Draft 2

Every year about 20,000 youth age out of the foster care system and enter into the real world to start a career, continue their education or begin a family. However, many struggle with this major transition. “Many are homeless, poor, have trouble maintaining regular employment, and struggled to fulfil their healthcare needs.” (Reilly). Growing up in a low-income area,[CG1] taught me to be very thankful for what I had and not take anything for granted. I remember going through the school system, many of my friends were on free or reduced lunch and other types of government assistance. One of my friends became homeless when she was only sixteen years old[CG2] , when her mother left her and her younger brother in the middle of the night. She had no place to turn and was completely on her own. Many of her friends, including myself, had no idea she was even homeless. After a few months of living alone, she found hope in our local nonprofit organization, Forward Paths. Forward Paths is a local organization that focuses on the homeless youth or youth just aging out of the foster care system. They provide housing, help individuals to develop job skills, and give them educational opportunities to help improve each individual’s life. My friend’s involvement has made me curious and has made me develop the research question; How has Forward Paths affected each individual in the program and impacted our community as a whole? My involvement makes me curious and developed my research question; How has Forward Paths affected each individual in the program and how it has impacted our community?

When one first hears about foster care, they are usually drawn to all the common negatives. Such as the idea that all children in the system are misbehaved or are a financial and physical burden to a family. However foster care is not that at all, “foster care is a temporary arrangement in which adults provide for the care of a child or children whose birthparent is unable to care for them. Foster care is not where juvenile delinquents go” (adopt.org). Children enter into foster care for numerous reasons such as a sick parent, death of a parent, parents can’t financially support the child, or the parents have entered into the criminal justice system. In 2015 over 670,000 children spent time in US foster care (childrensrights.org). Children on average remain in the foster care system for two years, only 6% stay in the system for more than 5 or 6 years. (childrensrights.org). The state provided for these children until they are either adopted or kicked out of the foster care system at the age of eighteen, which for many is in the middle of high school.

Various problems arise when leaving the foster care system. Leaving home at any age and under any circumstance is always difficult. For me the move to college alone was extremely challenging. I was all alone in a new town and knowing no one and not knowing where anything was located. I have always been extremely close to my mother so knowing that I was moving hours away from her and the only time I would be able to visit was breaks, was a very hard concept to grasp for me. Moving out of foster care comes with even more challenges. The article “Transition from Care; Status and Outcomes of Youth who age out of Foster care.” written by Thom Riley describes the difficulties many Youth leaving the foster care system face transitioning to life completely on their own. The lack of parental figures, positive reinforcements, job experiences and the constant moving adjustments play into why it is so hard. Many are faced with unemployment, are involved in criminal activities and face early homelessness. Today “between 10% and 40% of youth formerly in foster care were unemployed at the time of being contacted, and many had trouble keeping steady employment and 25% have been involved in criminal activities since leaving foster care” (Cook,1991; Courtney & Piliavin, 1998; Festinger,1983; Jones & Moses,1984).

In 1986 US congress enacted the Independent Living Initiative which pushed states to develop services which youth will receive once they leave out-of-home care. There the many independent living programs nationwide but the outcomes of these programs are unknown, youth are still struggling to enter the real world. These government programs were developed to make the transition for these youths easier, however sometime these programs are just not enough. Today one in 30 (almost 2.5 million) of K-12 children are now homeless in the US (Phillips). The US, although being one of the world most successful and developed countries has the world’s second highest rate of child poverty.

Forward Paths is a nonprofit organization that helps homeless youth’s and kids who are aging out of foster care. They are currently located in Leesburg; Fl. Many of its youth in the area on sometime of government assistance such as food stamps or welfare. Programs such as Forward Paths play a huge role in our community to help those who have nowhere else to go. They provide housing, help develop job skills and give them educational opportunities to help improve each individual’s life. “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to live up to their full potential. Our focus is on our community’s homeless youths and those who are aging out of foster care. We believe together we can create a path that leads to independence.” Forward Paths also hosts many events throughout the year. Because they are a nonprofit organization they work off of donations and grants. They host a yearly lunch in, dinners at the local church and this year had a bike Prom.

Denise Burry is the founder and Executive director of Forward Paths. She first began the organization at the end of 2012. Creating this organization was no easy process but it was extremely worth it. Denise began as a guardian ad litem when her and one of her close friends always wanted to do something to bring attention to what it was like for kids aging out of the system, After debating about the topic for over a year and then saw how one of the youth she represented was treated when signing up for the GED, she reached her absolute tipping point.

She leans on her friends and family for support when first beginning the organization. She has had her eldest son and two of her friends on the board for almost five years now. Maintaining an organization is never easy.