CPS Region 3

In the John Burton Policy Brief on AB 12 the realities of education for foster youth are highlighted, “The rate at which foster youth complete high school (50 percent) is significantly lower than the rate at which their peers complete high school (70 percent),” (2011, p. 2). This affects chances for higher education including college degrees. This has a significant impact on the community as “aged-out” youth without services have more chance of risk for: homelessness, poverty, unemployment, going to jail, prostitution, substance abuse, early parenthood and untreated health conditions. Samuels and Pryce state that foster care has not always been a positive, developmentally appropriate experience. Youth who are

As of today, approximately 415,000 children are in the foster care system within the United States of America, and about 22,000 teenagers age out of the system, without any assistance, or any financial support (AFCARS 2015). Without guidance, it is more than likely for a teenager to turn to selling drugs, prostitution, or other criminal activities to provide for their basic necessities. Research has shown that those who leave foster care without any stability, have a higher probability to face prison time, homelessness, and are not able to maintain a financially stable lifestyle when he or she grows out of the system. At the age of seventeen, children are kicked out of their homes, and are forced to survive by his or her own means of survival. The children are not allowed to contact previous foster families, or anyone within the system to help them transition into adulthood. The transition from foster care, to adulthood can be a difficult one, especially for children who have endured different forms of psychological and physical abuse for the majority of their lives. It is important to reach out to children in need, especially those leaving foster care without any assistance. Many of those who age out of foster care are completing their last years in high school, and on top of school, they are forced to find a job, a home, and some sort of transportation. The youth leave the foster care system with a limited work history, if any at all, and a limited education. The little

Youth aging out of foster care are one of the most disadvantaged populations in the United States. Unlike other young people in the general population who continue to live with family and receive support and financial assistance, foster youth transitioning into adulthood often struggle just to obtain and maintain general needs. Apart from the trauma associated with the history of abuse or neglect, foster youth are put in a circumstance that expect them to become independent and self-sufficient immediately as they prepare to transition out of foster care. According to Courtney, Dworsky, Lee, and Raap, young people formerly in foster care, compared to the general population, experience significantly different outcomes in areas of education, employment,

According to an article I read stated that adolescence become parents because their educational experiences show little or no promise. It is suggested that identifying young girls with academic and social emotional difficulties early on and intervening could have a positive impact on reversing teen adolescent behaviors such as teen pregnancy. (Goddings, Anne-Lise1,2 Burnett Heyes, Stephanie2,3,4 Bird, Geoffrey2,5 Viner, Russell M.1 Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne, 2002)

Seventy- one percent of females in the foster care will become pregnant before the age of twenty-one because they have no guidance while they are in the foster care. The workers within the foster care system and even people who know nothing about the foster care believe it is the best program that happened to children without homes. This is true, the original thought of the foster care system is an amazing idea, but it has failed to achieve what was said to be achieved. The foster care system is a great idea for children in need of a home, but it isn't working for the children in foster care.

These obstacles consist of homelessness, lack of early parenthood involvement, difficulty completing their education or finding a job. The number of youth aging out of foster care continues to rise. When children cannot return home to their families, child welfare systems must move quickly to find alternative homes. As time goes by, finding a loving and supportive family gets dimmer for foster youth. Many will “age out” of the system when they turn 18 or 21 and may not have the support network and skills to become successful citizens in society. Those who aged out of foster care were less likely to attend or graduate college. By age 26, only 4% of youth who aged out of foster care had earned a 4-year college degree while 36 percent of youth in the general population had done so. This is attributed to factors such as school interruption, lack of supportive parenting and lack of educational and support services for children with special

The Covenant House International is an established non-profit organization that has “houses” in twenty-seven cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates locally with two shelter sites, one right here in Orlando, the other in Fort Lauderdale. These two locations make up Covenant House Florida(CHF), which are making a tremendous positive impact in our own communities. Provided in each of these facilities are all the love, care, and essential resources needed to help a young person break away forever from a life on the streets. CHF offers transitional housing, crises counseling, G.E.D classes, drug and alcohol counseling, and much more to the runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth

Multiple-family groups (MFGs) were developed to help families who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The participating families were recommended to the MFG’s by their shelter case workers to attend weekly meetings. These groups also attended weekend retreats to help strengthen families and to encourage families to have fun together. The majority of families, 57 percent, were African American and 77 percent of the families consisted of single mothers with children. The staff of the retreat included several social workers. The weekend retreat had four areas that they concentrated on. These areas were, building trust, effective communication, managing stress, and decision making responsibilities. Overall, “[t]he weekend retreat appears to provide the necessary conditions from which social support can be built and an opportunity for families to reduce their feelings of isolation, anxiety, and helplessness” (Davey, 2004). This retreat helps families realize that they are not alone in their situation. It gives them hope and reassurance that they will be alright. Several of the families involved did not complete the full eight weeks of this program because they had found proper and affordable

More than Poverty provides illustrations and research on comparisons of risks for teen pregnancies between impoverished children with no child protective services and those in poverty with child protective service. The purpose of this piece it to show readers that maltreatment is a significant risk for teen pregnancy among low income youth even after controlling neighborhood disadvantages. The intended audience is for those who

Teen birth rates were high in the same states with the poverty and special needs issues. With Louisiana teen birth rate at 47.5 births per 100, ages 15-19(Wright). This means almost 50% of the children born during this time frame were born to underage mothers entering high school or just graduating. Typically, when a teen gets pregnant in high school they drop out. This is either due to having to get a job and support her now new family or even the embarrassment of her situation. In the south, particularly many teens are made to marry at young ages due to pregnancy and forced to grow up. This situation is avoidable if parents would push their children to finish their high school education and recognize how important receiving their diploma is.

Child welfare agencies today are facing numerous amounts of challenges that are affecting children who are increasing entering into the system and their families. One of the main problems that children and their families are facing is the attention, services and resources to strengthening their family and the decline in foster care for children who needs adequate care. Sacramento, California has seen a drastic drop of children in the foster care for the past decade, but there has also been a decline in need for high quality foster care parents (Gutierrez, (2013). California’s decreases its’ cut of children going into the system by nearly half during the past decade, even though there is still a significantly high amount of children in the system.

Half the children in this country live in homes in which one or both parents work. Twelve million children in this country do not have health insurance, and over 4.5% of all children are victims of suspected child abuse or neglect (Doktor and Poertner). Believe it or not, these are all indicators of the demand for Family Resource Centers within our school systems. Many question whether Family Resource Centers are worth the money the state pours into them. However, in serving students, parents and teachers, there should be no question of their significance. Due to The Kentucky Education Reform Act in the early 1990's we have seen the development of Family Resource Centers in Kentucky, and they are fulfilling

Teen pregnancy prevention is an increasingly controversial and a potentially inconvenient topic of discussion for both teens and their parents alike (Sabia, 2006). As teen pregnancy rates have increased, there has been an increased focus on combatting the underlying causes and reversing their effects (Bennett & Assefi, 2005). Teen pregnancy can result in an increased number of children placed in adoptive services, as well as, cause a strain on teenage parents who chose to take on the responsibilities of parenthood at an early age. By researching the effects of various school-based sex education programs on teen birth rates; it would be possible to establish a standardized sex education curriculum to minimize the number of children put into the adoption system and the number of teenagers whose lives are affected by pregnancy (Somers, Johnson, & Sawilowsky, 2002).

One solution to help solve teenage pregnancy is help find shelters which provide education for those who are in low-income environments or are in the foster care system which would reduce the rate of teens under the age of 19 from becoming pregnant. These shelters could provide help in finding work to help cover the cost of medical needs and other expenses. The shelters could find doctors who are willing to work with teenagers with lower-incomes or provide lower cost for treatment for teenagers in foster care. By doing this, the teenagers who are in foster care that are two and half times more likely to become pregnant would benefit and would be less likely to become pregnant. The shelter could also provide a means of helping pay for the cost of contraception and how they could be obtained. Foster parents or those who help with the teenagers in foster care could offer advice and education from personal experiences and personal struggles to help the teenagers avoid the consequences of becoming a teenage parent. Opposers would argue that foster care helpers should not offer free money to teenagers and those should find work on their own. Opposers would also argue that taxes paid by the foster care and shelter should not focus on teenage pregnancy but focus on more important manners such as better facilities and health benefits for the employees. This may be true however, it is more important that teens are well cared for and are properly educated on important health issues

Teen pregnancy is a very controversial social issue and the vast majority of Americans consider the outrageous rate of teen pregnancies a severe issue, certainly a problematic occurrence that is believed to be a moral decline in our country. Teenagers are physiologically capable of reproducing but not emotionally or financially prepared to be parents at such a tender age. Through various research studies a plethora of determinants has pin pointed teens unprecedented pregnancies. One cause of this problem is the apparent indication of social separation or disadvantage. Within this issue you would find poverty, single parent households, educational disadvantages on the parents behalf, a lack family/parental support, and unemployment. A child’s educational performance, inappropriate sexual acts, and inferior apprehensions about their futures play a vital role in teen pregnancies as well. Amongst the listed disadvantages the three that take precedent are lacks of family communication, sexual abuse, and poverty. Furthermore, teen mothers do not fit the ideal ideology of the normative scheduling of motherhood, therefore, ultimately resulting in negative consequences for them and society. What needs to be understood is, as to why the numbers of teens are becoming parents at such a vernal age.