In almost every Foster Care Agency that there
is, one can visit and hear the news of a success story from a social worker and
how a child found a home and is living in harmony with the family that adopted
them. These stories are true and wonderful when they become reality for a
foster child. However, not all situations in foster care come out successful.
In fact, the ones that you are not privy to are the ones that need the most
attention. Foster care is a beneficial program that finds suitable homes for
children who are either orphaned, have unsuitable parents by state standards,
or have norelatives that are willing to take them in if their parents are out
of the picture or struggle with addiction, etc. These are the kids who need the
help of the foster care agencies in their area and the help of ordinary
community people to help them get back on their feet. When kids age out of the
program at age 18, they have nowhere to turn accept for gangs or jobs like drug
dealing because there are not many options for a child who was in and out of
homes throughout their life and may even have a criminal record due to how they
reacted in certain home situations. These kids need an outreach and a way to
move up in life. Providing odd jobs in janitor positions, gas station workers,
and maintenance jobs can get them out of the streets and into an established
job and source of income. These are kids who need a job, don't require training
or high pay. They just need a way to survive in society and a job provides the
first stepping stone to a comfortable life. In the debate over what issues
there are in foster care and how they can be prevented, I am persuaded that
most important thing to do is go right to the source. When I say source, I am
referring to a foster child's desires and opinions and a social worker's
opinions on the topic seeing as both of these parties have experience with the
system and know the pros and cons of the Foster Care Program.
For some individuals
who age out of the foster care program, it can be an extremely shaky
transition.
“When
a foster youth turns 18, he or she suddenly goes from being part of “the
system” to being on his or her own. This transition can be rough” (Getz). When
Getz says that this transition can be “rough,” she is referring to the
difficulty these youth face in getting a job, not landing themselves in a gang,
locating resources and finding a way to get involved in the community in a
positive way rather than with a negative approach to society. “The issue [of
aging out] needs to be addressed earlier on so that the foster child can start
to prepare,” Washington says. “Otherwise, when the child turns 18, they may
come home from school and their foster mother might tell them, without the
funding, they can’t stay there any longer. They haven’t been prepared for the
aging out process and suddenly that security blanket is gone. What do they do?
Many might turn to drugs or to the street. What do you do when suddenly you’re
lost in the atmosphere feeling like nobody cares about you or your well-being
any longer” (Getz)? The question that Washington is raising in her conversation
with Getz is one of the many potential road blocks that face today’s foster
care youth. With the possibility of not being able to stay in the program and
essentially getting to old for it looming over these youth’s heads, there is
often premise for fear and worry. If they are not adopted by the time they reach
18 years of age, they need to have the necessary life skills to live on their
own and be successful.
The issue remains of what sort of futures these youth
that are aging out of the system have to look forward to. “The need for a
smooth transition out of the foster care system was a key point…” (Getz) As
Getz suggests in her article, there needs to be a way for kids to smoothly
transition from the foster system (if they are not adopted by age 18) to the
life that awaits them outside of government care. Most often, these are kids
that need a job, a place to live and someone who can direct them to resources
like the church and perhaps social services that are willing to help a youth
that is on the street to make a better life for themselves. Most of these kids
are not even sure how to navigate the Medicaid system (Getz) which is their
only option for health insurance at the time they are released from the
program. It can be incredibly hard for the youth to locate and use the services
that are established for them through the government and private agencies
because they are not equipped with the knowledge of these programs upon leaving
the system. “We have had a number of students who grew up in the foster care
system start to put the pressure on the rest of us to give this issue some
much-needed attention” (Getz). If the youth are
telling society that this is a problem, why are we not trying to find a
solution for it?
Well, there are a few solutions for the lost feeling
youth have upon leaving the foster care system. They have the ability to consult
with a social worker on the issue and that social worker can try and equip them
with the knowledge of services and outlets that will help them to establish
themselves in the world. Also, there are sometimes classes that are offered at
Christian agencies which are free and teach the youth who are about to leave
the system, some life skills like cooking, financing and where to find help or
resources when they are needed. However, even the solutions that are already in
place need tweaking and not enough people know about the issue in order to do
anything about it yet. Getz addresses the problem by saying: “We
need to get this issue to the public. Bring in the youths that have aged out of
foster care and let them continue to voice their concerns” (Getz). She makes a
valid point here by saying implying that the foster care system is in place for
children without homes and that is what it’s focus should be at all times.
Rather than creating age stipulations and qualifications, we should be trying
to solve he societal issue of orphaned children and poor family situations.
**I definitely see more yellow (my personal thoughts) in the first 3 pages of my paper. I think this is good, but it can also be a detriment to me if I continue to use only my thoughts. I have other sources that I have not even tapped into yet so clearly this paper needs revising. This is a starting place though and now I can see that I should possibly be including more quotations. The introductory paragraph needs sources as well. I noticed that I went all out on that paragraph and did not reference my sources at all. I will need to correct that as well. Other than my introductory paragraph, I see a fairly even balance between my incorporation of quotes and of my own ideas. As I continue to write, I will need to remember that there should only be 20% quotes throughout my paper. I may need to get wiser on how I use them and integrate them into my work. **
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