Victoria Wells can testify to the challenges posed when foster teens like herself turn 18 and are released from foster care. That\u2019s why she is an advocate for the Just in Time for Foster Youth program. (Courtesy of Just In Time for Foster Youth)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nVictoria Willis, 19, a former foster child and current employee of Just in Time, shared a different story.<\/p>\n
Willis was born in Madera, California while her mother was incarcerated. The young girl \u201chouse-hopped\u201d between relatives\u2019 homes until her mother was later released and the two moved to Florida to restart their lives.<\/p>\n
Soon after their move, her mother fell back into her old drug habits. Willis still recalls the day when men emerged from a black van to take her mother away from her. The next thing she remembered was her mom filling out paperwork \u2014 forms she now believes signed her away to the foster care system.<\/p>\n
After some time in a group home, a Florida family adopted Willis. For once, she was surrounded by what she called an \u201corganic\u201d family: a mom, dad, brother and sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I was in foster care there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But before her new family could solidify their plans to adopt Willis, she was forced to move back to California to live with her great aunt. And in her junior year of high school, Willis started living with her mother again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were days where she would tell me to go into the room, and her friends were coming over and we were going to get money,\u201d Willis said. \u201cShe still talked to me as a child then. At the time I was probably 17, and I knew what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough living with her wasn\u2019t stable, she gave me life and I tried everything I could to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, two years later, Victoria is a full-time student at San Diego State University. But even between earning her degree and working for Just in Time, she still views herself primarily as a former foster child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I am a foster youth before any other identity,\u201d she said. \u201cI never felt like I was ever in a traditional family, even before I was in care.\u201d<\/p>\n
An alarming number of former foster youths are at risk following their forced emancipation. According to The Cities, Counties and Schools Partnership, 40 percent to 50 percent of former foster youths become homeless within 18 months after separation from their families. Twenty-five percent end up in prison within two years.<\/p>\n
Only 1 percent to 3 percent of former foster children earn a college degree, and 60 percent of those who do have jobs earn wages of less than $6,000 per year.<\/p>\n
The largest gap for transitioning foster youths is connection, Wells said. They endure detachment from their families, movement between numerous homes and lack of experience with self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey leave foster care not trusting relationships, not thinking their relationships are lasting, not thinking that people follow through on their promises \u2014 starting with their parents,\u201d he said. \u201cA big part of what we do is try to change that perception.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just in Time\u2019s first contact with former foster youths doesn\u2019t always happen immediately after they turn 18. The young adults often wait until they\u2019re in trouble with the law or even homeless before they seek help, Wells said.<\/p>\n
The organization offers programs such as meeting basic needs, finding a home, managing finances, getting an education and building a career.<\/p>\n
While many agencies focus on providing tangible supplies to former foster youths, Wells stressed the importance Just in Time places on youths establishing and maintaining a community with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can get all the resources in the world, but if you\u2019re still disconnected, you\u2019re still struggling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For more information about Just in Time for Foster Youth, visit jitfosteryouth.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u2014Tori Hahn is a freelance writer from San Diego. Reach her at torihahn@cox.net.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tori Hahn<\/p>","protected":false},"author":803,"featured_media":250292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"When teens 'time out' of foster care","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-250291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/803"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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