Press Release

 

For Immediate Release
 
Contact:
Nadia Moritz
202.332.3399 (phone)
202.215.0679 (mobile)
 
 
Youth Spearhead DC Council Hearing on Aging Out of the DC Foster Care System
 
Only 14% of Older Youth Have All Necessary Resources to Support Themselves
 
 
WASHINGTON, DC – January 18, 2010:   The Young Women’s Project, a DC-based nonprofit that builds youth leaders, announced today that on January 22, DC Council Member Tommy Wells will hand over the power of the Committee on Human Services to 14 youth who have organized DC’s first ever youth-led hearing. Yes Youth Can: Confronting the Challenges of Aging Out willbe held on Friday, January 22, 2010, at 11:00 am in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
 
The hearing will examine the experiences and challenges of older youth in the DC foster care system, the effectiveness of programs and services for this group, and what can be done to improve their life prospects when they leave the system at 21.  “I want answers on permanence and education and I want some things that can be accomplished and put into action to come out of this hearing,” said youth staff member Sarah Ocran, one of nine foster youth who are part of YWP’s Foster Care Campaign (FCC) , an adult-youth partnership that aims to improve the lives of youth in care.
 
Featuring testimony from more than 25 foster youth, community based organizations, service providers, and staff at the DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), the hearing will focus on three main areas: Aging Out, Education & Employment, and Congregate Care. “I want to see less bad stories about youth in the system that could’ve been avoided,” said youth staff member Ravon Stewart. “The numbers of youth dying incarcerated and homeless have to be decreased. That could be something real positive.”
 
“I expect to hear powerful testimony,” said Chairman Wells. “I want to know what’s working, what’s not, and where they believe improvements can be made. I know the youth at this hearing will come with ideas and solutions for the city to explore.”
 
According to data released by CFSA in May 2009, there were 2,264 DC youth in out-of-home care; 1,064 were between the ages of 15-21. Each year, between 150-200 youth turn 21 and age out of the system without a permanent legal relationship. Most do not have the knowledge, skills, and supports they need to be self-sufficient, successful adults. According to CFSA’s own 2008 Quality Improvement Administration Report about DC foster youth transitioning out of care, at the time of discharge from the system:
 
  • Only 14% have all the necessary resources to support themselves
  • 40% have their high school diploma
  • 10% are enrolled in college
  • 66% suffer from mental illness or substance abuse
  • 34% are pregnant or parenting
 
Although DC does not keep data on youth aging out, a 2007 study by the University of Chicago focused on foster youth in the Midwest found that 68% of men and 46% of women are arrested within one year of aging out and that the average earnings of a foster care youth during the first year after aging out is $7,000.
 
The older youth hearing is the brainchild of Human Services Committee Chairman Tommy Wells (Ward 6) who got to know many of the FCC youth staff as they kept showing up in his office to voice their opinions on foster care reform. “He put us on the spot in a good way by challenging us to take policy into our own hands,” said FCC staff member T’Kara Plater. “Tommy Wells has the same vision that we have. He is saying to us that we are just as important as regular children.”
 
Added FCC staff member Brittaney Silver, “He was the first decision maker we met with that realized how important it was to involve youth in the policy process. And he is not just saying it -- but actually doing it. And is willing to collaborate with youth to make it happen.”
 
“This is an exciting opportunity for youth to participate on both sides of the dais at a hearing – they are helping prepare the testimony, staff the Committee, and will help run the hearing,” said Chairman Wells.
 
FCC youth staff worked for the past two months to prepare for this hearing -- taking the lead in identifying issues, conducting research, identifying questions for the roundtable, recruiting and preparing foster youth witnesses to present testimony at the hearing, interviewing staff members at CFSA and at community organizations, and meeting with staff at the Human Services Committee. At the hearing, they will work along side of Chairman Wells to interview witnesses. FCC plans to use the hearing as a spring board to bring together youth, community groups, public officials and CFSA staff to work on improving older youth programs, data collection and tracking, and -- most importantly -- improve educational, employment, and health outcomes for older youth in care.
 
“This hearing is a critical step in the emerging partnership between foster youth and city leaders in remaking DC’s foster care system,” said YWP Executive Director Nadia Moritz. “Right now we are spending millions on older youth and getting very little in return. We need to shift the way that we think about our investment in foster youth and their potential. They can to go college. They can be successful. They can contribute so much to our community. But right now our programs and services are sending them down the path to prison, homelessness, and a life time reliance on public support.”
 
 
 
Foster Care Campaign (FCC): Since 1999, the Foster Care Campaign has been building the power of foster youth – training them as leaders and advocates and putting them to work educating their peers and pushing for system reform. Each year, we develop 25-35 youth staff (most of whom are foster youth) as leaders, advocates, peer educators and organizers though a year-long program. They work side by side adult staff to develop and move an ambitious agenda that seeks to advance foster youth well-being in seven critical areas: education, employment, health, permanence, self-reliance, safety net services, and self advocacy.
 
Since 1999, FCC has worked to expand the rights, opportunities, and leadership development of DC foster youth. We’ve cultivated dozens of FCC youth staff leaders, training 100s of foster youth in self advocacy and navigation, delivered numerous testimonies to City Council, convened 100s of youth and adults in Leadership Institutes, released two youth-created Handbooks, and led several successful youth-led campaigns. In our first campaign in 2000, we worked with the Deputy Mayor=s office to write and advocate for foster care group home regulations which became law in September 2001. These regulations created a legal floor for improving the quality of life and enforcing the rights of teens in group homes.
 
The Young Women's Project is a multicultural organization that builds and supports DC teen women and girl leaders so that they can improve their lives and transform their communities. YWP programs guide youth through a process of personal transformation so they can become leaders in their peer groups, schools, families, and communities who are able to analyze problems, identify solutions, and advocate for change. Through a rigorous curriculum that teaches life skills; physical, mental, and emotional health; decision making; and problem solving, YWP participants experience significant personal development and discovery. With this confidence, understanding, and power, YWP participants advance a bold, teen-led advocacy agenda based on the real-life issues facing teens. Founded in 1994, YWP works primarily with young women of color, many of whom are from low-income households, who live in neighborhoods through Washington, DC. Currently, we have a staff of 6 adults and 30 teens and an operating budget of $425,000. Our three programs reach more than 300 youth each year.