Local and national foundations fund Aging Out Initiative
By Sandra Jordan For the St. Louis American
Thanks to a recent influx of $1.1 million in funding, a local advocacy project for teens who age out of the foster care system plans to double the number of youths it serves.
“A lot of these kids feel isolated because they’ve moved from home to home, and the monthly support groups allow them meet other 16-year-olds in St. Louis who have gone through the same thing they are going through,” said Theresa Menk, chief development officer of Epworth Family and Children’s Services, which hosts the Aging Out Initiative.
“We try to connect them with the services and resources available in this area and reward them, encourage them and support them for being successful in using those resources.”
The Aging Out Initiative began its work in January at its University City location and is currently assisting 55 youth. Epworth also has programs and services at its main campus in Webster Groves and a school in St. Louis.
Nine foundations – the Daughters of Charity Healthcare Foundation of St. Louis, Deaconess Foundation, Express Scripts Foundation, Incarnate Word Foundation, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Missouri Foundation for Health, Commerce Bank (Norman J. Stupp Foundation), St. Louis Mental Health Board and Trio Foundation of St. Louis – recently provided $600,000 in seed money, which drew a $500,000, three-year matching grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
With this money, Menk said, “We are hoping to be up to 80 or 90 (youth) by next month. We have a lot of referrals and we are in the process of enrolling them.”
Sister Joan Kuester, DC, executive director at the Daughters of Charity, said of the partnering foundations, “By combining our individual resources, including finances and services, we are creating a stronger and more centralized program where foster teens can ask questions, learn life skills and successfully navigate the community and world that greets them after they leave state custody.”
“We were impressed by the fact that local funders identified this problem and have been so actively engaged in creating a new system to help these youth transition successfully to independent adulthood,” said Pauline M. Seitz, local initiative funding partners director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“We are extremely proud to have the opportunity to carry forth the vision created by this passionate group of funders and stakeholders,” said Kevin Drollinger, executive director at Epworth.
“All of us have a stake in the future of these young people, and it’s imperative that we act decisively – not only in terms of direct service, but also in terms of system reform.”
Homelessness, substance abuse, isolation, despair, little education, few skills and fewer resources are the grim realities faced by too many young people who outgrow the foster care system in the U.S.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, just over 19,000 foster care youth aged out of the system in fiscal year 2002, the most recent data available.
A March 2007 estimate by the Missouri Department of Social Services said 22 percent of the 9,818 foster children in the state are estimated to be age 16 or older.
The Aging Out Work Group study of foster care issues in the St. Louis region estimated that 80 percent of all females graduating from independent living classes had children, half of the youth who aged out of foster care at age 21 or earlier became homeless and less than half of the youth graduate from high school.
“This project is aimed at changing that outlook,” Drollinger said.
“It is about voice and choice in helping these youth take control of their futures and giving them the best chance to become healthy, successful, productive adults.”
Epworth is targeting St. Louis area 16-year-olds in foster care for training and support to become empowered self-advocates, to pursue a high school diploma or GED, and to keep track of pertinent personal information and records. The initiative creates a centralized network for older teenagers in foster care to learn about resources available to them when they leave state custody.
To address concerns expressed by foster care youth, who feel those who have not been through the system cannot relate to their needs, Epworth hired peer advisors who recently aged out of foster care to work with the teens.
“We really can pull on past experiences and actually give examples, real life experiences, to things we are trying to tell them,” said Annica Trotter, peer advisor.
Trotter said peers advise those in foster care in navigating their way through the system.
“I have to remind them that when you are with adults, they respond better to those who sound like them. Being respectful and being prepared and coming to the table with well thought out ideas are what are going to get you results,” Trotter said.
“And, if there is a decision that is made, whether you are there or not, you are still going to have to abide by those rules and those goals, so it is very, very important that you attend your [family support team meetings], make sure that you understand what is going on in your case, give your opinion, and come to an agreement with everyone at your team.”