Job Hurdle After Foster Care.
De Avila, Joseph. Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6, 2011.
Even as the unemployment rate for New York City teens remains stubbornly high, a new report finds one group of young people faces especially tough odds: the city's foster children.
Only about half the young adults who leave the city's foster system are able to find work, estimates the report that examines joblessness among current and former foster children. Young people still in the system also struggle more than their peers to find jobs, the report by the Center for an Urban Future found.
"There is a lack of both a preparatory system that simulates and substitutes for what kids get from their parents and a lack of a safety net for young adults going out in the work force," said Tom Hilliard, the report's author.
Cordale Manning, 19, spoke to a manager at Champs Sports in Times Square who told him to submit an online application. Mr. Manning was 12 when he and his older brother were placed into foster care. Since then, he has lived in five different homes.
Prior to the recession, the unemployment rate for all teens in New York City between the ages of 16 and 19 was just under 20%, according to the report by the Manhattan-based think tank. By the end of 2010, that rate shot up to 40%.
Neither the city nor foster-care agencies track how many teens and young adults in the system find employment, Mr. Hilliard said. But his research among foster-care professionals in New York appears to show that about half the 1,000 young people who age out of the system every year, typically at age 21, find jobs.
As of 2010, there were about 16,000 children in the city's foster system, and about 2,000 of them were older than 18, according to the report.
The report comes amid a $127 million initiative launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to aid Latino and black men between the ages of 16 and 24. The three-year program will include mentoring and literacy services and efforts to boost employment.
Cordale Manning, 19 years old, said he thought having a stable foster home in the South Bronx instead of bouncing from home to home would help him hold onto a job. Instead, he was laid off earlier this year after two months stocking groceries at a Manhattan store.
Mr. Manning was 12 when he and his older brother were placed into foster care. Since then, he has lived in five different homes.
After losing his job, he's applied to about 10 retail positions and hasn't been called for any interviews.
"When I turn 21, I'm worried about if I'm going to be able to hold my own," Mr. Manning said. He's enrolled in vocational school learning how to repair computers. "I'm really kind of anxious about it because I don't know what's going to happen."
Mr. Hilliard said even children with stable foster homes often have missed out on the years of financial, educational and familial support that readies a young person for a working life and can shore them up during their first unsteady attempts.
He said the city Administration for Children's Services, which manages most aspects of the child welfare system in New York City, has spent much of its efforts in recent years on family reunification and preventive services, he said.
Mr. Hilliard called that mission vital but said older foster children are no longer a top priority of the agency. He pointed to the agency's elimination of the Office of Youth Development in 2008, which worked mainly with older foster children to help them ease into independent life.
"ACS will continue to collaborate with the public and private sectors to make stable employment a reality for our young people," said an ACS spokeswoman in a written statement. "Through the Mayor's Young Men's Initiative, for example, the city is expanding evidence-based employment programs...These programs have been successful in helping young people, particularly those with limited or no work experience, connect to work and increase their earnings."
The economic downturn has made employment in New York increasingly competitive for young people who rely on retail and food service jobs, said Courtney Hawkins of F.E.G.S. Health and Human Services Systems, which runs a program that prepares foster youths for the work force. Many of those jobs now require high-school diplomas or GEDs, while many of the working-age youths whom her group assists have fifth-grade reading levels, she said.
"You end up seeing 20- and 21-year-olds who have never had a job before," Ms. Hawkins said.
Emotional problems and anger issues that affect some foster children mean they end up getting fired once they do become employed, said Jane Golden of the Children's Aid Society, which provides foster care and other services.
"There is no quick fix for fractured relationship-building skills," Ms. Golden said. "It's a long haul."
Marcia Wilson, 21, recently aged out of the foster care system and credits her good attitude for the success she's had.
"Every teen that I've known, they had jobs," Ms. Wilson said. "It's a matter of keeping the jobs before you age out of care."
Ms. Wilson says she has had influential social workers who have helped her along the way. She also wants to be a good role model for her younger brothers who are 19 and 18. Neither have jobs, but both are still in high school, she said.
Later this month, Ms. Wilson will start a six-month fellowship working at an investment bank. She also recently got her own apartment in Harlem and is enrolled in community college and wants to get a degree in political science.
Kevin Peterson, 20, of Staten Island, is preparing to move out on his own in January, when he turns 21. He has an apartment lined up through the New York City Housing Authority but worries about finding a job. Earlier this year, he was fired from a pet store where he worked for three months after he says he mistakenly stocked a product that had expired.
"I always had a dream of having a job that I can stick with," said Mr. Peterson, who has been in foster care since he was 11. "I'm just having trouble right now."
Mr. Peterson eventually wants to become a firefighter. But now he's been applying to retail jobs to have steady income by the time he moves out of his foster parents' home.
"I'm going to need a job," Mr. Peterson said. "I don't want to have to live off public assistance."
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Out of Foster Care -- and Into What??
Out of Foster Care -- and Into What?
Miller, Marissa. Gotham Gazette, Aug. 2011.
Anthony Boyd, 22, Armstrong Pelzer, 26, and Joseph Branca, 22, all attend college, have part-time jobs and live at Schafer Hall, a supportive housing facility for former foster children in East Harlem.
"I usually plan things ahead of time, and my first step was to get a job and find a place to live," she recalled recently. She tried to stay with family members, but one turned her down, Her grandmother was sick and so could not help. "It was also very scary because I didn't know if my foster care agency was going to help me or not," said Glover.
Despite all that, Glover now says she is doing well -- living on her own and working part time. She dreams of being a journalist some day, saying, "My grandmother always told me to chase my dreams. I love to write. It’s an outlet. If I am going through something, I will just write it down. Then I’m relieved and I’m not stressed. "
While things may have worked out well for Glover, every year hundreds of young adults must adapt to life after foster care-- and a number do not succeed. For many the transition presents a huge challenge, and though programs exist to help, they cannot aid all the young people who need it.
On Their Own
There are currently 16,000 children in the foster care system throughout New York City. Of them, about 1,100 leave the system each year, according to In Transition: A Better Future for Youth Leaving Foster Care, a report published in the New School’s Child Welfare Watch.
The majority attempt the transition to independent living on their own. Most lack any type of a strong support network. Not surprisingly, for these young adults, the transition to the "real world" abounds with financial, physical and emotional hardship.
Child Welfare Watch and an internal city review have found that about 15 percent of young adults who age out of foster care end up in the homeless shelter system within two years of their initial discharge.
"In extraordinary numbers, children who age out of the foster care system end up homeless, incarcerated or both in a brief time period," said Topher Nichols, the communications manager at Children’s Village, a New York-based organization devoted to professional and educational development for troubled youth. "When we really look hard at our own experiences as young adults, how many times we called home because we were a little short on rent or because we made a silly mistake and needed support, we have to recognize that most of us don't become successful on our own. We have a network of people who support us and take care of us. This is a critical piece missing from the lives of most youth aging out of the city."
The one-time foster children also do not have the same opportunities as many young adults, especially when it comes to education, employment and housing, which are all connected, said Kim VanBurch, coordinator of youth development at the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection. "If they don't have an education, then they can't find employment, and if they can't find employment then they won't be able to secure housing," VanBurch said.
Preparing for the Big Change
The foster care agencies -- private organizations under contract with the city to place children in appropriate homes and monitor their care -- are supposed to prepare the children under their auspices for life after foster care, said Elysia Murphy, the deputy communications director at the city's Administration for Children's Services.
"Prior to leaving care, foster care caseworkers work with adolescents to develop plans in preparation for their discharge from foster care. Agencies are expected to set developmentally appropriate expectations that encourage youth to achieve their highest potential in their careers, educational and personal lives and to enable youth to plan responsibly for their own needs," Murphy said.
Advocates, though, say many agencies don't start this preparation until a few months before the youth is slated to leave the foster care program. This leave the young adults, some of whom suffer from mental illness and emotional instability, with few resources to turn to when trying to find a place to live and a source of income.
"In the vast majority of cases meaningful transition planning by the agencies responsible for a young person in foster care ... occurs, if at all, in a last minute scramble in the months before the adolescent is to leave foster care," said Glenn Metsch-Ampel, the deputy-executive director of Lawyers for Children. "More often than not, without the intervention of their advocates and the court, these young people are faced with the prospect of leaving foster care without truly stable housing, employment or a connection to a caring adult in their community."
To add to the difficulty, the Administration for Children's Services has suffered budget cuts over the past few years that affect its ability to handle issues confronting the city's low-income youth.
"ACS has just had budget cut after budget cut, and its internal operation services have really fallen apart. Without there being strong support inside the agency, it just means those services become vulnerable and haphazard. That means that foster care agencies do not deliver services with the same consistency," said Abigail Kramer, the associate editor of Child Welfare Watch. According to research published in Child Welfare Watch, the number of families participating in preventive service programs, which help children in foster care and neglectful or abusive homes, has dropped by 30 percent decline since 2009.
Murphy, though, denied budget cuts have had an effect on transition programs. "Despite the difficult decisions made in the past two years to reduce agency spending in response to the financial climate, the agency has been able to sustain funding to support services for youth in foster care as they make the transition into adulthood," Murphy said.
Bridging the Gap
Both New York City social workers and government officials have recognized that many young adults aging out of foster care are not adequately prepared to enter into independent living without any familial or professional support network.
In 2005, the city and the state created the New York/New York III program. According to Child Welfare Watch, it provides funding for about 400 young adults who have aged out of foster care. Many of the supportive housing programs receive New York/New York III funding and thus, are able to support their residents. However, there is still a huge population of young adults leaving foster care who are left with very few options.
In the past decade, government officials, philanthropists and non-profits have created transitional housing programs. These support programs not only house young adults who have aged out of the system (at 21 in New York though they can leave at 18), but also provide them with the life skills training, academic and professional advice, and counseling to help them achieve stability in their own lives.
In the past 10 years, eight non-profits have cooperated with city agencies to establish various supportive housing programs scattered throughout the five boroughs. Most of them receive funding from a combination of private donations, and city and state programs, such as the New York State Supportive Housing Program and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Sharp cutbacks to Section 8 housing vouchers and the elimination of the Advantage program, which provided rent subsides for homeless families, has severely limited the housing options for these young adults and homeless people alike. These cuts make transitional housing programs an even more important safety net for young adults coming out of foster care.
Inside Supportive Housing
In 2001, Schafer Hall became one of the first supportive housing programs established in New York City. Located in East Harlem, Schafer Hall is one of the many housing developments run by the Lantern Group, a non-profit committed to the construction and development of permanent, special needs housing.
Schafer Hall was created to help young adults acquire the independent living skills necessary to achieve a stable lifestyle. Each resident lives in one of 25 studio apartments where he or she learns how to prepare meals, maintain a clean living space, do laundry and budget their money along with other basic skills. The residents also meet regularly with on-site caseworkers and tutors who help them make decisions about their education -- obtaining a GED or working toward an associate's and bachelor's degree -- and employment.
"Our young adults are incredible bright, strong, and resilient individuals," said Jessica Katz, the executive director of the Lantern Group. "They just need to learn the necessary life skills."
The young adults living at Schafer Hall must have some source of income and use 30 percent of it to pay their monthly rent. This teaches them how to balance a budget and set aside a portion of their monthly income for their housing needs.
Many of the other supportive housing programs in the city-such as Chelsea Foyer and the Lee also charge their clients rent and encourage the residents to seek stable employment, as opposed to welfare, as their primary source of income.
The young people, many whom leave foster care without a college degree or even a high school diploma, have limited job prospects, particularly in this economy. Despite that, Schafer Hall currently has an 85 percent employment rate amongst its residents.
For many individuals living there, Schafer Hall offers an escape from the tumult of their foster homes. "I enjoy my home being a stress-free environment now. I'm not really territorial, but I know in my head that this is my house and no one is stressing me out. I don't have to worry about that living here, and that is good enough for me," said Anthony Boyd, a 22-year-old resident, who attends Queensboro Community College and works at a human services organization.
Joseph Branca, also 22, has been in foster care for 13 years. He now lives at Schafer Hall, works as a shift manager at Duane Reade and attends Medgar Evans College in Brooklyn. "I want to give back to the community," he said. "Since I grew up in foster care, I feel like I can."
Thursday, December 23, 2010
New York Children Caught in the Cycle of Poverty
When Children Are Caught in the Cycle of Poverty
Mascia, Jennifer. New York Times, Dec. 18, 2010.
The economic collapse has taken a toll on vast segments of society, but it has affected some groups disproportionately. Among those are children.
In New York City, 30 percent of children are living in poverty. One out of every five children relies on local food banks or pantries for sustenance, and of these children, 79 percent rely on the National School Lunch Program.
Poverty stymies performance in school and negatively affects mental and physical health, experts say. Poor children have higher rates of asthma, are more likely to suffer a higher rate of cognitive delays and developmental disorders.
Absent intervention, these children will face great difficulty in transcending the disadvantages of their early lives and, as adults, are likely to perpetuate a cycle of poverty that has consumed generations in areas like East New York, Brooklyn; Jamaica, Queens; Morrisania in the Bronx; East Harlem; and Port Richmond on Staten Island.
Such an outcome is not acceptable to advocates like Richard R. Buery Jr., president and chief executive of the Children’s Aid Society, who said, “Those who love our country, and believe in its ideals, cannot be satisfied until the promise of equal opportunity is made true for all of our children.”
Christmas Wish: No New York youth sleeping on the streets this winter
Covenant House was founded 38 years ago with the mission to help homeless teens and young adults get off the street and into productive lives.
They serve as a refuge to:
- young people who are running from abuse at home
- youth who've been kicked out of the house (often because of their sexual orientation)
- young people who "age out" of the foster care system at age 18 and face the adult world alone.
- Shelter, including a transitional housing program
- Access to medical care
- Coaching in basic life skills
- Opportunities to finish high school
- Resources for job skill development
Covenant House's Transitional Housing Program: Youth pay rent to Covenant House for their apartment, and after 12-18 months when they graduate from the program, they are given ALL of their rent to help them to put a deposit on an apartment and set up a household.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
More than 4,000 vacant NYC condos could be made into low-income housing
Funded by the Sociological Initiatives Foundation, the report, People Without Homes and Homes Without People: A Count of Vacant Condos in Select NYC Neighborhoods (72 pages, PDF), found that there are more than four thousand vacant condo units in nine New York City neighborhoods that could be made into low-income housing.
The report lays out several policy recommendations for the city's Department of Finance, the Empire State Development Corporation, the Mayor, and the City Council on how to covert and maintain the units as part of a broader effort to better serve the city's low-income individuals.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Opening Doors to Higher Education for Youth in Foster Care
Opening Doors to Higher Education for Youth in Foster Care, from the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, addresses the financial aid reforms necessary for youth in care as they strive to attain a postsecondary education.
Monday, April 5, 2010
NY Proposed Legislation re: Immigrant Children in Foster Care
Dromm Bill Helps Immigrant Children In Foster Care
By John Toscano, Western Queens Gazette, March 31, 2010.
A bill that would require the city Administration for Children’s Services to create a plan to protect immigrant children in foster care and perhaps put them on the path to permanent status in the U.S. was passed by the City Council last week.
The bill, introduced by Councilmember Daniel Dromm (D–Jackson Heights), seeks to ensure that immigrant children who are eligible for Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS) are identified as quickly as possible and are receiving all the appropriate benefits, Dromm who chairs the Immigration Committee, said.
Qualifying for SIJS, Dromm added, would enable undocumented children to apply for this status, become permanent residents and obtain a green card.
“Immigrant children deserve the same rights as everyone,” Dromm stated. “This bill will help children in ACS supervision get access to the immigration services they need. We must ensure that children who qualify are given the opportunities they deserve, including the ability to be put on a path towards citizenship.”
Dromm added that he was “proud to move this important bill which protects the rights of immigrant children in foster care”.
Without a dedicated plan for immigrant services, Dromm explained, once a young person turns 21, he or she become ineligible for SIJS status and also loses the opportunity to take full advantage of various services available to lawful U.S. residents.
Dromm, whose district is one of the most diverse in the city, pointed out that his legislation would result in an accurate and efficient identification and tracking system in order to coordinate immigration services that would most fully protect the rights of immigrant children.
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