Foster children speak about lack of stability, trust in foster system
Inconsistent relationships with social workers, a lack of mentors and a system that breeds distrust in others were among the problems that foster children say need to be fixed.
About 20 people gathered Thursday for the Save Our Children Coalition forum at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Pittsfield Township to discuss how the faith-based community and other volunteers in Washtenaw County can better help foster children in the area.
Five current and former foster children spoke about their experiences, pointing out areas they believe can be improved and speaking about the few positives they experienced as well.
Alexis Alexander, a senior at Eastern Michigan University, became a foster child at 13 and has now aged out of the foster system. Her mom abused drugs and wasn’t able to take care of her, and her experiences have inspired her to seek a career in social work. She expects to graduate in December with a communications degree.
“I knew I had to be better than where I came from,” Alexander said.
The Save Our Children Coalition is a part of the University of Michigan-Dearborn's School of Education.
One problem foster children faced during their experiences in the foster child system was the lack of stability. Each of the children spoke about being bounced from social worker to social worker and foster home to foster home, leading to a deep distrust in people.
DeAndre Booker, a 19-year-old student at Ann Arbor Technical High School, said he entered a residential foster home when he was 16 and watched workers at the home cuss at the children who lived there. He said that atmosphere made him lose respect for those workers.
Booker said the atmosphere in residential homes can be so bad that he sometimes felt less than human there.
“To an extent, you’re treated like an animal,” he said. “You feel like you’re in a zoo because everyone is flying around and doing this and that.”
Booker and three of the other foster children who spoke at the forum now are in independent living arrangements and work with a social worker from Fostering Futures, a non-profit organization that serves families and children in the foster system. Now that he lives on his own, Booker said the one thing he feels like he lacks the most is someone to talk to and guide him through life’s daily struggles.
He said he’s faced up to the fact that he’s an adult and has to take control of his life if he wants to be successful. However, it’s difficult to feel like there’s no one he can call and talk to about his problems, or have someone to rely on if something goes wrong.
The panel discussion also revealed that many of the children who live in independent residences are in need of such basic furniture as beds, lamps and tables. The stipend each receives is barely enough to cover rent and leaves little spending money for many other basic necessities, according to the panel.
The discussion also included how to improve morale among foster children, with ideas such as holiday dinners and birthday celebrations — something those in foster families don’t get to experience that often.
Katie Page Sander, director of the Save Our Children Coalition, said there is no program to help foster children find mentors in Washtenaw County. The coalition, which began in 2007, holds meetings around southeastern Michigan to raise awareness about the foster system.
She said the lack of mentors is one opportunity for churches and other volunteer organizations to get involved with the foster child system.
“This crisis is not on the minds of many congregations and faith communities, and it needs to be,” she said.
Note: Katie Page Sander's name has been corrected.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
snapshot
Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 12:36 a.m.
Does this really surprise anyone? Judges take note. Hold social services accountable for their performance in spite of union interference.
Leonard Henderson
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 9:20 p.m.
The problems with the system are far greater than those mentioned here. The system is so incompetent, malfeasant, and EVIL that there really is no fixing it. They literally destroy every life they touch. CPS agents commit Federal Crimes (several of which are Capital crimes) every day. See <a href="http://familyrights.us/bin/CPS_violates_these_every_case.htm" rel='nofollow'>http://familyrights.us/bin/CPS_violates_these_every_case.htm</a> American Family Rights has been educating families how to fight Child Protective Services false allegations and character assassinations since 2002. We have had a complete can-full of this utterly corrupt system, the mental illness clinicians, and the unconstitutional courts of NO Due Process that colludes with them. Leonard Henderson, co-founder American Family Rights <a href="http://familyrights.us" rel='nofollow'>http://familyrights.us</a> "Until Every Child Comes Home"© "The Voice of America's Families"©
Susan Aitken
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 6:34 p.m.
I'm so glad annarbor.com wrote an article about the foster youth needs in this county. There are ways to get involved as a mentor. Childhelp has a foster youth mentoring program, and Washtenaw county also needs CASA volunteers, or you can be a volunteer at the Neutral Zone, Ozone House or some of the other organizations in town like Judson Center, Fostering Futures, Lutheran Social Services, etc. See the websites below for more details. <a href="http://www.childhelp.org/chapters/entry/greater-detroit/?source=greater-detroit" rel='nofollow'>http://www.childhelp.org/chapters/entry/greater-detroit/?source=greater-detroit</a> <a href="http://washtenawmentoring.org/directory.cfm" rel='nofollow'>http://washtenawmentoring.org/directory.cfm</a> Save Our Children Coalition's website also has an extensive list of volunteer opportunites, from small one-time things like donating used furniture to longer-term things like mentoring. <a href="http://www.saveourchildrencoalition.org" rel='nofollow'>www.saveourchildrencoalition.org</a>
Gramma
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 7 p.m.
Thank you Susan. Dog Guy said that most adoptin and foster care workers are interested in maintaining their own jobs. Agencies function in the same way. Look at all the former orphanages which now have state contracts to provide foster care. Just like the March of Dimes switched from a focus on polio to birth defects. These agencies also want to stay alive.
Dog Guy
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 5:31 p.m.
When attempting to adopt locally, my wife and I found that social workers value foster children as the key to the future--that is to say, their own continuing job security.
jns131
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 3:24 p.m.
I remember a story about a foster child who was told never to unpack the suitcase because you never know if you are going to be shipped off to somewhere else. If I remember correctly about the article, that child had been to 5 foster homes in less then 3 or 4 years. Also there is a stigma that goes with foster children as well. I was told the older you are the more problems there will be. It is sad that foster children have to live with this. Wish we could take in one more but can't with this economy. The system does need to change I admit that.
jns131
Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
There is an organization if I remember correctly, that does take old suitcases for foster children. I am not sure if it is still in biz or not. This way they have something to call their own.
Gramma
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 6:56 p.m.
Most foster children d not even have suitcases. They carry their belingings from home to home in large garbage bags.
Ron Granger
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 1:48 p.m.
Remember the student in Ann Arbor who couldn't find her two lost books and was sent home from school by the principal? (where's the follow-up story on the principal's conduct and policies, btw?) A lot of the comments were oh so critical and judgemental of the student. And while I don't know her particular situation - it isn't my business - read this article about what some kids go through. Getting bounced from foster home to foster home. For some kids, going to school is a relief from the drama of their home situation. But imagine starting school and being sent home because some book was lost along the way, and you are told to ask your new foster parents for the money. Think people - not everyone has it as good as you.
Gramma
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 12:51 p.m.
I would like to see a more in-depth article on the foster care system. We are failing these children. I would be glad to mentor one of these young people on a long term basis. Maybe someone can find a way to hook older adults up with them. Both would benefit. As my teen granddaughter says, "Teens have more in common with old people than they do with middle aged people.
Kelly
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 12:48 p.m.
The agencies in Washtenaw county are so overworked - a grant from the Judson Center last year showed that 100 of the 250 county's foster kids are in beds in other counties - that they don't have time to be proactive. They spend all of their time putting out fires. A little bit of investment - recruiting & supporting foster families, seeking adoptive families, assigning mentors, supporting the CASA program (a mentor program) would all go a long way to helping the kids in the system.
Gramma
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 1:18 p.m.
Over the last 30 or so years, the state of MI has cut protective service and foster care staff and privatized out to agencies, who to cut costs, hire young, inexperienced workers. There is little communication between these agencies and the foster care workers, because of time limitations. We need to provide more funding and services for these children that we take from "inadequate" parents and make sure the foster system is better. If we cannot or will not do that, we should probably just leave them alone.
clownfish
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 12:33 p.m.
Time for "faith communities" to step up, spend as much time and energy on the foster situation as they do on abortion.
jeanarrett
Fri, Oct 7, 2011 : 12:33 p.m.
This is so sad--it makes me want to cry--and should not be. I wish there were a way that the community could be made aware on how to find these young adults and reach out to them on holidays, etc. to include them in family gatherings and other events. I would be more than willing to open my home to them for a meal or just lend an ear. Also, craigslist.org is a great resource to secure basic necessities such as beds, tables, lamps, etc. and they are often free! I hope these kids are utilizing and aware of such resources.