Fostering Teens Voices

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Fostering Teens Voices

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Fostering Teens Voices is a social justice movement for children in the foster care system who live in a group home, residential treatment center, or mental institution.

09/06/2024

Let’s talk about the importance of giving young people access to technology.

Can you imagine being 13 to 18 years old and not having a cell phone? If you’re a foster child, you’re probably the only kid in your class without one.

It’s unacceptable for the foster agencies or child welfare system to say, “Nah. Too dangerous.” Child welfare leaders need to figure it out. That’s the job.

So whether it’s creative using passwords on and off, whether it’s different child by child, we need to figure it out. On April 17, 2020, the Children’s Bureau released a letter to the child welfare field on allowable use of funds during the national emergency for the purchase of cell phones.

However, not every child will be able to use their cell phone. Why? Because under the reasonable and prudent parent standard, a caretaker can explain that a cell phone is not in the child’s best interest or safety.

Using their judgments to determine, a cell phone is distracting the child from participating in program services. If the child wants to use their cell phone, they have to earn it. Or describing the child as a flight risk, because they have a history of running away.

And there are risks and fear that come that are counter-intuitive to the task they’ve been assigned. Congregate care tries to make kids “safer” and “safer” and “safer” by stripping that normalcy from them. We need to re-insert those normal activities in their day-to-day life.

If you are in congregate care, sometimes having a digital copy of your contacts is sometimes impossible. Making it hard to keep in touch with peers, family members, faith communities, or influential relationships.

As youth stay in the foster care system, they tend to shuffle between multiple foster homes and institutions and when that happens social workers, lawyers, therapists, and case managers change. Keeping a record of their support system’s contact information, extension number, and email, is especially important for young people in order to advocate for themselves and to reach out when they need help.

👉🏽 To help you get started, click the link in bio to download the free phone book. ☝️

09/04/2024

Did you know Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs) and the Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) in California face significant regulation gaps?

👉🏽 Federal Oversight: The federal government has minimal direct oversight over STRTPs. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) impacts these programs, but it doesn't mandate comprehensive regulations for residential facilities.

👉🏽 State Regulation: In California, STRTPs are regulated by the CCLD under the Department of Social Services. Despite progress, oversight and enforcement vary, leading to inconsistencies across regions.

👉🏽 Educational Quality: California mandates educational services in STRTPs, but concerns persist about the consistency and quality of these programs. Monitoring is sporadic, potentially compromising educational standards.

👉🏽 Tracking Abuse Allegations: No comprehensive national database tracks abuse and neglect allegations across residential programs, including STRTPs. While states like California do track these incidents, a unified national system is lacking.

👉🏽 Program Database: The absence of a national database listing all residential programs, including STRTPs, complicates efforts to track program existence, quality, and compliance.

In summary, California’s regulations for STRTPs face challenges, reflecting broader systemic issues in residential care for children.

07/06/2024

Teenagers Are the Most Difficult to Foster 🌟

Media often portrays teenagers as challenging or even dangerous to foster, but this stereotype is unfair.

Each teenager has unique skills and strengths waiting to be nurtured.

Many teens feel this way due to the instability and lack of love they've experienced—moving from foster home to foster home, changing schools frequently.

It's tough on any child, especially teens.

The foster care system urgently needs more parents willing to embrace teens, teaching them essential life skills while providing the stability they crave.

Let's give these young adults the space to experience and process their emotions.

👉🏽 Have you considered fostering a teenager?

👉🏽How do you think we can better support teens in foster care? 🤔

07/04/2024

Group Homes Harm Kids 🔐👮 👮‍♂️

This is one story among many. Kaylah McMillan's narrative highlights the devastating impact of group homes within the foster care system, revealing a cycle of hardship and neglect experienced by numerous young individuals.

Removed from their homes and communities, these children often face environments akin to prisons, marked by isolation, limited privacy, and substandard living conditions.

For many, the educational journey is marred by disruptions and neglect, with inadequate support hindering their academic progress.

The emotional toll is profound, as they navigate through institutions ill-equipped to nurture their mental well-being or prepare them for independent adulthood.

👉🏽Have you considered the lasting effects of congregate care on children's development?

👉🏽 How can we advocate for reforms that prioritize the holistic well-being of foster youth?

🎨Artwork by

07/02/2024

When children are taken from their homes, it’s understandably terrifying and confusing.

But the trauma often doesn’t start or end with removal.

The effects from foster care can be profound and long-lasting, impacting physical health, self-esteem, coping skills, academic performance, and relationships.

Research reveals children with trauma histories are twice as likely to face long-term issues such as:

• Long-term physical, psychological, & substance abuse issues
• Poor physical health
• Lower adolescent self-esteem
• Fewer coping skills
• Poor school performance
• Less self-regulation
• Weakened critical thinking
• Reduced self-motivation
• Inability to build healthy relationships
• Twice as likely to be arrested or criminally charged as adults
• 60% more likely to have alcohol-abuse problems
• Twice as likely to struggle with gambling
• Increased aggression
• Increased withdrawal
• Increased cognitive difficulties

It’s time to wake up to these findings because they paint a stark reality: the foster care system often lacks accountability and a commitment to genuine support for bio-families and the kids they claim to 'save' from abuse.

👉🏽If we truly prioritize children's well-being, how can we hold accountable systems that research suggests may harm them? 🤔
Let's advocate for meaningful change and support for bio-families in need. 💪

06/26/2024

Without sufficient unconditional love, many youth blame themselves and become emotionally shut down. 💔

“I wanted to just be loved, that there was somebody to love me... Because I had people who said they loved me and then they disappeared.” 💬

Foster youth often realize that the staff’s care is conditional, leading to feelings of abandonment when staff leave. 😔

“The staff can quit and leave whenever they want. You can’t.” 💬

Moving from placement to placement, many youth believe love is contingent on their behavior, becoming self-critical and hard on themselves. 😢

“Honestly, if I could go back and change something, maybe I would have changed the way I acted as a child.” 💬

This emotional letdown makes youth shut down when they realize they won’t get the love they crave in a group home. 🏠💔

“It’s such a crap realization when you think you’re going to be loved and then you realize that it’s not gonna happen. I cried so much.” 💬😭

Let’s support these brave young individuals and help them find the unconditional love and stability they deserve. 🌈💖

👉🏽What do you think is the most important way to support foster youth emotionally?

Share your thoughts below! ⬇️

🎨 Artwork: Former Foster Youth ✨

05/28/2024

We believe children in foster care are mistreated, oppressed, and exploited because they are children.

Human dignity is humanity. And as human beings, foster children are created equal, young and old.

But when children live in institutions, their rights are violated every single day.

Children in congregate care are not treated with respect or compassion but are treated instead with extreme punitive measures that violate their rights to human dignity and respect.

We believe foster children, regardless of their
-age 👶
-behavior🤦
-gender 👦👧
-mental health disorder 🧠
-learning disability 📓
-physical disability 👩‍🦽
-sexual orientation 🏳️‍🌈
-or the color of their skin ✋🏽🖐🏾🖐🏿
— are unable to live with dignity and respect when they live in institutions.

✔️Treatment centers are not therapeutic.

✔️Treatment centers are modern-day orphan prisons that pretend to provide a home-like atmosphere.

✔️Treatments centers are not patient outcome-focused but financially focused.

✔️ Treatment centers ignore the quality of care they provide but focus instead on meeting licensing requirements.

✔️Treatment centers normalize physical violence by restraining.

✔️Treatment centers normalize psychological abuse where the aggressor (staffer) plays the role of an executive power ready to decide whether a resident in any given circumstance should be rewarded or punished for his/her behavior.

✔️Treatment centers normalize verbal abuse by blaming the child for being a bad kid, or "Why else would they be sent to residential?"

✔️Staff co-create an atmosphere of hostility and aggression.

✔️Staff and management co-create an atmosphere of gaslighting.

We believe family reunification is always in the child’s best interest.

And when that's not possible, kinship care is always the second best option— before placing children with non-kin, which can be traumatizing.

But worse than removing children from their biological families is placing children and youth in institutions.

We believe every child can receive treatment in an outpatient facility, where they can feel supported and loved while also living in a family home.

🎨

04/30/2024

Talking to foster parents, residential treatment counselors, case managers, and social workers:

Do you worry if your foster teen/residents can provide for themselves?

Are you fearful that they’re going to move out someday, but not be ready?

You can hope they will make it and have enough good people in their life to nudge them in the right direction.

People that they can talk to and connect with. But everyone knows hope is not a strategy. So you also need a really good plan.

Foster youth want a trusted adult in their life.

Many of them do not have any trusted adults in their life or very few they could be open with and share their deepest intimate thoughts and feelings with.

As I became that consistent person, every single day teenagers would test me to see if I was just doing this because I was getting paid to do it, or if I really cared.

A lesson I learned while working with kids in a residential treatment center is if they like you, they’re more likely to open up to you.

If someone trusts you, they’re going to allow you to help them.

So my job was getting them to like me, and it was easy for them to like me if I wasn’t all up and down in my own emotions and feelings.

And it was easy for them to trust me if I didn’t take things personally that they did.

See a lot of times, teenagers will make mistakes, will do things that seem like they’re personally trying to make our lives difficult.

But in actuality, they’re not trying to make our lives difficult at all.

We’re just so close to them, that we are getting the stress, anxiety, worries, and problems that they’re dealing with inside their own mind.

So, as I learned to better support them, I could talk with them.

I didn’t get myself caught up in competition with who’s right and who’s wrong.

I was able to figure out conversation, how to be able to connect with them.

We have to figure out some of the pathways to earn their trust, their respect, and if you earn their trust and respect, they will give you the freedom to have influence over them.

Encourage them to write down their goals and break them down into smaller goals by using a calendar.

👉🏽 Free download in bio!

03/30/2024

🌟 Advocating for Change: Addressing Youth's Lack of Love 🌟

Countless youths are affected by the fundamental issue of lacking love and care in institutional placements. Love and affection are not just luxuries; they're essential human needs, especially for children to thrive. Yet, many young people in institutional care don't experience the warmth and affection they desperately need.

In group homes, youths express feelings of neglect and loneliness, highlighting the failure to provide nurturing love crucial for their well-being. The absence of genuine love can deeply affect their emotional and psychological state. Staff shortages worsen the issue, leaving many youths feeling overlooked and neglected.

Many youths removed from their families due to perceived lack of care find themselves in institutions replicating or worsening the neglect they experienced at home. This unfulfilled longing for love perpetuates feelings of abandonment and confusion.

Studies emphasize the crucial role of love and affection in fostering healthy development, while research on orphanages abroad highlights the detrimental effects of institutionalization on children's well-being. Without unconditional love, youths face developmental challenges and psychological distress.

Every youth deserves love, acceptance, and value. We must advocate for systemic changes to prioritize the emotional well-being of youths in institutional placements. Let's ensure that all placements provide a loving environment where youths can thrive.

Join us in amplifying the voices of neglected youths and advocating for a future where every child receives the love and care they deserve. ❤️

07/18/2022

The foster care system takes children when they are young, separates them from their families and their roots, and strips them from their individuality. Taking them from their families they put them in group homes to replace the traditional family environment. Many children who lived in group homes, residential treatment centers, or mental institutions remember the coldness, the lack of any sort of nurturing environment.

There was no mother. No father. Nobody to come in and tuck you in at night and kiss you. Nobody cared for you when you were sick. Nobody to read to you, or sing to you, or rock you, or see how you were doing.

No one asked you "how your day was?" or told you they "loved you." And by doing this, they’d go out into the world with no clue of who they were. They also wouldn’t know how to love, because, during the most important years of childhood when you’re learning how to love and be loved and show love and give love, they had nothing.

By the time a foster child leaves the system, their broken. Group homes, residential treatment centers are like, “We’re done with you. We have sufficiently broken you. We’ve sufficiently left you a shell of the person you once were and now we don’t care what happens to you.”

Around the age of 18 foster care ends. You can choose to go to extended foster care until 21 or take the big leap and do it on your own. It’s really tough, especially if you’ve been in foster care for quite a while to want to jump into another program and be tied down. Some young people don’t want to be a part of the system anymore, but then they realize they do need help in that transition into adulthood.

Before they turn 18, foster children need a support system. A family where they can go. A place to call home. A place to put down roots. Fostering teens' voices believes no child should live without a family. 👨‍👧 👩‍👦 👪🏾

Find out where teens go if they aren't fostered by reading their stories!

📝 Get our latest blog posts from the link in bio or visit:

🌐fosteringteensvoices.com .

Address

Los Angeles, CA

Telephone

+13239891702

Website

https://fosteringteensvoices.com/

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