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Down by the lake, where the watermelons grow…

This past weekend, CCAI and our FYIs packed up and headed to Deep Creek Lake for a retreat outside of the city.  One of CCAI’s board members graciously opened their weekend home, and we could not have been more grateful for this opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle and the 100 degree weather of DC!  I can say without a doubt that I haven’t seen the interns have this much fun all summer–must be something about flying across the water on the back of a jet ski or bumping along the wake while tubing.  Whatever it was, it was the perfect recipe for fun!  At the close of the second night our host gave us a moon lit boat tour of the lake with a stop at the local creamery.  The interns left rejuvenated (and very sore from all the water sports) to return to DC and finish drafting their policy report.

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

The group in front of the house
Latasha and Sam
Jeremy, Nicole, and Chelsea taking a breather while tubing
The group not ready to leave

An Intern’s Reflections

     Currently, I am a student at the George Washington University, majoring in Criminal Justice. From the first moment of orientation, I heard that you can’t fully experience DC without being here for the summer. So far, this summer in DC has been an amazing experience. I was given the opportunity to finally see the various areas in DC and explore the sights without the stress of schoolwork hovering over my head. But I have also been given a chance to intern at the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. Thus far, it is one of the enthralling parts of my summer.

     As one of the programming interns, I have the pleasure of assisting with programs that deal with adoption and foster care. At the moment, I am working on one of the most significant events pertaining to child welfare in the nation, Angels in Adoption. In order for Angels in Adoption to be successful, I have to help make sure that members of the CCA as well as other members of Congress nominate an “Angel.” Angels are constituents that have dedicated their life to adoption and foster care and have done outstanding work related to this field. Day by day and phone call after phone call, at the end day helps us increase the awareness of child welfare in this country, as well as around the world.

       Hailing from Worthington, Ohio, I completely understand the need to increase the awareness of child welfare. In Ohio, there are about 14,000 children in foster care and 2,500 are awaiting homes. I believe that every child has a basic right to a safe and loving home. To know that not every child is being brought up by a loving family they can call their own is extremely heartbreaking. At the same time, there are many people capable of loving a child and looking to build their family. It is this connection that CCAI also helps develop. Another issue of great importance is the need to improve the foster care system. Many that age out of the system, lack the tools and education to be successful and fulfill their goals. The Foster Youth Program allows a select group of those that have been in the system to hold an internship as well as voice their concerns from personal experience on the foster care system in the United States.

     My fellow interns and the staff here all share the same passion to improve the foster care and adoption policies and so far it has been an amazing adventure. Working downstairs and making phone calls or sending countless emails, all matters. I have never once felt like I was done tedious or pointless work because we are all together working toward the same goal. To know that I am part of something bigger than myself, is incredibly rewarding.

–Sabah Siddiqui

“Well, it’s emanicpation season…”

A current member of our Foster Youth Internship program forwarded the article, “For Foster Care Teens, Graduation is No Celebration,” and thought that it highlighted the barriers that face foster youth aging out of the system.  Intrigued, I opened the article and was struck by the following:

It seemed like wherever I turned last week, emancipation was on someone’s lips.

I called Maya Durrett, program director at the San Francisco CASA Program, just to find out what her shop is up to lately. CASAs (court-appointed special advocates) mentor foster children and advocate for them in court.

“Well, it’s emancipation season,” she said.

The article goes on to discuss the many issues that transitioning foster youth face, such as “accessing employment opportunities, mental health services, school, substance abuse treatment and medical care.” Access to services that are already available. How many times do we as practitioners have to hear this before action is taken?  According to the “Midwest Evaluation on the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth,” when asked about receipt of services across six domains (Education, vocational training or employment, budgeting and financial management, health education, housing, and youth development) about one third or less of the youth reported having received the services.  A major reason for this is that youth are either unaware such services exist or misinterpret their eligibility to receive them. 

A particularly creative approach to fixing this very issue was presented in the report “Putting the ‘Foster’ Back Into Foster Care: Recommendations for Improving Foster Care and Adoption.”  In this recommendation, the 2008 Class of Foster Youth Interns thought “creating a federally supported, centralized website that contains all materials and information relevant to the needs of foster youth who are aging out of the system” would alleviate the information gap that currently exists between the youth in care and the services available to them.  The interns modeled this website after the www.AdoptUSkids.org website, which is administered by the Administration of Children and Families Children’s Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services, and provides information to perspective adoptive parents about the children waiting to be adopted from foster care around the county.  FosterUSKids.org could provide detailed information regarding relevant Federal and State programs, child welfare advocacy agencies, as well as a host of non-profit and community organizations dedicated to serving foster youth.

Maybe once FosterUSKids.org is created, we will stop viewing “emancipation season” as a time of disconnection and despair, rather as a time of continued connection to a lifelong support network.

-Chelsea Cathcart, CCAI’s Director of Programs

The Beginning of Summer – 2010 FYI Program

On May 29th, 11 former foster youth boarded planes at different airports around the country.  Their hearts were beating fast and their minds raced as they dreamt about the 9 weeks ahead.   Many of them must have hesitated to even board the plane.  It must have taken an incredible amount of faith to spend the summer away from home, living with a person they had never met, and working in an office they could barely find on a map.  Even with all of this uncertainty, all 11 Congressional Foster Youth Interns arrived on CCAI’s doorstep and we were thrilled to welcome them to Washington.

Almost as soon as the interns arrived, we had them pack a weekend bag and head to Danville, PA for the annual retreat.  Once arriving in Danville, I think the interns understood why after all of these years, we still return to such a small town in the middle of Pennsylvania.  Danville is idyllic and although I have been there several times, I am still surprised at the town’s overabundance of smiles and waves.

FYI 2010 Interns in front of the Danville mural

This year was much like retreats in the past.  We spent time getting to know one another, discussing what mark each intern wants to make while in DC, and what fears the interns are facing as they reflect on the upcoming two months.  They arrived 100 W. Market Street in Danville as 11 different people and left as a one, united around the mission of making a difference for the hundreds of thousands of children in foster care.

After the retreat, we returned to Washington and began orientation.  CCAI does all it can to make sure that the interns are prepared for their Congressional internships.  In that vein, we planned several informative sessions like “Dress to Impress,” “Rules of the Road,” and “Safety First.”  We had guest speakers including the Congressional Research Service who conducted a two-hour training tailored specifically for our interns and their interest in foster care policy.  Additionally, we invited key Congressional staff, Administration staff, and foster care advocacy leaders for a welcome lunch to share tips on making the most of a Washington internship.

As the interns embarked on their first day of work yesterday, I cannot help but be a little envious of their time in Congress.  I know that each of them will have a unique experience in Congress and it will inevitably shape their future for the better.  I am still struck by the amount of courage it took for each of these young leaders to believe the voice on the other end of the phone guaranteeing a summer internship full of opportunity and excitement.  Lucky for us, these interns did believe us and in my short time with them, I know their determination to succeed will make this a fantastic summer.

My first week in Washington, DC

Prior to my arrival in Washington, DC last week I was nervous about leaving my support group back home, acclimating to an unfamiliar area, and as ridiculous as it may sound, making a friend. So far I can say with certainty that I’ve made ten–my fellow CCAI Foster Youth Interns. Over the past seven days, I have bonded with each fellow intern in ways that I never knew possible. While we have traveled from all over the US to work in Washington, DC for the summer, we share one thing in common: we survived the foster care system, and have come here to lend a voice to past, present, and future foster youth.

2010 FYI Class on the retreat in Danville, PA (Sarah, front row, 2nd from left)

Upon meeting the fellow interns, I realized that they were just as nervous as I was. However, it didn’t take long before we were sharing stories and planning activities together. The day after our arrival we headed to a retreat in Danville, Pennsylvania, a small town with a population of 4,000. The town was warm and welcoming, and we were more than excited to be staying in a historical home that was once part of the Underground Railroad. There we engaged in group activities that encouraged us to bond, all while learning about what to expect from our summer in DC. The retreat also gave us the opportunity to learn more about CCAI, its staff members, and supporters whose generosity and dedication made this all possible.

After a long and exciting first week as a Foster Youth Intern, we are anxious to begin interning in our various congressional offices. While we are all nervous and don’t know what to expect, we do know that we have each other to lean on.

-Sarah Pauter, 2010 Foster Youth Intern