Stories about foster care have to be among the most difficult pieces that local reporters try to pull together. And yet when journalists do the hard work of making contacts and building trust, they can shed light on critically important problems.
Zachary Reid of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch recently produced a story about kids who are "aging out" of the system. When these young people turn 18, they might find themselves without a home and any family or state support. Reid writes that "what those children need and deserve is not what they have traditionally received."
Twenty-five percent of teens who aged out of the system wound up in jail within two years, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, "Time for Reform: Aging Out and On Their Own" [PDF].
More than 20 percent became homeless. Only 3 percent of those who had been through foster care earned a four-year college degree, the report says -- far below the 28 percent of the general population who do.
I asked Reid some questions by e-mail about his project. Here's an edited version of our exchange.
Al Tompkins: What happens when a foster child turns 18 and has no birth-family connection?
Zachary Reid: If the kid's in a legitimate school or training program and is working, he or she can continue to receive some state benefits -- mostly rent and tuition assistance -- until age 21. If they're not the college type, they're released from whatever program they're in. Kind of like any other kid moving out of their home, except they don't have a home to return to in case things don't work out. (That's where the homeless problem quickly starts coming into play.)
Your story includes this passage, which I would like for you to explain: " 'Every time a child ages out, there's a tragedy,' said NadineMarsh-Carter, director of the Children's Home Society of Virginia, whose adoption program includes the placement of foster children." What is the evidence that "aging out" is a tragedy?Reid: The evidence most cited is from a Pew Charitable Trusts study a few years ago. The three big findings are in my story: 25 percent of these kids wind up in jail before they're 25, 20 percent wind up homeless and only 3 percent will graduate from a four-year college. Marsh-Carter seemed convinced, though she didn't have the research to back it up, that kids who age out never stop having an impact on society. Only they move from school-age kids with some hope of a future to becoming adult-age criminals and ex-cons who are chronically unemployed or underemployed and put a strain on social-service spending at all levels.
What alternatives have you found?
Reid: In Virginia, the first lady made family placements a priority, and she was able to create some change. But her term ends in two months, and it's not certain what will happen next.
How can journalists find these folks who have "aged out" of the system?
Reid: Check with whatever state or local agency handles foster care. But my best luck was simply attending a couple of conferences about the issue and talking to as many people as I could. Some people are shy, but most aren't. The program administrators want to talk because they're game for anything that might help their cause. The kids are hit or miss, but that's the way it is with anything involving interviewing kids.
From state to state, there are wide differences in the percentages of foster-care kids who age out. Look at the Pew report to see the trends in your state, then get new figures to see if the trend is rising. (The state data is on Appendix A of the report.)
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