Engaging Youth. Building Supports. Strengthening Opportunities - May is Foster Care Awareness Month

Researchers have found that between 31% and 46% of youth exiting foster care experience homelessness by age 26. (National Alliance to End Homelessness)

Introduction

May is Foster Care Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges faced by youth in foster care and advocating for their needs. This year’s theme is meant to create opportunities to engage with youth, build support systems, and strengthen opportunities for those in foster care. As advocates for social justice and foster care reform, we believe that by empowering youth and creating supportive environments, we can make a meaningful difference in their lives.

But what does it mean to create a supportive environment and how can we optimize these environments so they can provide young people the skills necessary to promote reunification and independence?

When we talk about working with foster youth of any background or demographic we need to understand that:?

1. Working with young people means working with them as they are and finding ways for them to meaningfully engage in conversation, discussion, or other decision-making activities. Just like system professionals need time, training, and investment, so do those with lived experience to fully leverage their experiences from system involvement into practice.
2. Working with young people means working through crises, hardships, and offering assistance when young people are struggling. System professionals may struggle to walk a thin line between the professional standards of decorum and helping young people, sometimes we have to be a little creative but where there is a will there's a way. When I experienced homelessness multiple staff from different agencies came together to see what support they could offer. They helped to compile a list of rental units and properties that work with felons and were within my price range. Other times they connected me with resources to pay for my hotel stays. A lot of times it was just a shoulder to cry on when life was really hard and I was beyond terrified of becoming a mother.
3. Working with any person with lived experience is working from a place of acceptance recognizing that some youth and families may come into this work with very dehumanizing experiences that were negative, traumatizing, and led to further system involvement. Our job as system professionals and advocates is to ask what went wrong and figure out ways we can prevent these harms from happening again.

We cannot begin to develop support systems or create opportunities without understanding these principles and applying them to our work. These three concepts should be your foundation when we talk about creating safe and supportive environments where young people and families can learn, heal, and become active participants in their journeys through systemic involvement.

Challenges Faced by Youth in Foster Care

Youth in foster care often face a myriad of challenges that can impact their well-being and future opportunities. From experiencing trauma and instability to navigating complex systems, foster youth require support and understanding.

Here are some of the most common struggles and challenges faced by youth in care:

• Education: Many youth in foster care experience gaps in education. Nearly 34% of foster youth changed schools 5 or more times before turning 18. Young people who experience frequent movements from placement to placement are at risk of the greatest gaps in educational outcomes. Youth may not have access and resources to thrive despite being in state custody.?

How Guidance Counselors Kept Us Connected: When I entered foster care as a teenager my middle school guidance counselor connected with my younger siblings’ guidance counselors and made sure we got to have daily phone calls during our lunch times.

• Maintaining Family Connections: Siblings being separated can be traumatizing, and younger children may not associate adults as caretakers. Parents may not be able to connect or spend time with their children, leading to further trauma. In some cases, families have reported that visitation was taken away and used to reinforce compliance instead of following department policy and removing visitation for substantial safety risks.?
• Lack of Autonomy and Independence: The foster system can create barriers for youth, removing many normal childhood experiences such as going to driver’s education or being able to attend prom. While policies are important, they can sometimes harm those they intend to protect.
• Maintaining Cultural Connections: Youth may lose access to positive influences that may not be biologically related, but provide emotional support for young people, connection to cultural identity, or be a religious leader or mentor.

Building Support Systems

Building strong support systems is crucial for the well-being of youth in foster care. These support systems can come from various sources, including foster families, social workers, teachers, and community organizations.?

Support systems should be identified by youth, families, and care providers in a collaborative process that equally values the feedback of youth and parents the same as social workers, clinicians, or other system professionals.?

Support systems should be made aware of goals, how they can help achieve those goals, safety plans, and other content that youth are interested in, and be able to provide referrals to other organizations or resources that are accessible to youth and families.?

For example, Johnny is a foster youth interested in pursuing a trade but is unsure which one to choose. His school guidance counselor, Rex, refers him to the TRIO program, which helps students learn about college, trade schools, and how to pay for higher education. Rex sends out a connecting email to TRIO, Johnny’s caseworker, and parents.

Another example could be if you have a young person who is involved in both the justice and foster system. Foster parents, parents, or probation officers may all have different ideas on compliance and what is in the best interest of youth. For this reason, a collaborative discussion that is inclusive and is centralized around what your client/foster youth needs, should be a priority.

Opportunities for Reform

While progress has been made in the foster care system, there is still much work to be done. Reform efforts should focus on improving outcomes for youth in care, including better access to education, mental health services, and stable housing. Since I was in foster care, Idaho’s foster system has changed policies including:

• Allowing foster youth to attend driver ED within 2 weeks of their 18th birthday.
• Recent legislature was passed to include an Ombudsman office for child welfare.
• Sibling Bill of Rights.
• Foster Care Bill of Rights.

While these changes are worthwhile and have contributed to a sense of normalcy and maintained family connections, these are not enough. When we consider reforming the foster or child welfare system we should always make sure to include the voices of families and youth most impacted by these systems to ensure that services are centered around those they are meant to serve.?

Independent living programs play a vital role in preparing youth aging out of foster care for adulthood. These programs provide essential life skills, such as budgeting, job readiness, and housing assistance, to help youth transition successfully. The problem is that there are so many independent living programs that over-promise and underdeliver and with the industry market value of independent living content reaching 1.3 billion dollars by 2030, it’s safe to say that the majority of companies value their profits over the people they are meant to serve. Independent Living programs should be interactive, personalized, and most importantly provide your clients the opportunity to learn from their mistakes in a safe space.?

As we sift through Foster Care Awareness Month, it's crucial to reflect on the themes of engaging with youth, building support systems, and strengthening opportunities for those in foster care. Empowering young people and creating supportive environments are fundamental steps in making a meaningful difference in their lives.

As we move forward, let us continue to advocate for the rights and well-being of youth in foster care, striving for a system that truly supports and empowers them on their journey to independence.

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