Youth Transitioning From Foster Care-Realistic Expectations

October 6, 2010 TOGETHER WE CAN CONFERENCE 2010

Lafayette Hilton1521 W. Pinhook Road

Lafayette, LA 70503

Carmen E. Spooner, MSW, GSWKaren Grant, MSW, LCSW

Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO?

VIDEO

• Louisiana Foster Care: An Introduction

• Produced by the Louisiana Bar Association, Children’s Law Committee

• www.lsba.org/fostercare

6%• Percent of U.S. teens ages 16 to

19 not in school and not high school graduates

• Louisiana ranks (47th)

• Bottom 10% along with Alaska, Nevada, and New Mexico

• Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2010 Kids Count Data Book

5

0%5%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

WantAdoption

UnderEmployed

Victims Jailed Homeless

MalesFemalesBoth

Many foster care youth face serious problems, such as homelessness, incarceration, victimization, early pregnancy, parenting, underemployment and unemployment

“It takes a village to raise a child”

African Proverb

“We learn mostly from those closest to us in our daily lives”. (Daniel

Brannen 2005)

Elders:

- Model appropriate adult behaviors- Mentor youth so that they are able to step into their age-appropriate roles- Reinforce behaviors that are consistent with their social mores- Allow for natural consequences

WHO ARE THE ELDERS IN OUR FOSTER YOUTH’S VILLAGES

• PARENTS• SOCIAL WORKERS• LAWYERS• JUDGES• CASA• CARETAKERS/DIRECT CARE STAFF• INDEPENDENT LIVING PROVIDERS

In essence, everyone who touches the youth’s life

WHO WE NEED

“We must expect and demand from our village that any person working with teenagers, 13 and older, such as foster care workers, foster parents, group home staff, advocates and transitional staff be trained in adolescent development and in delivering developmentally appropriate life skill training.

The foster care milieu for teens needs to be entrenched with villagers who want to work with teens and who are trained to know how to best work with them. (Daniel Brannen 2005)

WHAT WE KNOW

It has been estimated that up to 60% of

children in foster care experience some type of developmental delay

Reality: Society expects 18 year olds to function independently. Developmentally our former foster youth are functioning in the early adolescence and middle adolescence stages and are not ready to live independently without supports.

According to Kools, 1997, premature launching into independent living generally occurs before the adolescent is developmentally ready, for this system imposed milestone.

Adolescents & Families for Life 14

No youth is going to be placed

against his/her will, but "NO" does not

mean, "I don't want or need help“.

They need to own the process and to be

involved every step of the way.

WHEN AND HOW DO WE START PREPARING OUR YOUTH FOR THEIR

FUTURE?- Start as early as possible, but no later than age 14- Communicate and start goal setting conversations- Begin where the youth is, no idea or dream is thrown

out. All ideas are explored- Provide opportunities for youth to shadow adults in the

careers where they show an interest- Identify permanency connections

• Louisiana has a voluntary program for former foster youth who age out of care

Young Adult Program

YAP

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Young Adult Program (YAP)

- Voluntary Program to assist in completing educational or vocational training

- Youth may remain in YAP until age 21

- A YAP educational/vocational plan will need to completed within 30 days of youth’s 18th birthday

- Youth MUST meet eligibility criteria to be eligible for the Young Adult Program

DCFS supported 347 Young Adults via staff support and state and federal dollars direct spending ( 2009-2010 FFY)

• YOUTH WHO ARE IN SCHOOL FULL TIME–HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA–GED –POST-SECONDARY

YOUTH WHO ARE IN SCHOOL PART-TIME– PART-TIME EDUCATION AND PART-TIME

WORK=40 HRS

ANYONE WHO DOES NOT FIT IN THE AFOREMENTIONED

CATEGORIES

1201

Number of youth who received Chafee Independent Living Services 2009-2010 FFY

Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers

(ETV)

1) Former OJJ and DCFS youth who:

• - were in care at age 18

• - were adopted after age 16

• - guardianship transferred to a relative (kin) after age 16

2) Enrolled in a post-secondary education institution

3) May receive up to a maximum of $5000 per academic year

4)You may receive an ETV whether you participate in YAP or not.5)You may remain in the ETV program up to the age of 23, if you are in school at age 21 and progressing satisfactorily.6) ETV funds are available in other states

through federal Chafee grants

347

Chafee Education and Training Vouchers

Issued 2009-2010 FFY to Louisiana youth

$2977.53

Average amount of Education and Training Vouchers issued 2009-2010 to Louisiana youth

WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO OUR YOUTH TO ADVOCATE FOR

THEMSELVESLouisiana Youth Leadership Advisory Council (LYLAC)

Statewide board of active foster youth and young adults

20 members, 9 Regions Ages 16 – 21

Stakeholder membership on National, Regional, State, and local planning committees

SERVICES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO LOUISIANA’S YOUNG ADULTS

SNAP – DCFS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Child Care Assistance

WHERE ARE WE GOING

Updating Policy

NYTD Study kicked off October 1, 2010

Increased involvement of foster youth in the planning stages of programs

Increase awareness of youth programming

Increase awareness of resources available to youth

CHAFEE INDEPENDENT LIVING PROVIDERS

REGION I (Orleans) Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans

Independent Living Skills Program

1150 Barataria Blvd.

Marrero, LA 70072

Judy Potter, Administrator

PHONE: (504) 340-5100 FAX: (504)347-0095

EMAIL: judyilsp@archdiocese-no.org

REGION II (Baton Rouge) Quad Area Community Action Agency, Inc. Independent Living Skills Program

45300 North Batiste Road

Hammond, LA 70401

Sidney Monroe, Program Director

PHONE: (225) 567-2350, ext. 207 FAX: (225) 567-2636

EMAIL: sidneymo@quadyouth.org

REGION III (Covington) Southeastern Louisiana UniversityIndependent Living ProgramCardinal Newman Hall – Room 105SLU 10669Hammond, LA 70402Linda Isaac, Project Coordinator

PHONE: (985) 549-2582 FAX:(985) 549-3758E-MAIL: linda.isaac@selu.edu

REGION IV (Thibodaux) Gulf Coast Teaching Family Services, Inc. Independent Living Program 2509 Petroleum Drive Houma, LA 70363

Stephanie Ward, Program Director PHONE: (985) 853-1445 FAX: (985) 853-0709

E-MAIL: sward@gctfs.org

REGION V (Lafayette) Gulf Coast Teaching Family Services, Inc. Independent Living Program

515 South College Road, Suite 260 Lafayette, LA 70503

Rick Dawes, Program Director (ext. 25) PHONE: (337) 269-1165 FAX: (337) 235-1961

E-MAIL: ilp@gctfs.org (Rick Dawes and all ILSP Staff)

REGION VI (Lake Charles) Youth Services of Southwest Louisiana Independent Living Program 2000 Southwood Drive Lake Charles, LA 70605

Brenda LaFleur, Director PHONE: (337) 474-2682 FAX: (337) 474-4601 E-MAIL: blafleur@aol.com

REGION VII (Alexandria) Family Counseling Agency, Inc. Independent Living Program

P.O. Box 1908Alexandria, LA 71309

Henry Marsland, IL Coordinator PHONE: (318) 448-0284 FAX: (318) 448-0280

E-MAIL: famcounsel@aol.com (Henry Marsland)

REGION VIII (Shreveport) Goodwill

800 W. 70th Street

Shreveport, LA 71104

Julie Bass, Program Director

PHONE: (318) 868-4701 FAX: (318) 868-4936

E-MAIL: julieb@goodwillnla.org

REGION IX (Monroe) Methodist Children’s Home

Independent Living Program

Street Address: Mailing Address:

901 South Vienna P.O. Box 929

Ruston, LA 71270 Ruston, LA 71273-0929

Angie Thomas, IL DIR

PHONE: (318) 255-3717 FAX: (318) 513-2096

E-Mail: angie.thomas@lmch.org

Adolescents & Families for Life: 35

NRC

• American Bar Association Center on Children & the Law American Bar Association Center on Children & the Law

• The Children’s Bureau, US Department of Health & Human The Children’s Bureau, US Department of Health & Human Services Services

• Child Welfare League of AmericaChild Welfare League of America

• The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption InstituteThe Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute

• National Adoption Information ClearinghouseNational Adoption Information Clearinghouse

• National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)

• National Resource Center for Special Needs AdoptionNational Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption

• National Resource Center for Youth ServicesNational Resource Center for Youth Services

• National Resource Center for Permanency PlanningNational Resource Center for Permanency Planning

• North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)

3.3Adolescents & Families for Life: A

Toolkit For Supervisors© 36

• American Association of Retired Persons Grandparents Information American Association of Retired Persons Grandparents Information CenterCenter

• American Bar Association Center on Children & the Law American Bar Association Center on Children & the Law • The Children’s Bureau, US Department of Health & Human The Children’s Bureau, US Department of Health & Human

Services Services • Child Welfare League of AmericaChild Welfare League of America• The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption InstituteThe Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute• Jane Addams School of Social Work, University. of Illinois Jane Addams School of Social Work, University. of Illinois • National Adoption Information ClearinghouseNational Adoption Information Clearinghouse• National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)• National Resource Center for Special Needs AdoptionNational Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption• National Resource Center for Youth ServicesNational Resource Center for Youth Services

• National Resource Center for Foster Care & Permanency PlanningNational Resource Center for Foster Care & Permanency Planning

Financial Aid Websites

• National directory to locate financial aid offices: www.finaid.org/otheraid/fao.phtml

• Attendance costs for specific schools http://apps.collegeboard.com/search

• Scholarships, loans, financial aid planning, & portals to all federal financial aid websites: www.ed.gov/students

• Develop & plan, “Types of Aid” Financial Aid resources: www.iseek.org www.collegesummit.org/nete

• Chaffee ETV contacts– www.nrcys.ou.edu– www.statevoucher.org– www.fyi3.com/education

SCHOLARSHIP WEBSITES

• www.college-scholarships.com

• www.orphan.org

• www.orangewoodfoundation.org/programs

• www.nfpainc.org

SCHOLARSHIP SEARCHES

• www.fastweb.com

• www.collegeboard.com

• www.srnexpress.com

• www.finaid.org/scholarships– Students with disabilities– DISABILITIES AND GIFTED

• www.ericec.org

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MINORITIES

AFRICAN AMERICANS

AMERICAN INDIANS

ASIAN AMERICANS & PACIFIC ISLANDERS

HISPANICS

GAYS, LESBIANS, BI-SEXUALS, AND TRANSGENDERS

WEBSITES

• www.jobsinlouisiana.com

• www.laworks.net– Youth works

• www.online.onetcenter.org

• www.jan.wvu.edu– Job accommodation network

• www.yourtickettowork.com

DCFS Contacts

Andrew Wilson (318) 676-7100

Carmen E. Spooner (225)342-4121

Christy Tate (225) 342-4447

D’Juannia Judge (225) 342-

Karen Grant (225) 342-3936

Linda Rainey (225) 342-5676

Shelia Madison (225) 342-4060

Foster Care Unit AdministratorToni S. Buxton (225) 342-4006