For Keeps News & Events

Listening Tour Highlights

The First Lady traveled across Virginia during the month of March 2007 conducting the For Keeps Listening Tour. At appearances in Chesterfield, Norfolk, Fairfax, Bristol, and Roanoke County, she heard from over nine hundred foster youth, foster parents, and child welfare professionals from across those regions. Each session provided opportunities for attendees to share ideas and common concerns, and they offered the First Lady and members of the For Keeps Steering Committee critical information about ways to improve outcomes for older youth in foster care.

Messages from Youth in Foster Care

Offer youth the opportunity to re-enter or remain attached to the foster care system until age 21.
Offer health insurance to those over 18 who are working or who opt out of care
Offer financial assistance with college beyond two years
Require that sibling groups have opportunity to maintain contact if they are not placed together
Offer youth opportunity to obtain a driver's license and assistance with purchasing cars and obtaining automobile insurance
Begin independent living programming at an earlier age
Foster care worker caseloads are too large to offer youth the attention they require
Many young people have informal adult connections that they perceive to be permanent -- may be a resource to child welfare professionals
Group homes -- "parenting by shifts" -- not the same as real parent
Youth in care may benefit from regular training on the program options available to them as they approach transition from foster care
Youth in foster care often develop stronger relationships with DSS agency staff than with foster parents
Offer older youth a handbook on foster care that helps them understand their rights and options
If reunification with biological parents is not an apparent option, agencies should aggressively explore other relatives
Provide youth in transition with local resource contacts that can help them if problems arise with housing, health care, employment, etc.
Offer older youth summer experiences that expose them to careers choices, colleges, and vocational training

Messages from Foster/Adoptive Parents

Parents and youth expressed concern with low reimbursement rates, clothing allowances, etc.
Require ongoing foster parent training to maintain certification
Foster parents may benefit from having "back-up families" that can offer respite for the youth and foster home. Possibly pair two foster homes to provided support to each other.
Adults in mentoring relationships with older youth appear to offer a good resource to youth in transition; some responded positively to suggestion of "permanent commitment" agreement
Foster parents want 24/7 crisis intervention services to diffuse challenging situations -- may prevent placements from failing
Offer adopted children financial aid for college that is similar to what is offered foster children
Virginia should adopt a foster parent Bill of Rights to ensure consistency across localities
Offer more vocational training and employment assistance to youth transitioning from care
Offer former foster youth priority housing assistance when they transition out of care
Provide foster parents with direct, toll-free access to Medicaid
Offer foster youth free college tuition, room and board in exchange for a commitment to work for the state upon graduation
Localities differ in how they prepare older youth for independence -- creates confusion for youth, especially if foster homes have youth from different localities

Child Welfare Professional's Input

Child welfare organizations need to operate with a fundamental belief that the children they serve have the potential to succeed and that all programs must focus on the child's needs
Foster and adoptive home recruitment is an ongoing challenge
Medicaid reimbursement rates for some services make it difficult for local agencies to access those services
Regard independent living program as a process, not a final destination in the foster care system
Placing older youth in distant congregate care settings undermines the potential for family reunification
Transition to adult MR system is difficult, especially if residential services are required
Local child mental health services are scarce in rural areas-- not a public system mandate
Local mental health and substance abuse service for adults are not consistently available
Transportation to services is a barrier in rural areas
Concerns expressed about the potential or perceived changes in adoption subsidy program
Finding adoptive families depends on relationships
Successfully reducing congregate care requires perseverance and child-specific solutions
The Interstate Compact process needs simplification to better access relatives in adjacent states
Dual certification of foster homes opens avenues for adoption
School stability is vital - Transition between schools needs to be simplified -- Require a uniform enrollment document that must be accepted by schools
Grandparents caring for grandchildren would benefit from a higher monthly stipend that is similar to a foster care rate
Recruit child welfare professionals or other helping professionals as foster parents
Faith-based and community organizations may be a resource to recruit families with interests in mentoring foster care alumni and providing a home for holidays
Support children retaining connections to their biological families
Provide regular periodic follow-up and support service to adoptive families to prevent disruption
Rural areas lack access to services for youth in foster care. Staff spends more time transporting youth to appointments. Youth are often placed in congregate care away from family and friends simply to access services that are not available in or near their home areas.
Local agencies can partner with civic groups to provide resources to pay for items (class rings, graduation costs) not covered by the foster care payments
Ask successful foster alumni to mentor youth in transition
Offer transitional services to youth returning to their biological families to support a successful transition

Program Practices/Ideas from All Participants

Offer paid adoption leave to state employees who adopt Virginia children
One locality has had good experience with mentor home program for youth in independent living; another is seeking mentors for youth going from group home to college
Some localities have had good experience with family group conferencing; other than that, limited experience with extensive child-specific recruitment
Engage biological families in Family Group Decision Making to maintain involvement in children's lives
Consider some form of open adoption in Virginia
PRIDE training for foster parents is growing in its use (with local modifications); support expressed for variations of PRIDE or other foster parent training
DSS agencies are finding promising andfind creative ways to supplement monthly payments for foster parents taking on extra challenges with older youth,
Post-adoption services would be helpful to ensure that the child is thriving in the home and prevent disrupted adoptions
Offer specialized services to children and foster families early in the placement to prevent disruption
A locality offers a Teaching Parent program where foster families mentor biological families -- in some cases, biological families share the foster home
A locality reported strong success with a specialized adoption program focused on teens
A locality developed its own therapeutic foster care program that it believes is more effective than what it previously purchased from private vendors
A program called "Beat the Odds" provides scholarships and other assistance to older youth in foster care
A regional group of localities stages "Real World' simulations with older youth to teach skills for independent living
A locality developed "Mentor Homes" that provide older foster youth a safe and stable home to learn independent living skills. They also provide transitioned youth a place to spend holidays or college breaks
One locality develops youth transition plans jointly with the local adult services system to ensure support is available to the youth