for use between 2003 and 2005. Utah is the only
other state that declined to use its total allotment.

Under federal law, the $1,278,724 Michigan rejected and the $97,414
that Utah turned down was reallocated to 24 other states, the District
of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Michigan's neighbor Ohio got $79,114 of
the money; other states received even larger shares, including Florida
with $119,229 and California with $395,168.

FIA Director Marianne Udow said the agency must do a better job of
accessing all sources of funding to help the more than 1,000 children
who age out of the foster care system each year.

Shortly after she became FIA director in January, Udow said, she
learned that the FIA had turned down the majority of Education and
Training Vouchers money from the Chafee program.

Udow said she was told by FIA managers that there was not enough staff
to handle the paperwork needed for Chafee fund help, and, if Michigan
couldn't use it, kids in other states would still benefit.

"They were being altruistic," Udow said last week. "They felt there
were so many other priorities in the department and so many other
things they were working on that they weren't sure we could organize
in a way to really effectively use those funds.

"In some way, they felt they would be depriving another state that
could more effectively use the funds."

Udow said the FIA is seeking to amend its Chafee fund request and is
looking for a coordinator to run a new unit in the agency's Children's
Services Bureau to get all available financial help for foster
children.
Employee exodus

In 1999, the Chafee fund's first year, Michigan lapsed $737,000 but
did use $3.4 million. Since then, the FIA has accessed more than $21
million in Chafee dollars for its Youth in Transition program but
still turned down the $1.2 million of education vouchers in 2002.

"It's deplorable that that money doesn't get spent in Michigan and
goes back to the federal government and other states," said Sean
Blume, the Wayne County coordinator of the Jim Casey Foundation's
Youth Opportunities Initiative.

The Jim Casey initiative helps kids in the foster care system become
independent by using Chafee funds and other financial grants and
programs. The initiative also matches money the youths put in savings
accounts until the initiative's yearly $75,000 allocation for such
accounts is exhausted, Blume said.

The program helps kids fill out the paperwork to file with the
appropriate FIA people to receive the Chafee funds. Blume said the
Wayne County FIA has an excellent Youth in Transition coordinator.

"We've been very successful," Blume said. "We've enrolled over 200
participants and opened bank accounts for them."

Udow and Longino Gonzales, acting deputy of the FIA's Children's
Services Bureau, said the FIA's decision to let the money lapse was
partly due to early retirements by hundreds of FIA workers in 2002
that caused more work for remaining staff members, many of whom had to
be re-trained for unfamiliar jobs.

"I know that the state FIA and other agencies that care for kids who
are in care would have been able to do a lot more with all this
money," Gonzales said.

Sharon Rivera, president of UAW Local 6000, which represents 17,000
professional state employees, said: "Why would someone that works for
the State of Michigan give up funding for children of the state of
Michigan?"

The answer is that there aren't enough workers to do the job, Rivera
said.

"These are very dedicated professional staff people that want to do
the best they can. But they're not given the tools and equipment they
need to do the job that they want to do," Rivera said.

The FIA has 14,536 employees, about 4,500 fewer than in 1997.

Local 6000 has lost 2,000 members because of early retirements over
the past two years, and the state is making no effort to reinforce its
workforce, Rivera said.

"The subcontracting of services plays a large part in the siphoning
off of tax dollars that would be better spent hiring qualified state
workers," Rivera said.
Left in the dark

Westerfield said he often had trouble communicating with the FIA and
that several different workers were assigned to his family's case.

"They don't have enough FIA people," Westerfield said. "They're so
overworked that they just get mad at everyone. They don't have time to
complete the things they need to be doing. They should have enough
people to deal with the kids."

He entered foster care at age 5 with his brothers, a twin and a boy
one year younger. They had been neglected by their parents, and
Westerfield had been accidentally shot in the left hand by his twin
brother.

He said they spent time in foster homes, group homes and institutions
such as Methodist Children's Village in Redford Township.

The boys were adopted for a short time by an aunt, but they were
institutionalized because they kept acting out and running away,
according to court records.

In 1998, Nancy Olkowski of Dearborn, a layperson trained to advocate
for foster children, was assigned as the court appointed special
advocate for the Westerfield boys.

"Nancy was more of a worker for me than the FIA worker," Westerfield
said.

Wayne County Family Court records show that Olkowski pushed the FIA
and institutions to provide better services to the Westerfield boys.

"I saw potential in Tom," Olkowski said. "He always seemed to be
level-headed, and he was very instrumental in helping his younger
brother. I'm very proud of him."

After leaving his last foster care institution, Westerfield lived with
an aunt and with friends and worked "crappy" jobs until he was hired
as a security screener at Metro Airport.

Then, Westerfield heard about the Michigan Institute of Aeronautics in
Belleville.

Tuition is steep -- nearly $20,000, including tools. But the result --
certification through the Federal Aviation Administration to repair
the airframe and power plant of planes -- allows graduates to work in
any state, said Kevin Burchett, the director of the institute.

"Eight-five percent of our students work 30 hours or more per week
along with 30 hours of school," Burchett said. "Many are raising
families. I really respect them."

A grant of $5,000 from the Chafee fund to pay some of the tuition
would help his young family, Westerfield said. He lives with his
pregnant fiancee, Rachel Lang, and her 2-year-old son, Caleb.

"I feel like I was being cheated," Westerfield said.

FIA spokesperson Maureen Sorbet said the agency would look into
Westerfield's situation to see whether he qualifies for assistance.

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