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By Richard Hooks Wayman
August 16, 2009
Reading 1:
“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great
intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those
who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change.
Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot
of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a
tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a
current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and
resistance."
- Robert F. Kennedy
Reading 2
“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing,
and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child; for more are
the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,
saith the Lord.” Isaiah 54:1
My name is Rich Hooks Wayman and I serve as an advocate and policy
analyst with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. I’ve worked
with vulnerable children and youth for over 18 years. I’ve worked as
a legal aid lawyer for children, a nonprofit director or street
outreach services to youth, authored state policy to benefit
homeless youth, and now work on federal legislation. I was 26 before
I learned that there were youth sleeping in the streets.
In my first year out of law school, I moved to Minneapolis and met a
young gay man named Peter Bull. Peter asked me if I ever walked the
streets at night – I said no. He took me on a journey and showed me
where youth were sleeping on the streets. I met a 15 year old girl
who was sleeping outside a building and who told me that she ran
away because her dad routinely beat her. While I talked with her, I
watched her eat a sandwich she had gotten out of a dumpster. I also
noticed that she had cuts on her arm from self-inflicted wounds.
After that night, I more or less dedicated my work to ending youth
homelessness.
Americans don’t like to admit the fact that there are abused,
neglected, exploited and abandoned children in America. We don’t
talk about it much and we certainly don’t take a lot of time to plan
responses or find solutions. Today, however, I would like to take a
moment to share with you a little about what we know from research
and help frame solutions – to help us think of ways that we can help
vulnerable youth among us.
I carry a lot of sad stories about kids that have been harmed. I
want to honor their memory and journeys by sharing a few stories
with you today. The names are different but the stories are true.
Stories From Foster Youth…
• Dawn lived with her mom all her life. At age 14 her mom found a
new boyfriend who moved in – he raped Dawn when she was 15. When
Dawn told her mom, her mom told her that she was lying. The Mom
refused to work with child welfare services toward reunification.
• Renee was abandoned by her cocaine addicted mother at age 2. She
was moved across country and lived with her aunt until she was 15.
Renee started to act out by skipping school, coming home late, and
stealing. Her aunt told her that she had not adopted her and sent
her back to her state of origin to a shelter to away a foster care
placement. Renee knew know one and was sent to a foster home that
locked her out till 5 p.m. each day and refused to let her go to the
kitchen.
• Elliott age 12 was forced to have sex with his 7 year old sister
so his parents could video tape it and sell it to their friends.
• Danny had six different foster care placements in five years. He
finally found a nice mom willing to adopt him. He felt safe for the
first time in his life and came out to his new mom. His mother told
him that if he was gay she no longer wanted to adopt him and
instructed the other youth in the home to call him a fag.
• Tamika has lived in group homes since she was 13 and is now 18
with no family connections. She doesn’t have her diploma, is
diagnosed with depression, and has no where to live when discharged
from foster care.
Stories From Homeless Youth…
• Patrick drove a truck 1 hour each week to a food pantry so that he
could pick up enough food for his younger siblings – his mom and dad
were too addicted to meth to prepare meals for the children and
Patrick slept in the truck because his father beat him regularly
while high.
• Julie got pregnant and was tossed out by her mom. She was 15.
• Jamie was born with male genitals but at age 8 she began to wear
girl clothing. Her parents tried beating her straight and she was
removed from the home at age 10. After 14 foster and group home
residences in 6 years, Jamie now engages in prostitution on the
street.
• Lydia ran away from her small town with her older boyfriend to a
city 3 hours away. After a fight the boyfriend kicked her out of his
car. Outreach workers found her walking downtown with only a t-shirt in
30 degree weather
.
• Doug was forced into a mental hospital by his parents and no one
came to pick him up when he was discharged. He hitched a ride and
then rode trains across country panhandling for food and money.
• Tammie started her freshman year at a private college. She
experienced panic attacks and checked herself into a mental health
unit. Her parents came to check on her and were told that she was
struggling with school and being a lesbian. The parents asked that
she be committed to deal with homosexuality but the hospital refused
– noting that being a lesbian was not a mental illness. When Tammie
was discharged she found that her parents had taken her car, removed
all her belongings out of her dorm room, and stopped payments toward
her college. She spent her fist night in a shelter.
• Nadifa entire family was killed in the Somali civil war. She came
to America at age 12 with her new ‘mom’ – her mother’s best friend.
They lived in public housing. When Nadifa was 17 her mom died of a
heart attack. Public Housing evicted Nadifa because she was too
young to be on the lease – foster care wouldn’t take her because she
was almost 18.
• Mohammed ran away from a verbal and physically abusive mother and
slept on the streets and along the railway yards. He was beaten to
death with a large rock by a homeless man over an argument about a
missing $20 bill. Mohammed was 16.
What Do We Know About Foster Youth?
National data indicates that over 500,000 children and youth are
placed in an out-of-home foster care setting each year. Nation wide
there are only 150,000 licensed foster homes – creating a reliance
on institutional and group home care. Approximately 25,000 foster
youth age out of the system at age 18 or 19 each year and research
tells us that about one-fourth will become homeless within their
first three years of adulthood. Maryland has over 9,700 foster
children and youth but only a little less than 3,000 licensed homes.
The good news is that of the children that are adopted each year –
60% are adopted by their foster parents and 25% are adopted by
relatives.
What Do We Know About Juvenile Delinquents?
National data and research indicates that each year in America, 2.1
youth are arrested for delinquent and criminal behavior, and about
1.6 million are sent to a court hearing. From there about 330,000
youth are sent to a detention center, jail, or out-of-home
placement. Nearly a quarter million youth (250,000) are tried each
year as adults for serious criminal conduct- but research has shown
that the decision to try youth as adults is disproportionately
against African American youth and are not objectively confined to
the most serious of crimes. The good news is that (contrary to media
and stereotypes) juvenile crime has decreased by 25% since the early
1990s!
What Do We Know About Homeless Youth?: Research and Intervention
Framework
Homeless youth are typically defined as unaccompanied youth ages 12
and older (to 17, 21, or 24) who are without family support and who
are living in shelters, on the streets, in places not meant for
human habitation (e.g. cars, abandoned buildings), or in others’
homes for short periods under highly unstable circumstances (also
known as “couch surfing”). Youth homelessness is largely a
reflection of family breakdown, and youth often flee homes due to
abuse, neglect, severe conflict, and crisis. The number of homeless
youth is difficult to count for definitional and methodological
reasons, but estimates indicate that as many as 2 million youth are
homeless during the course of a year.
Research reveals a couple of key observations about homeless youth.
First, abuse, neglect, and family conflict are predominantly
identified as precursors to youth homelessness. Research finds that
40 to 60 percent of all homeless youth have experienced physical
abuse and between 17 and 35 percent have experienced sexual abuse.
Surveys of homeless youth often indicate that mental health and
substance abuse disorders of parents and youth often contribute to
escalating abuse and conflict to propel youth out of their homes
.
Youth often self-identify severe family conflict as the primary
reason for their homelessness. Some youth may be rejected and
abandoned by their parents due to their pregnancy, sexual
orientation or gender identity. It is important to acknowledge that
abuse, neglect, and rejection are not solely responsible for youth
homelessness. Poverty, lack of affordable housing, inaccessible
health care, and systemic racism are other factors that contribute
to homelessness of unaccompanied youth.
Research indicates that each year over 2 million 12 to 24 year old
youth will experience at least one episode of homelessness (one
night). The vast majority (70-80 percent) will return to their homes
and families. However, a sizable number of youth will be seen in
street environments (740,000 contacts each year). Unfortunately, a
lack of shelter and housing programs result in thousands of youth
being denied assistance. In 2008, shelter programs helped just over
43,000 and housing programs could only support 3,700 youth. Research
estimates that over 50,000 youth sleep on the streets of America
each year.
The homeless youth population is diverse and geographically
dispersed. Homeless youth include recent runaways, doubled-up youth
who are ‘couch surfing’ due to housing instability, shelter-using
youth, and street-dependent populations. Additional clusters within
the homeless youth population include the following groups:
• African American (3 times more likely to be homeless than white
youth) – American Indian (7 times more likely to be homeless than
white youth).
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth – a conservative
estimate is that 20% (1 out of 5) of all homeless youth
self-identify as LGBT.
• Mental Health (50% have a diagnosis which can include depression,
anxiety, or more serious psychiatric illnesses).
• Chemical Abuse (25% of all homeless youth have a history of
abusing alcohol or drugs, a smaller percentage are actually
dependent on alcohol or drugs).
• Parenting/Pregnant (10-15% of the homeless youth population are
girls that are pregnant or have given birth).
• Youth from Poor Families are disproportionately more likely to
become homeless.
What Works? - What kind of Intervention works to end youth
homelessness?
Recognizing the need for crisis intervention and prevention
activities, the National Alliance to End Homelessness encourages
community planners and youth services agencies to develop and
implement a service spectrum (Figure 1) with the following
components:
• Street and community-based outreach to link homeless youth with
appropriate services
• Prevention and early intervention services geared toward family
preservation
• Crisis emergency shelters with case managers seeking family
reunification
• Youth housing with positive youth development services
Foster Youth – Systemic Barriers to
Success as Young Adults
The U.S. foster care system is set up to protect children and youth
from abusive or otherwise adverse situations in the home. However,
the outcomes for youth after release from foster care are sometimes
disconcerting, especially in the areas of mental health, education,
employment and housing. These outcomes raise serious concerns about
the futures of the 542,000 children and youth who are in foster care
on any given day in the U.S.
Many foster youth receive poor services as ‘wards’ of state care.
Many foster youth experience multiple placements and numerous
disruptions to their schooling. One study found that more than 30
percent of foster youth experienced eight or more placements with
foster families and group homes. Sixty-five percent experienced
seven or more school changes between elementary and high school age.
Current and former foster youth are more likely than their peers to
experience substance abuse and mental illness, teen pregnancy, and
arrests. One study found that foster youth experience anxiety
disorders, depression, panic disorders, and social phobias at two to
four times the rate of the general population. Further, twenty-five
percent of emancipated youth experienced Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder – nearly double the rate of U.S. war veterans.
Every year, about 20,000 youth ages 16 and older transition from
foster care to legal emancipation, or “age-out” of the system, and
they are thrust out into society with few resources and numerous
challenges. 2 With no family or community supports to turn to during
difficult transition times, many youth have difficulty finding
employment and affordable housing. As a result, former foster care
children and youth are disproportionately represented in the
homeless population. Studies indicate that from 12 to 36 percent of
emancipated foster care youth will report being homeless at least
once after discharge from care.
There are problems, of course, with even receiving access to child
welfare services. Cases go through a screening process that may
result in abused or neglected children (including older teenagers
and homeless youth) failing to receiving support and services. The
process starts with a ‘Complaint” to child protection, which is more
than not likely to be made by school personnel. After a complaint is
received by the child welfare services, an investigation may be
granted. After an investigation, the case worker makes findings
which either substantiate the complaint of maltreatment or not.
Even
if a substantiated complaint is referred to child welfare services,
not all substantiated cases get services (like foster care and
family reunification/preservation services). All along this process,
children can slip through the cracks and be left with abusive or
neglectful families.
Existing Federal Programs Serving Foster Youth in Transition:
1. The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 established the Chafee
Foster Care Independent living Program (CFCIP). The Act broadened
services that could be provided to foster youth, including services
for youth up to age 21 who had already aged out of the system. The
services include education, training, employment, and financial
support. States may spend up to 30% of funds on room and board for
former foster youth, although many states fail to offer this level
of support.
2. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Act (PSSF) of 2001
authorized the Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) Program for
foster youth. This Act pays for postsecondary education and training
and related costs. ETV funds will grant the lesser between $5,000 a
year or the total cost of attending an institution of higher
education.
3. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) established new
emphasis on permanency planning. Youth have rights to work with
legal representatives to ensure that foster care is a temporary
placement and steps are taken to locate permanent families, even for
older adolescents.
4. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) does not solely serve foster
youth, but they may be prioritized for employment assistance and
training.
Recommendation to Federal Policy for Foster Youth:
1. Enact policies requiring no youth are discharged from foster care
without safe, stable housing. Create links between housing
authorities and local, community-based programs to leverage
resources.
2. Overhaul independent living preparation:
• Redirect existing federal and state funding to the most promising
life skills training programs and rigorously evaluate them.
• Each youth should have a comprehensive transition development plan
that includes…life skills assessment and development…housing, etc.
• Implement booster sessions that provide a toll-free number and
various fallback services to alumni after they turn 21. This could
include ongoing access to …housing search help well beyond the
current age limitations.
3. Strengthen housing programs and other supports to prevent
homelessness after leaving care.
• Encourage youth to develop and maintain lifelong relationships
with foster parents and other supportive adults so that alumni have
a place to go during difficult times. This may require aftercare
supports for foster parents.
• Reform systems to strengthen transitional housing and
public/community housing systems. …Alumni would benefit from these
new housing models that provide not only housing subsidies but also
home-based case management or other adult guidance…
4. Minimize placement change. Having fewer placement changes may
allow youth in care to develop better social support networks, which
will assist them to find employment and can serve as a safety net
when a youth encounters financial difficulties.
5. Optimize education services and experiences. Access to
supplemental education services and tutoring, and having a low
number of school changes decreased negative employment and financial
outcomes.
6. Provide youth who are exiting care with concrete resources.
Having more extensive preparation for independent living and a
critical mass of resources at exit decreased negative outcomes.
The child welfare system contributes to youth homelessness by:
• failing to respond to the needs of abused and neglected older
adolescents to receive out-of-home services,
• lacking resources to equip youth with life skills for
independent livings once emancipated from care, and
• failing to offer adequate housing and supportive services
through age 21 in most states for youth transitioning from foster
care or juvenile delinquency placements.
What Are The Challenges in the Juvenile Justice System?: - National advocates have cited the following areas for immediate
attention:
• Overcrowding, unsafe confinement
• Disproportionate representation of youth color (recognized by DOJ)
• Lack of adequate legal representation
• Status offenders locked up inappropriately
• Lack of mental health services
• Lack of educational services and coordination
What's the Good News from Congress? -
Congress has been very active in 2008 and 2009 enacting reform
legislation which will benefit abused and neglected children
children:
• Child Welfare Reform – Congress enacted the Fostering Connections
to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act in 2008 which:
(a) Allows
states to increase foster care services to youth up to age 21,
(b)
increased incentives to states to get youth adopted,
(c) provided
increased funding to accomplish kinship care placements (relative
care instead of foster families who are strangers to the child), and
(d) recognized that American Indian tribes could obtain federal
funding to deliver child welfare services.
• HUD gave new money to the Family Unification Program (FUP) –
Congress appropriated $20 million in FY2008 and FY2009 to help
secure over 6,000 Sec. 8 vouchers (rental assistance). These
vouchers are targeted to families who may lose their children to
foster care because they are homeless, and to youth aging out of
foster care (at age 18, 19) to avoid homelessness.
• National Housing Trust Fund – Congress enacted (as part of the
foreclosure reform legislation) a trust fund dedicated to building
and rehabilitating affordable housing across the United States. Now
Congress has to find the money to put into the National Housing
Trust Fund. However, this will be an important policy to increase
the supply of housing to low-income and poverty families, seniors,
and youth.
• Increased funding for YouthBuild and Community Service Programs –
Congress is investing new dollars into programs that offer youth an
opportunity to give back to their communities through paid
internships of community service and youth employment programs.
What is the Current Agenda in DC? – By Child and Youth
Advocates –
For Reforming Federal Policy:
Nonprofit organizations dedicated to policy analysis, community
awareness, and lobbying for children and youth are focused on the
following areas for 2010:
• Finance Reform in Child Welfare (focus funding incentives on
prevention and family preservation and not out-of-home placements)
• Reform and reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act (to address challenges noted above)
• Encourage states to care for foster youth up to age 21
• Increase youth housing program (appropriate sufficient funds to
assist 50,000 homeless youth annually – 10 times current level)
• Pass Juvenile Justice Re-entry Program to offer youth
transitioning from detention or group home care back to their
families and communities with support in education, employment and
housing.
• Home Nurse Program (new infants and mothers are visited by in-home
nurses – simple visits have lifelong positive outcomes for children
and family)
• White House Conference on Children (help President Obama focus on
priorities for children and youth).
What Can I Do To Help?
• Be the house on the block that welcomes youth and talks to
teenagers;
• Direct (Volunteer) Service Work with Nonprofit Organizations that
can offer a caring, positive influence on the lives of abused and
neglected children and youth;
• Mentor youth or mentor nonprofit staff that assist youth – help
youth find Career Building Opportunities
• Host Youth Cultural Event– teenagers often lack of sense of
community connection and would benefit from seeing adults in their
community planning, hosting events that benefit their development.
• Be an advocate – demand more resources from your State Legislature
and Congress.
Conclusion:
I often suggest that friends and family members who wish to visit us
in DC go to see Arlington Cemetery. Robert Kennedy’s grave site is
one of my favorite spots – because it has a small reflecting pool of
water – above it is the words from the reading today… Robert said,
“Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the
lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a
tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a
current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and
resistance."
Peter Bull was my first ripple by introducing me to a
simple walk that showed me youth sleeping on the streets in
Minneapolis. That one night has had a tremendous impact on my life.
I hope you believe that you can all do small and big things that
will have untold ripples on others and history. I hope some of those
drops and ripples are focused on vulnerable youth who remain in
out-of-home placements or sleep on the streets. Thank you for
letting me share my thoughts with you today.
Richard Hooks Wayman
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Member, Davies Memorial UU Church
View a Powerpoint presentation that accompanied this sermon
here. This
is a pdf file.
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