Roots and Wings.

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.”(Hodding Carter, American journalist and rights activist).

But for children and youth who eventually “age out” of the foster care system, they have neither roots nor wings, yet they are still expected to fly without crashing.

There are long-term consequences of not having a permanent family to turn to as an adult, especially as a young adult. Stop and imagine for a minute what that would be like to have no grandparents, no aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, even siblings (as many are not kept together) to share life’s ups and downs with, to celebrate with, to rely on, to love and be loved back. Imagine that most of the experiences you have acquired are not all that pleasant and will heavily influence your adult years.

In a youth newsletter written by and for youth in foster care in B.C., a girl called “Milly” wrote:

Living in care presents several problems in my day-to-day life. To me, the hardest part is not having a “family”. By family, I do not mean people who are simply related by blood or marriage. To me, family is people who love and genuinely care about one another. Sometimes, I don’t feel like I have that.”

She is 14.

Also, there has been a substantial increase in children still living at home past the age when they are expected to move out. This is due largely in part to the economy, lack of well paying jobs, lack of access to education and/or affordable housing. According to government figures in North America, the proportion of men living at home in their 20’s has grown from 50 to 80 percent in the past 15 years, among women the rise has been from 41 to 50 percent. I guess former permanent youth in care better have to hope they are not among this “failure to launch” generation, as they will have nowhere to land. It is called “not achieving permanency”.

In the United States there is federal law requiring an intensive search for close and extended family members within the first month after a child enters foster care. We don’t have that here.

The Ministry for Children and Families is responsible for children in foster care, who range in age from young infants to youth of 18 years. I often think the name is an oxymoron. It’s nothing personal against the front line workers as they are overworked, have had their discretion taken away, caseloads are transferred too often, destroying continuity of care as young people experience multiple changes in their social worker. Many BC social workers have complained about not having the time to assess family needs and not having enough time and resources to find appropriate alternatives to placement in foster care, or to provide counseling and other necessary services.

As of September 2009, there were 8,677 children and youth in the Ministry’s care, which is just less than one percent of all children and youth in British Columbia. Aboriginal children and youth continued to be over-represented among children in the Ministry’s care, making up approximately 53 percent of the total, even though they constitute only eight percent of the total child and youth population in BC. Statistics show that older youth in foster care have remained in care for a disproportionately long (more than others) time compared to younger children, and their chances for achieving permanency have decreased as they get older.

There are options available when families are in trouble. Maintaining a child safely in the home with their birth family is still the first priority, technically, but again, often time and resources dictate a different outcome. Support is not always available for families prior to children being taken into care. Supports that, some point out, would cost the taxpayer less than the foster care system does.

Kinship care is the full time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives, members of their band, or any adult who has a kinship bond with a child or youth. It allows a child/youth to grow to adulthood in a family environment. The child is not under government care and the parent remains the legal guardian.

The 2007 statistics showed 1307 children in BC waiting for adoption. Of those, 42% were of aboriginal heritage, 74% were ages 6-18 and 44% were special needs, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder & hyperactivity, learning disabilities, attachment disorders, and developmental delays. What happens to these children when they age out of the system? I can tell you that the system for special needs adults who have no family support is not superb; you only have to look at the homeless situation to confirm it. You can get a current picture of who is in foster care and waiting for “permanency” by going to the Adoption Bulletin at http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/adoption/bulletin_external/profiles.htm. There is just cause to hope that many of them who have lost their roots will at least be given their wings.