Fostering stability in foster children
By Terene Bennett
Guest columnist
Going back to school stirs up big feelings in children. Think back to when you were a youngster and recall your first-day jitters. Now, imagine experiencing that day not just once, but three, four or more times in a single year.
There are about 500,000 U.S. children in foster care who are confronted with the real possibility of being torn out of the classroom after just getting settled in. Not just once, but several times. Not just this year, but every year. That can have devastating consequences.
Vast change is highly disruptive for any child. If it’s hard on a child from a stable home, think how difficult it is on the foster children who carry exceptional social, emotional and psychological burdens on their young shoulders.
The U.S. Government Accounting Office reports that children who change schools more than three times before eighth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school than the average child. In fact, statistics show that only about 60 percent will finish school.
There are so many adults involved in these children’s lives – foster parents, caseworkers, attorneys and judges – that in most cases no single person is paying attention to what’s happening to the child in school, unless a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer is speaking up for their best interests.
CASA volunteers are everyday citizens who are appointed by judges to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the child welfare system. As a member of the CASA network, I want to draw attention to how our system may end up hindering instead of helping all children. Let me talk about one child – Michelle.
When Michelle was nine years old, her father moved her and her sister from New York to San Diego. Once he arrived in San Diego, he spent the next year shuffling his daughters from one home to another.
They were evicted time and again because his addictions used up the rent money. At one point, the only place they had to sleep was in his car. These circumstances, along with inappropriate discipline and his behavior around the two girls, resulted in an investigation and subsequent removal of the children from his care.
Michelle and her sister were placed in a relative’s home, followed a short time later by a second placement with a foster family that turned out to be a dangerous environment. Soon after, Michelle and her biological sister were taken out of the foster home, but were sadly separated.
During the next five years, she endured 12 additional placements and attended approximately 22 schools. With each new school and group home and without a support system to bolster her, Michelle’s chances of having a stable school environment dwindled.
In July 2001, Michelle was appointed a CASA volunteer, Susan Walton. Susan convinced Michelle’s social worker that she would be better served in a public high school rather than the group home school. Michelle was transferred to a mainstream high school. This was her last transfer.
With Susan’s help, Michelle thrived. She completed the schoolwork given to her and worked diligently to make up the high school credits she lacked.
In June 2003, Michelle graduated from high school with a 3.4 GPA and spoke at her graduation ceremony. Having received numerous scholarships, she is now attending a local college, getting mostly A’s.
The adult who helped Michelle gain stability and succeed in school was her CASA volunteer. But it could have been a teacher, a judge, a social worker, a psychologist, or a specially trained educational advocate.
CASA urges each adult who is involved with a foster child to do everything in his or her power to make school a point of stability in an otherwise unstable life. A stable school life is vitally important to these kids – and society.
To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer advocate, call (888) 805-8457 or visit www.nationalcasa.org.
Terene Bennett is a member of the African-American Advisory Committee of the National CASA Association.