Approximately 20,000 of those youth (from U.S. foster care) age-out each year without positive familial supports or any family connection at all. Within 18 months of emancipation 40-50% of foster youth become homeless.
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Having been a foster parent, it is extremely difficult to turn a young person around who gets thrown into the system over the age of 5-6. They have usually seen more things than we can imagine and they don't forget them. Taking on troubled teens taught us that most are simply biding their time. Once they turn 18, they know there is nothing we can do and like most kids, they think they are smarter than us and can do their own thing. Yes, it is heartbreaking.
Love and patience can overcome most, if not all issues for little ones. Teen-agers, especially, with all the problems in the school system-that's a tough nut. And then, there are the prescribed drugs. May I ask you a question? How many children did you take in? And how often were they each given visits from their social worker a year? How often did they see a therapist? Did you feel supported on your end in your efforts to help them? Thank you kindly.
Ours came from a private foundation. These children were about one step away from juvenile detention. Yes, they had weekly counseling and the support system for the parents was very good. I don't recall any medications, but the last one had COD & ADD and they didn't tell us. He nearly drove us crazy and having to send him away was the worst thing I've ever had to do. It was then, along with starting a new business, that I knew I wasn't cut out to do this. We had 5.
That's heart-breaking. Lack of information about the child's experiences before they get to a care-giver is another failure in the system.
❤to you for doing what you could❤