“Sierra” (we’re not using her real name to protect her privacy), is 19, a runaway and a mother of three. She spent years residing at various group homes and in and out of the juvenile detention system.
She could be a grim statistic. Instead, she’s a happy young mother full of hope.
In large part, that’s because she has a stable home.
“When I saw my apartment, I fell in love,” she said of the two-bedroom unit she and her children have occupied for the past three years at The Elizabeth Ministry. “I got so used to not having my own space.”
“Sierra” recently graduated from high school and has her sights set on a neighborhood culinary arts program. By 21, the teen said she’s determined to be able to support the children on her own.
Hers is a success story that youth advocates say needs to be replicated. For foster children, the arrival of their 18th and 21st birthdays can be scary. That’s when they age out of the state systems that have supported them.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, every year, approximately 25,000 youth fall into that category nationally. A 2016 report by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments put the number in D.C. at 250. Many are out on their own with little or no preparation. With limited resources to secure safe and stable housing, these young adults are at heightened risk of becoming homeless.
In its 2017 homelessness report, the Council of Governments found 72 homeless people in the Washington, D.C. region between the ages of 18 and 24 who had been involved in the foster care system.
“Without permanent support, you’re more likely to see adverse outcomes like early parenting, challenges with supportive housing, involvement with the criminal justice system, and mental health issues,” said Surina Amin, child welfare program manager at the Council of Governments.
She noted that foster children are especially at risk in an era when high housing costs have created a “boomerang generation.”
“We’re seeing a prolonged transition into adulthood. We’re seeing more youth coming back and living with their parents, and financially and economically relying on family members,” she said.
But foster children typically cannot rely on family members, as most have been abused or neglected at home.
During the past three decades, federal and state governments have placed a greater emphasis on preparing foster youth for the transition to adulthood, beyond providing housing support when they leave.
Among the handful of programs to support youth exiting foster care is the Chafee funds program, which provides money to pay the housing expenses (subsidies, transitional housing, or other housing-related costs).
“Montgomery County has a program called Ready By 21 that does financial literacy courses,” Amin said, “They have housing plans and connect them to supportive adult figures, like mentoring.”
The experience of mentoring a young woman in the foster care system years ago prompted Carolyn Graham to launch The Elizabeth Ministry, a non-profit organization in Northeast D.C. where “Sierra” has found her footing. It transformed a vacant and formerly drug-infested building and developed it into 27 apartments for teen moms who are in foster care.
There are essentially three programs offered to the mostly African American and Latino youth at the organization; one for youth ages 16 to 21, another for adults ages 21 to 25, and an early childhood development program for their children.
The Elizabeth Ministry is contracted by D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency to provide space for the younger tenants. It also receives private funding to help pay for transitional services for the adult residents at the facility.
“The young people here develop readily a sense of stability, that they could come home to every night,” Graham said. “And know that that place would not change on a whim.”
She said its especially important for minority youth, who are disproportionately represented in the foster care system.
“Significantly, the children in the child welfare system nationwide are black and brown children,” said Graham. “Some researchers have suggested that often for the same reasons that black and brown children are removed from their homes, Anglo children or Anglo families receive in-home supports that these families don’t often get.”
Graham hopes she can get more grants to pay for more extended housing (currently seven of the 27 apartments are reserved for the adult residents).
“These are all our children. We all have a responsibility for their support and development.”
By Sasha-Ann Simons
9 August 2017
http://wamu.org/story/17/08/09/housing-challenges-youth-aging-foster-care/
