by Cris Beam
[>] advocates the waiver system: See Ensuring Safe, Nurturing, and Permanent Families for Children: The Need to Expand Title IV-E Waivers: Second in a Series of Four Reports on Improving Child Welfare (Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs, May 2010). http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/pdf/NeedForWaivers.pdf.
[>] seems to be doing well with its choices: A good story about Florida’s overhaul is Erik Eckholm, “Florida Shifts Child-Welfare System’s Focus to Saving Families,” The New York Times, July 25, 2009. For a later overview, see Summary of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations (Arlington, VA: James Bell Associates for Children’s Bureau on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2012), 1.
[>] head of child welfare at the national level: George Sheldon was appointed acting assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May 2011. Prior to joining ACF, Sheldon served as the secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).
[>] lasting through 2016: President Obama signed the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112–34) into law on September 30, 2011. For more information, see http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/im/2011/im1106.pdf.
[>] for another five-year waiver: Florida’s application letter to the federal Administration for Children and Families has been widely circulated and can be found on Florida’s Department of Children and Families website at http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/initiatives/preservingfamilies/docs/Letter%20Requesting%20Extension%20of%20IV-E%20Waiver%20from%20Secretary%20Sheldon%20to%20David%20Hansell%20of%20Administration%20for%20Children%20and%20Families.pdf.
[>] 23 percent in nearly three years: Ensuring Safe, Nurturing, and Permanent Families for Children.
[>] claimed the data wasn’t contextualized: See, for instance, Daniel Heimpel, “Responsibility Lost,” Huffington Post, November 16, 2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-heimpel/responsibility-lost_b_781910.html.
[>] unnecessary removals from other, safer homes: A good analysis of this can be found in Richard Wexler, Foster-Care Panic in Los Angeles (Alexandria, VA: National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, released April 2010, updated February 2011). http://www.nccpr.org/reports/LA2010.pdf.
[>] director to another job: Garrett Therolf, “Ploehn Removed as Head of L.A. County Child Welfare Agency,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2010. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/14/local/la-me-dcfs-chief-20101214.
[>] experiment needed to go on longer to really tell: Synthesis of Findings: Title IV-E Flexible Funding Child Welfare Waiver Demonstrations (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2011), 36–37.
[>] recruiting and training qualified staff: “Program Instruction, Procedures for Adoption Incentive Payments” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Log No.: ACYF-CB-PI-99-04, March 5, 1999). http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/laws_policies/policy/pi/1999/pi9904.htm.
[>] left their computers sitting on their desks: Garrett Therolf, “Deaths of 2 Children Are Tied to Lapses in L.A. County’s Welfare System,” Los Angeles Times, July 18, 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/18/local/la-me-child-fatalities-20110718.
10. Homespun
[>] any race and over the age of ten: “New York State Subsidy Profile,” FAQ page published by the North American Council on Adoptable Children, updated June 2008. http://www.nacac.org/adoptionsubsidy/stateprofiles/newyork.html.
[>] plus a $62 monthly clothing allowance: Ibid. http://www.nacac.org/adoptionsubsidy/stateprofiles/newyork.html.
[>] little sister, Kimberly: Name has been changed.
[>] age out on her own: Preparing Youth for Adulthood (New York: Administration for Children’s Services, June 2006), 3. This document claims that 80 percent of the kids who age out of ACS do so primarily without adults to rely upon.
11. Fantasy Islands
[>] over six thousand adolescents under ACS supervision: In 2009, ACS reported that approximately 8,500 adolescents were in care, representing 46 percent of the foster care population. This data refers to material published August 14, 2009, and numbers are current as of March 2009. Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide (New York: Administration for Children’s Services, August 14, 2009).
By 2012, the total foster care numbers had gone down, to roughly fourteen thousand, according to NYC Administration for Children’s Services Monthly Flash (New York: Administration for Children’s Services, June 2012), http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/stats_monthly_flash.pdf. Presuming that adolescents are still 46 percent or so of this total, we would arrive at roughly 6,400 adolescents.
[>] as soon as they reach legal age: According to the Administration for Children’s Services, “In September 1999, ACS adopted a set of Permanency Principles that articulated its philosophy toward serving families and children. These principles are tools that offer the agency a framework for directing policy, formulating practice guidelines and protocols, and developing staff training” (http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/outcomes/out6_citywide.pdf). In August 2009, ACS released data, in a performance report called Outcome 6, in reference to these permanency principles. Outcome 6 specifically “provides measures of the foster care system’s success at moving adolescents (children 12 years and older) into permanent homes on a timely basis.” This data refers to material published August 14, 2009, and numbers are current as of March 2009. Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide.
[>] had shifted their goal to independent living: Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide.
[>] “must rely primarily on themselves”: Preparing Youth for Adulthood (New York: Administration for Children’s Services, June 2006), 3. The authors state, “Every year, approximately 1,200 of New York’s foster youth over the age of 18 leave the foster care system, but only 20% of them are leaving their families to be adopted. The remaining 80% must rely primarily on themselves.” http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/youth_for_adulthood.pdf.
[>] discharged directly from group homes or institutions: Outcome 6: Increase Permanency for Adolescents, Citywide.
[>] supervised living arrangement for kids in their late teens: In 2008, forty-five states responded to a survey about young people transitioning out of care. Eighty percent of these states had some sort of supervised independent living option. Amy Dworsky and Judy Havlicek, Review of State Policies and Programs to Support Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care (Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, submitted to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Olympia, WA, December 2008), 9.
[>] as they aged out of the system: Kendra Hurley, “NYC Closes Transitional Housing for Foster Teens,” Child Welfare Watch (January 14, 2011). http://blogs.newschool.edu/child-welfare-nyc/2011/01/nyc-closes-transitional-housing-for-foster-teens/. In a personal interview with Commissioner Richter in June 2012, he confirmed that ACS was no longer funding the SILP apartments.
[>] named David: Name has been changed.
[>] providing them with housing, training, and health care: “Frequently Asked Questions About the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program” (National Foster Care Awareness Project, February 2000), published on the website of the National Resource Center for Youth Development (a service of the Children’s Bureau): http://www.nrcyd.ou.edu/publication-db/documents/chafee-faq1.pdf.
[>] how well, or even if, the programs were working: See Wilhelmina A. Leigh, Danielle Huff, Ernestine F. Jones, and Anita Marshall, Aging Out of the Foster Care System to Adulthood: Findings, Challenges, and Recommendations (Washington, DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Health Policy Institute, December 2007). Also, a 2006 article in Children and Youth Services Review provided a review of the literature on Independent Living Programs and found t
hat “the effectiveness of ILPs remains unknown” as “reviewers were unable to find any randomized controlled trial evaluating ILPs.” Paul Montgomery, Charles Donkoh, and Kristen Underhill, “Independent Living Programs for Young People Leaving the Care System: The State of the Evidence,” Children and Youth Services Review 28, no. 12 (December 2006): 1435.
[>] national report later that year: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published this Final Rule on February 26, 2008. ACF created a National Youth in Transition Database at this time and required that all states engage in two data collection activities. The ACF website states that these two activities are “to collect information on each youth who receives independent living services paid for or provided by the State agency that administers the CFCIP. Second, States are to collect demographic and outcome information on certain youth in foster care whom the State will follow over time to collect additional outcome information. This information will allow ACF to track which independent living services States provide and assess the collective outcomes of youth.” The services, according to ACF, are as follows: “The regulation requires that States report to ACF the independent living services and supports they provide to all youth in eleven broad categories: independent living needs assessment; academic support; post-secondary educational support; career preparation; employment programs or vocational training; budget and financial management; housing education and home management training; health education and risk prevention; family support and healthy marriage education; mentoring; and supervised independent living. States will also report financial assistance they provide, including assistance for education, room and board and other aid.” ACF describes the outcomes as follows: “States will survey youth regarding six outcomes: financial self-sufficiency, experience with homelessness, educational attainment, positive connections with adults, high-risk behavior, and access to health insurance.” “About NYTD,” on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Child and Family Services website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/systems/nytd/about_nytd.htm.
[>] how many of their kids had aged out in the past year: The study was conducted by Chapin Hall, a research and policy center at the University of Chicago, wherein authors contacted the independent living services coordinators in all fifty states as well as Washington, DC. They received a response rate of 88.2 percent (or forty-five states), and of these respondents, thirty-five did not or could not report the number of youths seventeen or older who were even currently in foster care and replied “do not know.” Thirty-one percent didn’t know how many kids had aged out. Amy Dworsky and Judy Havlicek, Review of State Policies and Programs to Support Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care (Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, submitted to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Olympia, WA, December 2008), 4–5.
[>] who had graduated from college: M. Courtney, A. Dworsky, J. Lee, and M. Raap, Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 23 and 24 (Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, 2009), 95.
[>] not prepare them for adulthood: Mary Elizabeth Collins and Cassandra Clay, “Influencing Policy for Youth Transitioning from Care: Defining Problems, Crafting Solutions, and Assessing Politics,” Children and Youth Services Review 31, no. 7 (July 2009): 743.
[>] at states’ discretion, until they turned twenty-one: This act is called the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110–351). Among other things, the act also allows kinship guardians to receive subsidized guardian payments—thus increasing the chances that children will be placed with relatives.
12. There’s Something About Mary
[>] subway travel to and from the classes can take several hours: William Scarborough (Chair), The Needs of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care, testimony before the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Children and Families, Subcommittee on Foster Care (New York: The Legal Aid Society, December 14, 2007), 6.
[>] priority status on the waiting list for public housing: “Housing Support Services,” New York Administration for Children’s Services website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/html/support_families/housing.shtml.
[>] Applications are frequently lost or misprocessed: Scarborough, The Needs of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care, 9–10.
[>] that’s when the checks were cut: The New York Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program is a federally funded, state-administered program designed to help youth who are in foster care. Students may receive up to $5,000 a year for qualified school-related expenses. The official website, for the 2010–11 school year, read: “Funding for the 10–11 academic year will not be available until after November 1, 2010. Funding is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible students.”
[>] where they can go on to get a GED, say, or a mentor referral: Preparing Youth for Adulthood (New York: Administration for Children’s Services, June 2006). http://www.nyc.gov/html/acs/downloads/pdf/youth_for_adulthood.pdf.
[>] Kids don’t realize their coverage has been terminated until they receive bills in the mail: Also, Legal Aid threatened a class-action lawsuit against ACS and the Department of Health if they didn’t improve. Scarborough, The Needs of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.
13. Experiment
[>] estimates that about 50 percent of the current homeless population were once in foster care: The Coalition for the Homeless in its 1989 Blueprint for Solving New York’s Homeless Crisis, New York City: A Report to Mayor David Dinkins, claimed that 60 percent of the homeless in New York City municipal shelters had some history of foster care (101). In a study called Runaway and Homeless Youth in New York City: A Report to the Ittleson Foundation, NYC (New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division of Child Psychiatry, 1984), David Shaffer and Carol Caton found that 50 percent of the young people came to shelters from a group home, foster home, or other foster institution. Nationally, according to the Child Welfare League of America, 58 percent of all young adults who access federally funded youth shelters had previously been part of the foster care system in 1997 (Child Welfare League of America’s data page, “The Links Between Child Welfare and Homelessness,” http://www.cwla.org/programs/housing/homelessnesslinks.htm#note13). In California, the Department of Social Services estimated in 2004 that 65 percent of the kids who age out of foster care face homelessness and up to 50 percent end up sleeping on the streets. See Ken Fagan, “Saving Foster Kids from the Streets,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 11, 2004.
[>] has led to some five thousand adoptions: The Heart Gallery was launched in New Mexico in 2001 and is now nationwide. Matthew Straeb, “A Message from Our President,” Heart Gallery of America Newsletter, Inaugural Edition, January 2010. http://www.heartgalleryofamerica.org/Newsletter/2010_Jan.htm.
[>] forty-two thousand viewers have called up with questions about becoming a parent: “Freddie Mac Foundation’s Wednesday’s Child: Finding Adoptive Homes for Children,” retrieved from the Freddie Mac Foundation website: http://www.freddiemacfoundation.org/ourwork/founwedn.html.
14. Touching the Elephant
[>] put on the state’s list of failing schools in 2004: From insideschools.org, a division of the nonprofit Advocates for the Children of New York, which provides individual case assistance to families and children who need educational services. Insideschools.org provides independent monitoring of New York City’s public schools.
[>] “You’ve got women in prison making Victoria’s Secret bras”: It was widely reported that inmates in South Carolina were subcontracted to sew Victoria’s Secret garments in the 1990s, and several other corporations, including Nintendo, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Eddie Bauer, have also been known to utilize prison labor, wherein they get to pay workers well below minimum wage. See, for example, Beth Schwartzapfel, “Your Valentine, Made in Prison,” Prison Legal News,
February 12, 2009, https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/(S(v5lg5m45z4zku255xtp5ndmf))/displayNews.aspx?newsid=216&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1; and Caroline Winter, “What Do Prisoners Make for Victoria’s Secret?” Mother Jones, July/August 2008, http://motherjones.com/politics/2008/07/what-do-prisoners-make-victorias-secret.
[>] what happens to foster kids once they leave the system: Julie Bosman, “City Is Urged to Evaluate Foster Care,” The New York Times, April 15, 2010. The author of this article wrote that ACS would review the proposed bill, and as of this publication, the bill had yet to pass. It was referred to the Committee on General Welfare at a City Council meeting in April 2010 (from the New York City Council Meeting Minutes, City Hall, New York, April 14, 2010) and then didn’t seem to appear again.
15. Last Call
[>] it had admitted more than double that the year before: Mark Levine, “Saint Vincent’s Is the Lehman Brothers of Hospitals,” New York magazine, October 25, 2010. http://nymag.com/news/features/68991/.
Epilogue
[>] allowed all states to apply for flat-sum waivers from the government: President Obama signed the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (Public Law 112–34) into law on September 30, 2011. Read the full text of the bill at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr2883rds/pdf/BILLS-112hr2883rds.pdf.
[>] though more could still sign up: Child Welfare Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Projects 2012–2014 Overview (Washington, D.C., National Conference of State Legislatures). http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/human-services/child-welfare-title-ive-waiver-2012-thru-2014.aspx.