Gary Stangler

May means the azaleas are blooming and another season of Cardinals baseball is underway. But May also represents an important month in the child welfare world – it's National Foster Care Month, a time to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of young people in our nation's foster care system and 24,000 who "age out" every year. This year, National Foster Care Month actually celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the annual campaigns on behalf of America's youth in care. I know the real celebration will come when our country has dramatically reduced the number of children in the foster care system and every young person "aging out" will be connected to a family to support the transition to adulthood. Until that day, please try to do something this month to help a youth in care or raise awareness in your community about your local foster care system.

In this issue of the e-Update, you'll learn more about National Foster Care Month and also about the Initiative's data on youth housing outcomes and an innovative Atlanta program helping youth at risk of being homeless find housing. You'll also learn more about the fascinating personal background that Chapin Hall Center for Children researcher Gina Samuels brought to her recent study about young people's quest for permanent emotional connections to caring adults.

Happy spring!

• Chapin Hall Researcher Shares Back Story of 'Reason, Season or Lifetime' Study
• Youth Play a Major Role in Last Week's National Convening on Youth Permanence
• National Foster Care Month Celebrates 20 Years of Raising Awareness
• Housing Challenges Youth Aging Out; Atlanta Program Offers Promise
• San Diego Youth Honored for His Music with a Mission
• After 40 Years in Michigan's DHS, Jim Nye Retires; Elevated Youth Voices
• Upcoming Conferences

Chapin Hall Researcher Shares Back Story of 'Reason, Season or Lifetime' Study

by Martha Shirk

Gina Samuels

It's not often that a scholarly study takes its title from pop culture. But the more that child-welfare researcher Gina M. Samuels thought about what to call her study of youth in foster care's social relationships, the more she kept coming back to the words in a poem that many youth cited when asked who the important people were in their lives.

"God brings people in your life ... sometimes just for that ... small season," said one young woman who is called Becky in the study.

"I love meeting new people all the time. 'Cause you know they make such a ... difference in your life, whether they're here for a season or here for a lifetime ... they're really here to give you something," said "Jessica."

"Realistically ... I'm thinking there's gonna come a point where, you know, people are in your life for a season, and the season is gonna be up one day," said "Condoleeza."

"The more I encountered the phrase, the more I realized that I'd seen it somewhere before," said Samuels, an assistant professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. "I started asking around, and nobody over 45 had heard of it, and everybody under 25 had seen it online."

It turns out that "People Come into Your Life for a Season, a Reason or a Lifetime" is the title of a poem by an unknown author that is widely quoted on the Facebook and MySpace pages of many 20-somethings. "Reason, Season or Lifetime" is also the title of the debut album of vocalist Kai Alece, and found in the title of numerous self-help books as well. In deference to the way the phrase resonated with the subjects of her study, Samuels titled her report, "A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime: Relational Permanence Among Young Adults with Foster Care Backgrounds." The study was commissioned by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. "It is an important contribution to our understanding of how the circumstances and histories of older youth should shape our policies and our practice," said Gary Stangler, executive director of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. "The engagement of the youth in their transition out of foster care should be at the center of our efforts to connect them to families."

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Youth Play a Major Role in Last Week's National Convening on Youth Permanence

"Having a lifelong family made the difference as to who I am"–Mary Lee Kimmins, law school student and former Opportunity Passport™ participant

The 2008 National Convening on Youth Permanence "Families for Life: Powerful, Possible and a Priority for Youth in Foster Care," was held May 1-2 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC. Sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services and Casey Family Programs, this convening was attended by more than 600 participants, including child welfare state administrators, policymakers, youth and young adults, birth parents, media, and foster care stakeholders.

Youth had a true voice in the convening and set the stage for the workshops and activities over the two days. Attendees heard what is working and what it will take to advance the critical work of establishing lifelong families. Workshop topics included: Engaging Youth as Advocates and Advisors to Achieve Permanence, Engaging Birth Parents and Family Members as Resources for Older Youth, Youth Voices in Court Hearings, and Addressing Racial Disparities in Achieving and Sustaining Family Permanence for Youth in Foster Care.

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National Foster Care Month Celebrates 20 Years of Raising Awareness

With the theme, "Change a Lifetime," National Foster Care Month is celebrating 20 years of raising awareness about America's 513,000 youth in foster care because their families are in crisis. National Foster Care Month heightens visibility for the issue and provides a strong outreach and recruitment platform for individuals and organizations to support children and families throughout the year. Every May for the past two decades, National Foster Care Month has encouraged people to get involved in the lives of these youth — whether as their foster parents, volunteers, mentors, employers or in other ways. It is now time to Change a Lifetime of someone in foster care.

Casey Family Programs leads a partnership of 17 national organizations, including the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, representing more than 250,000 individuals and providers. Today, the campaign spotlights the importance of helping youth in foster care make permanent connections to caring adults.

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Housing Challenges Youth Aging Out; Atlanta Program Offers Promise

Widline and Alelia Mompremier

Widline Mompremier, 22, was in foster care from age 13 until 21, living in group and foster homes. Then, she moved into a shelter for homeless teens in Atlanta with her young daughter, Alelia. "I didn't know what I was going to do when I left the shelter," she says. "I didn't have any where to go."

Luckily, Widline had a good option. She was able to participate in the Making My Way Home program, an innovative project of the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Opportunities Initiative (MAYOI) that offers substantially subsidized apartments for youth transitioning from foster care who are at risk of becoming homeless. "For most of these youth, housing has been an inconsistent issue," says Mischellette Yisrael, the Making My Way Home case manager at Nicholas House, Inc., in Atlanta. "The program offers stability to young people at risk of being homeless and provides an opportunity for them to focus on other areas of their lives."

Finding safe and affordable housing remains a huge issue for young adults who lose their place to live when they age out of foster care at 18. Initiative data from Opportunity Passport™ participants who completed surveys shows that of those in care, less than a third reported that they had a housing plan leading to safe, stable, and affordable housing. Unfortunately, that number didn't change over time – with 30 percent reporting no housing plan when they first completed surveys in 2002 and only 31 percent reporting no housing plan when they completed surveys in 2006. Several sites have interpreted this finding to mean that many young people do not know they have a plan. These sites are currently working with their state agencies to make needed modifications to policy and practice.

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San Diego Youth Honored for His Music with a Mission

Wesley Davenport

Wesley Davenport, Youth Advisor for the Initiative's San Diego site – LEAP (Leadership Empowers All Possibilities) – was honored recently for his music that is being used in trainings for new social workers to help convey the feelings of youth in foster care. Davenport was honored at the STARS breakfast sponsored by the San Diego County Commission on Children Youth and Families and other partners to honor community champions. Davenport's award was for youth leadership, which honors a youth leader's work commitment to supporting and protecting children and youth in our community. Davenport also performed his music at the STARS breakfast. County Supervisor Greg Cox and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis opened the April 28 event at the Hilton San Diego Resort and highlighted the fact that San Diego has been chosen to pilot many evidence- based programs, including Family Finding and programs concerning abused and neglected children at the Chadwick Center at Children's Hospital in San Diego.

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After 40 Years in Michigan's DHS, Jim Nye Retires; Elevated Youth Voices

Jim Nye

After nearly 40 years at Michigan's Department of Human Services, Jim Nye is retiring. He has spent the past 11 years as director of field operations where he has worked closely with the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI), building a relationship between the state agency and the nonprofit. In his DHS post, Nye made MYOI a top priority. "He saw the Jim Casey work as an important initiative because he sees the benefits of supporting youth whom we take into our care," said Susan Kelly, senior director of strategic consulting at Casey Family Programs.

Over the years, Nye saw many changes in Michigan's child welfare system, but one that stands out most is the department becoming more involved in working with youth aging out of foster care. "It makes no sense to think that at 18 something is going to snap and everything is okay and that a kid has all the resources he needs," said Nye. "That doesn't happen in any family situation, let alone foster care." Nye pushed for mentoring programs and was involved in setting up a state Medicaid plan that provides automatic coverage for youth aging out until they are 21. In Northern Michigan, educational planners also were established to help provide youth in foster care with opportunities. Nye also is proud of the creation of student internships within the agency with youth making recommendations and advising on policy and youth transition issues. "Jim Nye is a quiet leader," said Dan Cowan, MYOI's family-to-family manager. "He is the one who recognized right away that youth had a voice."

In the past decade, Nye pushed to give youth the opportunity to speak in front of legislators because he believes their voices are most effective. Nye organized travel arrangements and helped the youth work on their presentations for the governor.

Nye said the best part of his job has been hearing that he made a significant difference in someone's life. But he's also made a profound difference in Michigan's child welfare system. "Jim has affected operations in the DHS like few other people have. He is a bridge-maker of transitions," said Kelly. In his retirement, Nye plans to continue to spend time with youth, particularly at his grandson's sporting events.

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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 a 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 3-6, 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.

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.

October 31-November 2, 2008 Casey Family Programs is hosting the 2008 It's My Life Conference in Hollywood, Calif. For more information, visit http://www.casey.org/Resources/Projects/ItsMyLife/

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