When it comes to financially supporting foster youth in their goal for a college education or job training, the Chafee Education and Training Voucher Program (ETV) is paramount.
Named after the late Sen. John Chafee (R-RI), the ETV was enacted in 2001 as part of the re-authorization of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Act. The goal was to support former foster youth as they strive to become independent adults. Continue reading
Transitional youth, youth in transition or youth aging out of foster care are all terms for a group of young adults in the United States who need special attention. After being in the foster care system due to neglect or abuse, these individuals now face another major challenge. Ms. Claudia Rowe of Crosscut.com wrote about a young woman named Lane, “She spent the three years from 18 to 21 trying, and failing, to find a foothold. She worked as a day laborer, dabbled with selling drugs then went back to couch-surfing. At 21, Lane won admittance to community college with a GED and full-ride scholarship, but soon dropped out, overwhelmed by the pressures of living on her own as an adult when she was, by most measures, still just a kid.” What if Lane had the opportunity for three additional years of support? Continue reading
Photo by Governor’s Office/Tim Larsen
In the United States, adoption is looked at very differently today than it was in previous years. Instead of being veiled in secrecy, more and more adoptions now take place as open adoptions. Childwelfare.gov defines open adoptions as a form of adoption that allows birth parents to know and have contact with the adoptive parents and the adopted child.For those adopted prior to this trend, a court order is needed in order to see one’s own birth certificate in most states.
On May 27, 2014, New Jersey joined the list of states that allows adoptees unrestricted access to their birth records. As reported by the Associated Press, open adoption records are also allowed in Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Continue reading
Imagine raising children as a loving couple, providing them with a safe and stable home and yet being unable to make legal decisions regarding their futures, including with whom they would live in the wake of an emergency and what medical care they would receive. In Michigan, unmarried couples are forbidden from jointly adopting children. Since same sex marriage is also forbidden, as pointed out on michiganmarraigechallenge.com, “children of gays and lesbians in Michigan are forbidden from having two legal parents.”
Michigan’s Adoption Code is now being challenged on the grounds that it is unconstitutional by Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer. The couple, who has been together for more than a decade. are raising three children together. As infants, the children were abandoned in the hospital where Rowse and DeBoer both work as nurses. Currently, DeBoer is the adoptive parent of two of the three children; Rowse is the adoptive parent of one. The couple, who are also licensed foster parents, want to jointly adopt their kids. Continue reading
Photo by Ricardo Santeugini
Kinship caregiver challenges are very similar to challenges faced by foster parents, but the emotional impact of raising a relative’s child is unique. While foster parents make a conscious, well-planned decision to take a child into their home, kinship caregivers often have to make the decision quickly and without preparation. Also, because the child is family, there are complex emotions that kinship parents must cope with, including being torn between the needs of the child they’re caring for and, in many cases, the wants of their own child.
There are many topics of concern that kinship caregivers face; here is a partial list: Continue reading
As announced in a previous edition of 
News From The Heart, Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) received a generous grant from the Dreams R Us Foundation in December 2013. Portions of these funds were dedicated to ease the burden on homeless youth in college in New Jersey. Certain statistics indicate that the numbers of homeless or transitionally housed youth has risen by over 50% in several years. Some governmental programs help pay for fees and tuition for homeless youth in college but do not provide finances for requisite textbooks or other educational requirements. Of course, like most things, the price of books has continued to rise over time.
“Textbooks are hefty bills that amount to a knot in my stomach and an injury to my savings, instead of incredibly interesting and useful resources,” explained one applicant to the Breaking the Housing/Textbook Barrier Initiative. Once the student’s application was approved, FAFS and the Dreams R Us Foundation received a note saying, “My textbooks are no longer reminders of the financial sacrifices I make to stay afloat in college. I see them as sources of expertise, a way to broaden my interpretation of the world, and what my future career opportunities can be.” Continue reading