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From Another’s Eyes: A Reading Presentation Assignment

Sky Pele

6 problems with the foster care system -- and what you can do to help.

Foster Care Problems

There's a lot wrong with a system that so desperately needs to get it right.

Katie Dupere

An editor and writer in New York City specializing in identity, internet culture, social good, lifestyle and beauty topics.

A Social Good reporter at Mashable from May 2015 to July 2017, covering activism, identities and social impact.

https://mashable.com/article/foster-care-problems

mashable.com

Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company

Issues with the system, the affects it has on the children and what can we do to help/ change it

Tenaja Jordan

Tenaja Jordan was kicked out of her house after coming out to her parents

she was immediately placed into New York City's child welfare system.

"Her first words to me were, 'Did any of those lesbians at the children's center hit on you?'" Jordan tells Mashable about her guardian. "ACS put me exactly where I didn't want to be."

There are more who can relate to Jordan and claim that there are several issues with a system.

- more than 415,000 children and teens were in the foster care system at any given time

- More than 56,000 children in child welfare systems are living in group settings (group homes)

- More than 40%  who leave the system are predicted to drop out of high school.

"At a certain point, a decision is made that a child is old enough that we can let them age out," Feild says. "Now, we are realizing that that’s a mistake." - "many jurisdictions have recently extended foster care beyond age 18 to age 21, because states are starting to understand that young adults are in need of much more support from caregivers and case workers."

When Dupere discusses the second concern it made me consider how many children were left on their own at the age of 18 over the years. She is aware that there are others who also feel that it is unfair and unsafe for the system to treat 18-year-olds differently because they are considered adults. Furthermore, there are negative effects, such as an increase in the number of homeless people.

She emphasizes that many children in the foster care system are frustrated because their voices go unheard. Bringing attention that not everyone is good at listening to or engaging with children.

The kids dont have a say, or their not heard yet its their lives and homes that are in questioning. Therefore its important to start paying attention to those who are considered being helped.

¨Sometimes, that voice can be angry or frustrated, leading adults to cut off communication and leave a child's needs unmet, simply because they don't like how they're being articulated. But both Goodman and Feild agree that anger, especially when dealing with a complex foster care system and past trauma, is understandable.¨

"Some people just don’t value the youth voice -- and I think we should."

critical thinking voice...

This should bring attention to everyone.. be concerned for those who are less fortuanate/ couldnt afford to keep enough for a family, for those who werent born into healthy household. It should be concerning that children who need a home are in a system that majority of the time doesnt provide a place to actually consider home. There are many people who control their lives and make decisions for them.

- Be someone who listens to foster children and teens, and encourage others to do the same.

- An adult who advocates for an unheard child acts as a source of support for that child's needs.

 -Volunteer in your community to mentor foster children and advocate for better transitional policies for young people leaving the system.

-If the new role fits your life, apply to be a court-appointed special advocate for foster youth. A special advocate in the courts ensures that foster youth have all of their legal needs met by getting to know the children and their situations and then vocalizing their opinions in the courts about a positive and sensitive care plan.

There are children who have suffered truama so severe that they have had to be removed from their homes. 

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