Foster Care

Mentoring youth in care

According to a study by the EMT Group, the national outcomes of youth leaving foster care are as follows:

  • 75% work below grade level
  • 60% of girls have a child within 4 years
  • 50% do not complete high school
  • 45% are unemployed
  • 33% are arrested
  • 30% are on welfare at ages 18–24
  • 26% spend time in jail or prison
  • 25% are homeless
  • 10% are on probation

If handled properly, a mentoring relationship can boost the outcomes for youth who have been in the foster care system. Though results are uneven, researchers have indicated that youth who have been mentored for at least two years between the ages of 14 and 18 are more likely than their unmentored peers to report overall health, and are at a lower risk for STDs, violence, suicidal thoughts, and other dangers. Statistics for participation in higher education and vocational training also seem to promise a significant monetary ROI for mentoring programs.

Here is the caveat you knew to expect: program managers should tread carefully, for a mentoring relationship can cause significant harm if set up improperly. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

A day spent with Barry Chaffkin

One of the things that Barry does is train people in foster care. He works with everyone from agency staff and foster parents to legal professionals. Yesterday I joined him for two trainings in order to learn more about the foster care system and also to see Barry in action (he is a really great trainer). Unlike other trainings I’ve been to, Barry dispenses with PowerPoint entirely. He is generous with his jokes and his compliments, but also knows how to give constructive criticism and a good-natured ribbing. Best of all, Barry knows how to establish his authority without being arrogant or falsely modest about the depth and breadth of his experience. He builds rapport instantly by greeting each person as he or she walks into the room, and also having everyone make introductions. Each person gave his or her name, job title, and a question or problem they needed solving. Like a good teacher, he relies heavily on the knowledge that is already in the room (he calls everyone his co-trainers) while driving just a handful of important points that he wants everyone to walk away with. Although Barry has people doing exercises every now and then, the training feels like one giant conversation where every moment is potentially a teaching point. The biggest lesson I gleaned from yesterday was that great social workers (at least in the mold of Barry Chaffkin) are tenacious problem-solvers who can approach every person they encounter with an open mind and an empathetic heart. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

Conversation with Karen Freedman

Yesterday I met with the executive director of Lawyers for Children, Karen Freedman, who has decades of experience working with children and youth in foster care. She said that the most important factor determining the success of an individual’s transition to adulthood is the presence of a strong and positive Read more…

By Ysette, ago

Time management vs. time perspective

Goal-setting and time management are some of the more essential life skills that experts try to teach youth in foster care, but one of the first lessons I learned when I entered the field of youth development is that young people—and especially teenagers in care—are extremely present-oriented. Prof. John Immerwahr has written succinctly on the challenges of educating undergraduates. The problem, he says, is not a matter of students being unable to manage their time well. It’s more fundamental than that: There is a conflict between the future-orientation of professors and the present-orientation of most students. When the desires of the present (“I’m hungry,” “I want to hang out with friends”) compete with the demands of the future (“I want to do well in the next exam,” “I want to graduate on time”), the present almost always wins. This present-orientation is exacerbated in foster care, where problems demanding immediate attention (“Where will I sleep tonight?”) crop up frequently. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

On Your Own without a Net

Prof. Mark Courtney, director of the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall, a policy research center focused on children, families, and their communities, focuses his work on the adult outcomes of youth involved in foster care. In a 2005 report written for The MacArthur Network on Transitions to Adulthood, Courtney notes Read more…

By Ysette, ago

Who should decide what kids eat?

Part of my fascination with the chicken nugget issue is that it raises the question not only of what we feed our kids, but who decides what they eat in the first place. The story of Stacey Irvine, the seventeen year-old who collapsed after a steady diet of almost nothing but chicken nuggets since the age of two, is an extreme case of what could happen if we let kids set diets entirely for themselves. In her own defense, Stacey’s mother said that her daughter presented problems that her other two children never did with respect to their eating habits. They even happily consume plenty of fruits and vegetables. Stacey, however, shunned all foods to the extent that for her mother it was a relief when she discovered her daughter’s penchant for chicken nuggets.This got me wondering just how persistent adults should be in ensuring that kids get a healthful and varied diet. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

More than Words

One of the most exciting aspects of working in the field of youth development is running across some really innovative ideas on how to help at-risk youth start their adult lives on solid footing. More than Words bookstore—employing, advising, and training teenagers in foster care—is one such venture. It began Read more…

By Ysette, ago

The Door

My previous post gave an overview of two community centers that cater to at-risk youth, the Next Generation Center and the Academy. I really should have also mentioned The Door, which has welcomed New York City’s youth (ages of 12 to 21) to take advantage of its comprehensive services since Read more…

By Ysette, ago