Foster kids suffer at release, bar says System leaves many withoutnecessary support network, skills...

Foster kids suffer at release, bar says
System leaves many without necessary support network, skills
By Sara Steffens, FROM STAFF REPORTS
Article Last Updated: 08/13/2007 02:37:44 AM PDT

http://origin.insidebayarea.com/dail...ews/ci_6611079

For Jessalynn Castaneda, like thousands of other California foster
youth, turning 18 was no cause for celebration.

In the months leading up to her milestone birthday, she was living in
transitional housing in El Cerrito, raising her 2-year-old son,
attending school full time and working as many hours as she could at
Starbucks.

"The thought of emancipating was so scary, every dime I had went into
savings," Castaneda said. "They told me I had to be out on my 18th
birthday."

Despite saving $5,000, she quickly realized she wouldn't be able to
afford rent for even a modest apartment, let alone child care.

Her problem is one all too familiar to leaders of the American Bar
Association, which has launched a national campaign calling for better
services for foster youth entering adulthood.

Each year, more than 20,000 U.S. teenagers turn 18 and leave the foster
care system, including 4,000 in California.

"These young people become like instant orphans," said Karen Mathis,
president of the American Bar Association and founder of its Commission
on Youth at Risk. "They can't go back home, and they're entering a world
as adults without the skills they need to live. And the results can be
horrendous."

A large study of former foster youth conducted for Casey Family Programs
found that more than one in five experiences homelessness, one in three
live below the federal poverty level, and one in four suffers
post-traumatic stress disorder, a rate almost
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double that of combat veterans.

Twenty-six states cut off assistance when foster youth turn 18, Mathis
said. The others offer varying degrees of help. In California, for
example, some foster youth get a judge's order to remain in care past
their 18th birthday, usually so they can finish high school; but
counties receive no federal reimbursement for this.

Only a few states — notably Illinois and New York — allow all youth to
voluntarily remain in foster care through age 19, 20 or 21 .

At the Bar Association's annual meeting next week in San Francisco,
members will vote on a resolution calling for all states to offer foster
care services, including housing and education, through age 21.

The resolution also calls for extending the federal McKinney-Vento Act,
which provides education rights to homeless students, to cover foster
children.

Mathis hopes attorneys, judges and local bar associations across the
nation will not only support the expanded services, but lobby to help
make them happen.

Legislation introduced this year by California Sen. Barbara Boxer would
extend federal funding to help states offer foster care services through
age 21. The bill, SB1512, is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Committee
on Finance.

"It's really chump change in the federal budget to provide this
support," said former state Sen. John Burton, founder of the John Burton
Foundations for Homeless Youth, urging bar association members to throw
their weight behind the bill. "If the federal government would step up
and continue their participation, we could get enough support in this
state to do it."

Left to fend for herself, Castaneda initially moved in with her baby's
father, a situation she described as "a mess." A few months later, an
independent living skills counselor referred her to San Francisco's
Larkin Street Youth Services, one of the few places in the Bay Area that
provide subsidized housing for former foster youth.

Now 20 years old, Castaneda shares a studio apartment in San Francisco
with her son. Enrolled in college, she is earning a straight-A average
and hopes to become a social worker to help other teenage moms get on
their feet.

"If I wasn't the lucky one that could participate in this program, I
would probably be on the streets with my son or in a shelter," Castaneda
said. "It's really hard when you don't have the necessary skills to make it.

"To know that you're supported and people care about you, you can move
and grow a lot better than doing it alone."

Sara Steffens covers poverty and social services. Reach her at
(925)943-8048.

or .



CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....

CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.

every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf

http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com

Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS

*Perpetrators of Maltreatment*

Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5

CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...


BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...