The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 presents states with a whole range of new opportunities to create programs that really work for young people preparing to leave the foster care system as independent youth. In Washington State, a plan for action is already being developed, following a groundbreaking meeting in Seattle on March 13 and 14.
The meeting brought together a diverse group of 300 participants. In an effort to broaden the range of voices involved in planning transitional programs, participants included key individuals from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, The Casey Family Program, Washington's Foster Parent Association, the Private Industry Council, tribal representatives and numerous advocates and officials in the areas of public education, labor, housing and health. Foster youth themselves were also well represented.
"The state of Washington demonstrated remarkable leadership and foresight in bringing together people from all over the state to help plan improved services and support for youth making the transition to adulthood," said Robin Nixon, director of Positive Youth Development at the Child Welfare League of America.
Ruth Massinga, chief executive officer of The Casey Family Program, opened the meeting by crediting the youth themselves with the rapid passage of the new foster care law. She also urged participants to listen carefully to the young people themselves while developing the state plan. (The law requires that the youth "participate directly in designing their own program activities that prepare them for independent living.")
There was a lot to listen to: Ronee Collins, a former foster child and participant in The Casey Family Program, told about her journey from an abusive home to a life that now holds the promise of career and stability. "Nothing is completely bad," said Collins. "It just takes awhile to get to the good ending. I hope states remember that as they start this planning."
Some of the most interesting goals and suggestions to come out of this meeting were a commitment to strong youth involvement and leadership; pursuit of Medicaid eligibility to age 21 as contemplated by the law; helping foster youth to develop relationships with supportive adults that will continue as they transition from care; greatly increasing the high school completion rate for youth leaving care at age 18 (currently only an estimated 30% leave care at 18 with a GED or high school diploma); providing opportunities for youth to secure meaningful training and employment; and making sure youth have access to safe, affordable housing options within their community of choice.
Housing, Housing and Housing
The "can-do" atmosphere of this crucial two-day meeting extended to one of the major new challenges that states now face: establishing transitional housing programs. The new law allows states, for the first time, to use up to 30 percent of their federal independent living funds for room and board. The youth who are eligible for this housing money are those ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care.
Mark Kroner, program director of Lighthouse Youth Services in Cincinnati, spoke to the crowd about his success running a scattered-site apartment program since 1986. "We have had over a thousand youth and young adults come through our Independent Living and Transitional Living Programs over the years and I have no doubt that we have made a difference in most of their lives," he said. He explained that they are doing this by developing a continuum of services, including life skills training, educational supports, employment readiness, connections to caring adults and creative housing options.
"People from Cincinnati are known for staying close to home-or at least eventually returning home-as local baseball fans have witnessed. Staying in one place has given me the opportunity to see things that I wouldn't have necessarily seen if I moved to new positions," he said. Many of his former clients, now in their 30s, are now coming back, some with their own houses, cars, husbands, kids and college degrees. "They are now our fellow hard working, tax paying neighbors," he said.
Several participants raised concerns about difficult landlords being unwilling to rent to youth and other obstacles to establishing a transitional living program.
"I guess landlords here in Washington State are worse than landlords in Cincinnati, Ohio. I guess they just don't want to give to youth," Kroner responded, with sarcasm. "But you might not want to copy a city where Pete Rose is considered the best role model and Jerry Springer was once our mayor."
"We can't let Cincinnati, Ohio beat us," several participants cried out.
What Is In The Way Is The Way
One young man, Adam Cornell, talked about attending 17 different high schools before graduation because of different foster care placements in different neighborhoods. Now in law school, Cornell strongly advocated the importance of education, no matter what the obstacles:
"Education is the one thing that can't be taken away from foster youth. They can take away our Medicaid and housing when we leave the system. But once you have a high school diploma, no one can take that away from you."
Cornell repeated an important lesson learned from one of his foster fathers: "What is in the way is the way." If something is in the way, he explained, we need to change it. "Work through it," he advised. "People make complicated systems to go around things when the best way is straight through."
Cornell's story inspired one representative of the state's public education system to suggest the idea of an education advocate, someone within a foster child's school system who could advocate for the child's best educational future, preferably within one system.
Getting Down to Work
After being inspired by the youth, leaders and numerous experts, participants got to work developing new goals in five areas: employment/job training; education; significant adult connection; housing and life skills.
Each group of about 50 participants was asked to develop goals in each area, and answer three questions about each goal: What is currently being done that in this area that is successful? What are the challenges, issues and barriers to achieving this goal? What federal, state, and local resources (public and private, financial and programmatic) are available to help?
On the second day of the meeting, participants were divided into regional groups and asked to develop regional plans in the five key design areas. They were asked to look at whether their plans established public-private collaborations and cross-systems collaborations; and to ensure that their plans were sensitive to cultural issues and in compliance with Tribal-State agreements.
One theme throughout conference was the sharing of information across programs by people coming together, often for first time. As Casey CEO Ruth Massinga observed, "the meeting provided a first major step in catalyzing changes in how we as the state and as the community help young people transition successfully from foster care to adulthood, enabling them to reach their full potential and become productive members of their community. We must challenge ourselves and hold each other accountable for what has happened at this meeting and carry forward the changes. An important part of this accountability, as we learned throughout the two day conference, is to keep listening to the young people, like we would any expert in a field. They, better than any expert, can tell us what is working and what is not."
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