Children Aging out of the Foster Care System Face Difficult Odds
Published February 25, 2008
Dr. Eilers says, "18 isn't a good thing for kids in foster care." Sent out on their own with no one to care for them or teach them how to be an adult in the world, half of these kids end up homeless. "Week after week, we film segments for Forever Families... week after week, I meet the most amazing kids... and every second of every day I hope beyond all hope that we can make a difference in these kids lives... I don't know if I have ever hoped so much as for Jarod."
Last year at this time, Jarod was showing off his Junior ROTC uniform for his Forever Families segment. He was 15-years-old and only recently decided he wanted to be adopted. Jarod's goal was to become a Sergeant, but he moved from foster home to foster home this year, and isn't in ROTC anymore. The rest of year has been filled with just as many disappointments, and now his outlook on life is bleak. No 16-year-old should feel this hopeless.
Jarod came in to foster care when he was 10-years-old from his uncle's house, where there were five kids, Jarod and his sister, and their three cousins. Jarod was the one who had to go into foster care.
He's had a very hard time trusting adults, and who could blame him? Now he's 16-years-old and repeating the 9th grade. In two years, he'll age out of the foster care system. Foster teens on their own are at a higher risk of homelessness and substance abuse. "To me, it seems like it's too late. For life, I guess. When I turn 18, I don't know what I'm going to do," he said.
Jarod's anger, frustration, and confusion have caused him to give up on adoption. His aunt was going to adopt him, but it wasn't a good fit. They lived together for a month, but kept getting into fights. Now Jarod is in a shelter, where he says things aren't going well.
"I got in trouble because I broke a door. I feel mad all the time. It's not foster care; it's not being adopted. It's just when I turn 18, what am I going to do? Am I going to be on the streets? I don't know what I'm going to do. I barely got an education. Ain't nothing to do," he said.
- Children Aging out of the Foster Care System Face Difficult Odds
- Published: February 25, 2008
- Type: News
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Family and Relationships, Culture: Education, Culture: Photography, Culture: Society
- Writer: Shelley Seale
- Shelley Seale's BC Writer page
- Shelley Seale's personal site
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Organizations can help by utilizing technology - help, instruction, and training can all be delivered to kids before they age out by using media rich, interactive technology. Online training is available as we speak. Learning how to find apartments, jobs, manage money, cook, social skills, dealing with anger, and much more is available for these kids. - inexpensively too. The social work world has got to rethink its approach to traditional methods and incorporate online programs to help these kids.
Foster resource homes have a first time failure rate of 47-62% because the foster parents don't get topic specific behavioral training when they need it the most. Kids are placed in their homes with tough behavioral challenges. Agencies can provide immediate, specific training to foster parents - the same day they place a child.. the parents learn techniques, the kids get understood and the jumping from home to home slows down.
Using technology, kids can come with directions. There's simply no excuse today to not have information available when it's needed the most - not in today's techonolocially able world.