NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH: Aging Out with Music in the Background

 As a former social worker and now adoptive parent the issue of adoption for children in the United States foster care system are dear to my heart. For those who have never met me, adoption is a part of my family. It never occurred to me that I would not adopt, at some point and when I had the opportunity I did. Never did I think about the specific age of the child, but simply my desire to be a parent and provide a loving family for a child.

 

Working in the field of social work, specifically in child protective services, you see many things. Yes, you see children who are sexually abused by adults and other children. Yes, you will see children who are neglected educationally and emotionally. Yes, you will see children physically abused in ways the majority of society do not believe exist or does not want to think about. It would be asolutely foreign for the average adult working a 9-5 middle clas job to consider the conditions under which many childen live. When they are removed from the environments, it becomes the job of the State to provide for that child. And at the time the parents are deemed unfit, the State now becomes the "parent" and, in fact, needs to prove itself fit.

 

 Unfortunately, the State, often fails these children. How? In an average home, at the point a child turns eighteen they have many basic skills: washing clothes, handling money, group interaction, maybe some job skills, and basic education. Not so for many children "aging out" of State care. They have been bounced around from home to home, maybe even institution to institution, and made the victim on many cases. When they turn eighteen, the road to normalcy has long sense been covered over with a trail of homes, social workers, failed grades, and broken relationships. Yet, the State says they are prepared to be adults and make in "the World". It is my contention that they are not prepared and the State is not doing a good job of preparing their own children for the World. Here some facts:

• According to the most current AFCARS Report (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Report), 19,509 children aged out of foster care during FY 2002 in the United States.

• Young adults who stayed in care after 18 were more than twice as likely to be enrolled in a school or training program as those who had been discharged (67% vs. 31%).
  

• Young adults who stayed in care after 18, who had a high school diploma or GED, were over three times as likely as those no longer in care to be enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college. (37% vs. 12%).
  

• Compared to the 19 year olds still in foster care, those who left the system were more likely to have become pregnant.73
  

• A study conducted with 216 emancipated foster youth attending a four-year university found that social support was an important factor in their educational success: nearly 87% had either a friend or family member to ask for help or advice if needed, 80% had contact with their birth family, and 60% still maintained relationships with their foster or kin-care parents.74
  

With all of the issues involved with teens, concerns about them fitting in, and even behavioral issues they are worthy of homes, families full of love, and committed to providing them with stability not just for a few months, but for life. If you are interested in adoption, please contact your local social services agency through National Child Welfare Gateway. If you are interested in facts about children in foster and out-of-home care, you may read at National Working Group on Foster Care and Education Fact Sheet.

While searching Facebook for groups or pages which address "aging out" I ran into an interesting musical. A musical about "aging out"? It is more than some silly view, but bring the feeling of a teen in care to the forefront with elegance, humor, and a candidness that I have never seen. It highlights the issues with which I have already spoken, but from the view of teens and young adults preparing to be emancipated or "aging out".

AGING OUT is a new rock musical that tells the stories of “the ones nobody wanted” - 18 year olds who are aging out of the foster care system into independent, adult life in one giant, scary leap - unlike “normal” teenagers who get to enter adulthood with baby steps and family supporting them on the way.

We meet 13 of these teenagers as they meet each other, in a one-day “Independent Living Program” class taught by a social worker who starts out trying to teach them the “basics” of checkbooks and resumes but constantly discovers more in her students than she bargained for. 

AGING OUT (book and lyrics by Tara Redepenning and Hillary Rollins, music by Darin Goulet) was developed in 2009 by UC Irvine in conjunction with the Academy for New Musical Theatre (ANMT). The UCI cast just recorded the AGING OUT cast album, which you can listen to right here (and also on Facebook).

Coming soon: video clips from the September 2009 staged reading of the show at UCI.

We also welcome your comments and questions! If you’d like to be on our mailing list, send us an email that says so, on the comments and questions page. Or become a Fan of AGING OUT on Facebook.

If you are a producer, theatre or producing organization interested in supporting the development of AGING OUT, please contact us about opportunities to become involved.

NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH: Beyond Foster Care

Getting Beyond the Foster Care System: What Works for Teens

 

Q&A with Betsy Krebs

  Could you have made it entirely on your own at 18 or 21? Each year, roughly 25,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system, many without family or economic supports. Without connection to a caring adult and support to plan and prepare, these youth face steep challenges, including higher rates of unemployment, poor educational attainment, health issues, incarceration, and homelessness.
But those are the problems, the statistics—what about the potential of these teens, and their desire to succeed? And what of the programs that are tapping that potential?
In 1992, attorneys Betsy Krebs and Paul Pitcoff founded the Youth Advocacy Center (YAC) in New York City, based on their belief that with guidance and tools, teens in foster care can succeed as adults. The YAC program teaches self-advocacy and goal-setting to empower teens to take on significant responsibility for planning for their futures.
In the wake of New York Times coverage spotlighting the struggles of New York City’s foster care agencies, we spoke with Betsy Krebs about what works to help teens aging out of foster care succeed.

Has there been progress in recent years in New York? Does the New York Times story recognize that progress?

The major progress in New York City child welfare is the reduction of the number of children in foster care, due at least in part to a government commitment to preventive services for families.
However, a large proportion of those who remain in temporary foster care—often for years—are teenagers. We’ve seen more discussion about “preparing youth for adulthood,” and increased interest in teens aging out, but we still need to see more change that supports teens becoming successful participating citizens.

The foster care system was designed to protect children from imminent harm, not prepare teens for adulthood. The system has been given the responsibility of raising teens to adulthood, but that’s not what it was designed for nor currently prepared to accomplish.

What are the challenges facing young people aging out of foster care as they become adults?

Working with thousands of young people from foster care, we know that they have aspirations, strengths and talents, and the potential to become fully participating citizens who contribute in a range of fields.
The main challenges facing young people are: (1) the culture of low expectations for teens in foster care and (2) the lack of accountability for their success or failure. A principle challenge is changing the thinking and the current practices that resist and prevent teens from taking on more responsibility for preparing for a future of successful independence.
Until that happens, most young people aging out of the foster care system will not be prepared for college and meaningful careers. Too many will continue to end up homeless, jobless, and incarcerated, without the resources they need to become successful adults.

What can be done?

There are three sets of “players” available to help teens escape poverty and other challenges after foster care.
Teens. First, the teens themselves are untapped resources. They can make significant contributions to the community, and speak most passionately and articulately about what they want for their lives—not just today but for their futures. If given responsibility and adequate supports, they are the best advocates for themselves, and they will carve out a path to reach their goals.
Child Welfare Professionals. Second, the thousands of dedicated and experienced professionals in the foster care system can help lift teens out of poverty if they are given support and tools to treat each teen as an individual with potential.
We need to recognize that many professionals have a wealth of creativity and experience and must find ways to allow them to bring this resource into the process of preparing teens for independence. Employing the Socratic approach—supporting teens in learning for themselves—would create a powerful collaboration of professional and teen that would dramatically elevate teens’ responsibility level and critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Community. The third group that has demonstrated interest and talent in helping teens in foster care is the broader community—the private sector, experts on higher education, national service, the arts. Busy individuals from every background are willing to contribute experience, resources and perspective on what we can all do to help young people escape poverty.

Whether it means giving advice to individual teens (as leading urban professionals do in our Getting Beyond the System® Self-Advocacy program), providing scholarships, internships, or participating in policy discussions about foster care reform, the input of the wider community is invaluable and must be increased.

How can we measure program success? What should we look for in any program addressing issues related to aging out?

Right now there are no real metrics for teens that gauge their success after foster care.

Rather than needing more training programs in “independent living skills,” young people need to be able to acquire information, investigate opportunities, and make decisions relying on their intellectual power. Today’s youth must be prepared to adapt to constantly changing conditions—in their own lives, in the communities in which they live, in their country, and in the larger world.

You’ve talked about switching from seeing young people as problem to seeing them as individuals with assets and strengths. How do we do that?

We should no longer tolerate treating teens as problems to be solved, cases to be diagnosed, managed, and restrained. If they remain objects of treatment teams, of case planning meetings, of behavior modification and management, of training programs, there is no reason for teens to respond positively.

Instead, we must adopt approaches that treat them as subjects of their own preparation for adulthood. They must be independent thinkers and lifelong students who carve out their own paths to the future.

• The Socratic approach, described above, is one way our program and others around the country engage teens and adults to learn critical thinking skills together. It gives young people responsibility for developing their own approaches to solving problems, and teaches them to be active learners.
  
• Another concrete tool we use is the informational interview. We ask every young person in foster care what they want to do when they are 25. Then, through the Getting Beyond the System® Seminar, we prepare each teen for an individual meeting with an experienced professional in that field to discuss career and education goals. The young person is prepared to ask questions and gather important information—lifelong skills—and also begins building his or her own network in the community beyond the system.

More people around the country, both at the government and the practice level, are looking at our own and other innovative ways to help teens transition to independence, because they recognize that we have too long been failing these youth.

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Betsy Krebs and Paul Pitcoff co-founded and direct the Youth Advocacy Center Inc. Their latest book, Beyond the Foster Care System: The Future for Teens (Buy on Amazon), chronicles the development of their program, which brings teens, the system, and the outside community into active collaboration to increase opportunities for teens after foster care. For more information, including tools, ideas, and trainings on the Getting Beyond the System® Approach, visit the Youth Advocacy Center site.

If you would like to get involved with teens placed in foster care contact Foster Club. We are assisting children placed in foster care with much needed clothing. With $25 you can provide a gift card to a foster child at Clothing Our Youth.

JEREMIAH'S PROMISE