Sara Steffens reports that many foster youths face a future of homelessness. I include an excerpt:
When a foster youth becomes homeless, no one social worker, guardian or child welfare department is to blame.
The average parent spends $44,500 on a child after he or she becomes an adult, “and that doesn’t include the kid being still in his room at home,” said Robert Fellmeth, executive director of Children’s Advocacy Institute, based at the University of San Diego School of Law.
By contrast, foster youths get a median of $5,000 in public support after aging out of care.
“Most kids don’t get anything,” Fellmeth said. “Most kids get zero. (They get) ‘Hit the streets with your clothes in your trash bag.'”
One study says that at least one in five former foster children becomes homeless within a few years of becoming a legal adult. Other research, using broader criteria for homelessness, sets the figure as high as half.
This terribly sad reality represents just another part of the poverty cycle. As a society, we have the ability and resources to give these children what they need to succeed. We choose not to. We choose to ignore poverty. We choose to excuse our inaction with delusions that poor people bring poverty on themselves. Poor people do not bring poverty on themselves. Who would choose homelessness? Rather, our society never gives kids such as those neglected foster kids a fair shot to succeed.
We don’t need government or war. We the people can put an end to this ourselves. Let’s stop the poverty cycle. Let’s ensure that every child receives what they need to succeed: sufficient food, clothes, shelter, healthcare, and education.