Gary Stangler

In this issue of the newsletter, you'll read about new research from Chapin Hall Center for Children, presented recently on Capitol Hill, that shows that youth who are able to stay in foster care beyond age 18 are three times more likely to go on to college and more than twice as likely to complete at least one year of college than those who leave care at age 18. Our own experience tells us that there is a direct connection between higher levels of education and employment and the ability to save.

Our young adults from foster care need our support to help them finish their educations - from encouraging them to set high goals to assisting them to find financial aid. Let's remember how difficult - and lonely - the holidays can be for our young adults who have transitioned from foster care. Some of our college students simply have no place to go during holiday breaks. In this issue of the newsletter, you'll also learn how some of our sites are trying to make the holidays warmer for young adults from foster care. Let's follow their example and try to make this time merry and bright for our young people.

Happy holiday and all the best in 2008!

Sincerely,

Gary

• From Pies to Paper Angels, Youth in Initiative Sites Create New Holiday Traditions
• Kate Lee – Initiative's MVP Retires, Honored with Prestigious Rama Award
• Youth Testify On Capitol Hill as Researchers Present New Findings on Aging Out
• Young Woman Atlanta Testifies About Losing Health Insurance As She Aged Out
• Michigan's Jen Leedy Uses Pageants to Raise Awareness about Foster Care
• Video Opens Doors for Youth From Foster Care, But Doesn't Break the Bank
• Initiative Grantees and State Child Welfare Officials Meet in San Antonio
• Intern on Capitol Hill with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute!
• Senator Hillary Clinton Proposes IDAs for All Youth from Foster Care
• Upcoming Conferences

From Pies to Paper Angels, Youth in Initiative Sites Create New Holiday Traditions

by Martha Shirk

The winter holidays can be depressing for youth in transition from foster care. The Hallmark card images of happy families gathered around brightly lighted Christmas trees contrast starkly with their memories of lonely holidays spent separated from their families.

To create some new holiday memories, youth with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative sites have been busy since mid-November baking apple pies for a community feast, organizing toiletry drives for youth in residential facilities, and celebrating their relationships with each other at festive holiday parties.

The youth board of the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI) in Traverse City, Mich., kicked off the season of giving by getting together at the Grand Traverse Pie Co. in mid-November to make almost 100 apple crumb pies for a Thanksgiving dinner for more than 350 needy people in the community.

The idea of getting site participants to help make pies came from Denise Busley, who owns the pie company with her husband. The Busleys have been enthusiastic community partners since the Traverse City site's start. They allow the youth board to meet in the restaurant and also give the site a nickel for each piece of pie they sell, which adds up to about $1,300 a year. They expect to pass along another $1,200 for site expenses this year from customers' donations of their loose change.

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Kate Lee – Initiative's MVP Retires, Honored with Prestigious Rama Award

Kate Lee has been with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative before there was a building, a bank account, a phone number or even a name for that matter. Call her the Most Valuable Player – Lee helped build the Initiative from the ground up and has done everything from strategy design to assisting sites with implementation. As chief financial officer, she set up the Initiative's bank account, created its fiscal and grants management systems, wrote all the checks and paid all the bills. Early on, she was staff lead for the evaluation and measures used to gauge progress. She has supervised staff and sites during staff transitions. And she chuckles that she's even cleaned out the refrigerator from time to time. Now after six years with the Initiative and 30 years in educational program development and managerial experience working with children, youth, and families, Lee is retiring to her home state of Iowa.

"When Kate left Jim Casey, we gave her a framed poster of Rosie the Riveter, captioned 'Kate Lee Can Do It.' That begins to capture her role: no matter what the task, large or small, trivial or life-changing, Kate was the one we always turned to," says Gary Stangler, the Initiative's executive director. "She was completely focused on doing the right thing right, and motivated—no, consumed—by the opportunity to make a difference for youth aging out of foster care. She combined the maternal instinct, professional accounting standards, research rigor, and passion into a relentless effort to make the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative a powerful force for change: in our public systems, in our communities, and in the lives of young people."

Before Lee recently retired, the Initiative surprised her with the prestigious Rama Ramanathan Commitment to Service Award, presented by Annie E. Casey Foundation President Doug Nelson at a dinner during the September board meeting in Hartford. The annual Rama Ramanathan award honors outstanding individuals who demonstrate extraordinary leadership and service while improving the lives of young people in foster care. It is named after the former vice president and chief financial and operations officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation who retired from the foundation in 2001, who wrote a letter, saying: "...Kate has been responsible in establishing and running the administrative part of Jim Casey from day one." Lee was stunned by the award: "I absolutely didn't expect it," she says. "Rama is a man of the highest ethical standards. I have so much respect for him. This is such an honor. It was a good thing Gary stuck a wad of Kleenex in my hand beforehand!"

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Youth Testify On Capitol Hill as Researchers Present New Findings on Aging Out

On Dec. 12, J.J. Hitch and Priscilla Davis, young adults who aged out of foster care in Michigan and San Diego respectively, testified about their "aging out" experiences during a briefing on Capitol Hill. Researchers from Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago presented their findings from a longitudinal study of young adults who aged out of care in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. The study shows that youth who are allowed to remain in foster care past age 18 are more likely to go to college. Extending care to age 21 might also increase earnings and delay pregnancy, according to the study, which is the most comprehensive examination of youth leaving foster care since the passage of the 1999 Foster Care Independence Act, known as the Chafee Act. However, when compared to adolescents not in foster care, youth aging out of the child welfare system are faring poorly as a group. "It's hard when you don't have parents who love you," said Hitch. "It sets us back. There are several things that have helped me succeed. I'm crowd surfing on my support system because I'm not strong enough myself." To learn more about the study, please visit www.chapinhall.org

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Young Woman Atlanta Testifies About Losing Health Insurance As She Aged Out

During a Congressional hearing in November, Sherena Johnson, a young woman who has served on the youth board of Metropolitan Atlanta's Youth Opportunities Initiative, passionately testified about her medical struggles when she lost health insurance when she "aged out" of foster care at 18. She urged House members to extend Medicaid coverage to age 21 for youth from foster care. "The state of Georgia was my parent for many years," 22-year-old Sherena shared at the hearing. "Consequently, it would help youth transitioning from foster care so much if my parent–the state of Georgia–stepped up to the plate and assume its parental role. Medicaid until age 21 would be a first step to helping former youth in foster care, young people like me, become healthy, self-sufficient, productive individuals as we receive the help we need for physical and emotional problems."

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Michigan's Jen Leedy Uses Pageants to Raise Awareness about Foster Care

Jen Hope Leedy, a participant in the Michigan Youth Opportunity Initiative site in Macomb County, Mich., came home from the 2008 Miss Michigan USA pageant in September with the "Miss Photogenic" award.

"I was so shocked," said Jen, 20, a sophomore at Macomb Community College. "It was my first pageant, and never in a million years did I think I would get an award like that. It's one of only two awards besides the actual title, so I was really happy."

Jen liked the pageant experience so much that she has decided to enter one or more of the pre-qualifying pageants for the Miss Michigan title, an entirely different competition. Winning the Miss Michigan title would enable her to compete in the Miss America pageant.

"The Miss Michigan and Miss America pageants are not as much beauty pageants as the Miss Michigan USA one," she says. "There's a talent component, and I can have my own platform. I'm probably going to sing 'On My Own' from Les Miserables. And my platform is 'to be a support and take a stand for youth transitioning out of the foster care system.'"

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Video Opens Doors for Youth From Foster Care, But Doesn't Break the Bank

The Initiative's site in Nashville, Fostering Success, wanted a compelling way to tell its story to funders, business leaders, policy makers and the media. But the trick was how to do that on a shoe-string budget. That didn't deter Kim Crane Mallory, project director. In just a few short months, she and her husband created a short video that not only showcases the personal stories of a diverse group of youth, but also tells how people can offer opportunities for youth in foster care. Mallory involved youth in the video and guided them with questions in advance while keeping their stories as unscripted as possible. She used her own professional contacts to produce the video. Through her experience of producing a video, Mallory has tips for other sites thinking about a similar project:

• Use smaller local production companies which can be much more affordable than bigger ones.
• Tap the expertise and connections of community partnership board members and other partner agencies.
• Use a freelance filmmaker. Turn Here, Inc., http://www.turnhere.com/, is a company that has developed a national network of freelance filmmakers who often are more affordable than mainstream companies.
• Check out web sites that offer free or inexpensive photos, such as, http://www.sxc.hu/home.
• Find free music through web sites such as Freeplay Music, http://freeplaymusic.com/, which provides royalty free music to non-profits and educational programs.

"Creating a video may seem like a daunting task," Mallory said. "But there are many ways to save money and use creative techniques to create a personal and purposeful message."

To view the Fostering Success video, please visit http://www.fosteringsuccess.org/fosteringsuccess/news.aspx.

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Initiative Grantees and State Child Welfare Officials Meet in San Antonio

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative hosted the first Fall Convening for Initiative grantees and child welfare officials. The purpose of the meeting was for attendees to improve results for youth transitioning from foster care, build consensus on statewide implementation and sustainability, strengthen partnerships, develop strategies for using state policy, practice and funding to take the Initiative approach to scale and gain an understanding of the range of resources to support the efforts and build capacity.

The convening featured updates and future goals of the Initiative presented by Gary Stangler, executive director and Leonard Burton, chief operating officer. States attending were: California, Iowa, Michigan, Tennessee, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia and Colorado. State groups were able to meet and have discussions about present implementation and gain new ideas and insights from their peers. A panel of young people presented on the role that they can play in working toward statewide implementation and how to engage youth.

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Intern on Capitol Hill with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute!

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute is offering an exciting opportunity for young adults who were in foster care at the time of their eighteenth birthdays or who were adopted after their fourteenth birthdays. The Foster Youth Internship is a challenging, full-time, eight-week program for college students who have completed four semesters by May 28, 2008. The 16 interns will work in the Washington, D.C., offices of members of Congress. Interns will work directly with legislative assistants, researching various issues, and attending Congressional briefings and hearings. Interns also will be paid a small stipend to cover daily expenses. The internship pays for other major expenses, such as transportation to D.C., housing, and transportation to and from internship activities. Interns must reside in the D.C. area during the internship at the prescribed university. Students should have excellent writing and research skills and an interest in the legislative process. Students in all degree programs are encouraged to apply. Applications must be postmarked by January 4!

For more information, visit: http://www.fosterclub.com/transport/application.pdf (PDF, 88KB)

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Senator Hillary Clinton Proposes IDAs for All Youth from Foster Care

On Nov. 13, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to provide individual development accounts to youth "aging out" of foster care, which have been a key tool used in Initiative sites. Co-sponsored by Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., the Focusing Investments and Resources for a Safe Transition (FIRST) Act would provide savings accounts for youth that include federal deposits matched by public and private community partners. These individual development accounts would create crucial financial support for youth as they prepare for independence from the child welfare system.

"Through Opportunity Passports™, the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative has seen the extraordinary impact that individual development accounts have on youth aging out of foster care," said Executive Director Gary Stangler. "This legislation would greatly expand the opportunity for all youth aging out of foster care to build financial stability for their futures."

Research shows that youths aging out of foster care fare worse than their peers in the general population on a variety of social, educational, and health indicators, including educational attainment, employment and homelessness. Research also shows that youth from foster care need improved life skills education to be independent after aging out of the child welfare system.

The FIRST Act (S.2341) would help youth build savings specifically for overcoming obstacles to independent living. After transitioning from foster care and completing money management training, youth could withdraw their savings to pay for necessities such as educational opportunities, vocational training, and housing - elements critical for achieving self-sufficiency.

"This legislation will provide a bridge to adulthood for some of our most vulnerable young people," Sen. Clinton said. "I will continue to advocate for them and for this bill."

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January 28 - February 1, 2008, Chadwick Center for Children and Families hosts the 22nd Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment in San Diego. For more information, visit http://www.chadwickcenter.org/conference.htm

February 25-27, 2008, The Child Welfare League of America will host its 2008 National Conference in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.cwla.org/conferences/2008nationalrfp.htm

February 28, 2007, The Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA) will host its 6th Annual Public Policy Institute in Washington DC. For more information, visit http://www.ffta.org

March 2-4, 2008, Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc. will host its 2008 annual conference in Baltimore. This year's theme is about youth aging out of foster care. For more information, visit www.blackadministrators.org/cfp/dsp_overview.cfm

April 20-23, 2008, The National Indian Child Welfare Association will host its 26th annual Protecting Our Children National American Indian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect conference in Minneapolis. or more information, visit www.nicwa.org/conference.

May 12-16, 2008, The National Foster Parent Association will host its 38th Annual Education Conference in Atlanta. For more information, visit http://www.nfpainc.org/content/?page=Conference%20Information

May 14-16, 2008, The National Resource Center for Youth Services at the University of Oklahoma will host the Pathways to Adulthood 2008, National Independent Living/Transitional Living Conference in Pittsburgh. For more information, visit http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/conferences.shtml.

June 7-10, 2008, The Court Appointed Special Advocates will host its 27th Annual National CASA Conference in Washington DC. For more information, visit http://www.casanet.org/conference/index.htm.

July 13-16, 2008, The Foster Family-based Treatment Association will host its 22nd Annual Conference on Treatment Foster Care in The Woodlands, Texas. For more information, visit, http://www.ffta.org/conference/.

September 15-17, 2008, The Child Welfare League of America is hosting a Western Region Training Conference in Portland. For more information, visit http://www.cwla.org/conferences/default.htm

September 2008, The Daniel Memorial Institute will host its 21st Annual National Independent Living Conference called "Growing Pains 2008" in Orlando. For More information, visit http://www.nilausa.org/upcomingn.htm

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