Childhood spent in the system, and now what?
It's called "aging out," and it's what happens to Georgia children in state-run foster care who are out of childhood, out of the system and, all too often, out of luck.
As children, they at least had a support system, as flawed and imperfect as that might have been. As young adults, they are one of the state's most vulnerable populations. WSB-TV in Atlanta reported on a 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be adopted by a Florida family but whose would-be foster parents changed their minds four days before signing the papers. She spent five more years in institutional care, aged out of the system at 21, and eventually found a job and an affordable place to live.
Other stories don't turn out so well. Many former wards of the state who never found the security of adoption into a stable home find themselves jobless, penniless, homeless. The director of one Atlanta shelter told the TV station that "close to a third of the young people that come to us have aged out of the foster care system." That's a tragic and heartbreaking statistic.
Right now, according to the state Department of Family and Children Services, there are about 10,000 children in foster care. Those not adopted will eventually age out, and DFCS changed its policies last year to help make more of those transitions more successful ones. Formerly a child in the system aged out at 18; the age deadline is now 21, though young people can still choose to leave at 18. (Since that change, about three-fourths of the 18-year-olds have chosen to stay.) The agency also has something called an Independent Living Program to teach older children job skills, social skills, life skills and healthy living habits. There's obviously a critical need for such services. Without direction, opportunity or hope, adulthood for these young people is nothing but a bleak number.
Getting on the radar
The word "peril" is not one you'd ordinarily associate with good news, but this is a special circumstance.
The abandoned Claflin School, the first public school for black children in the city, has been placed on this year's list of 10 Places in Peril by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
For the Friends of Historic Claflin, the fact that it's in peril is not news. What's news is that its historic significance has come to the attention of so august an outfit as the Georgia Trust.
"It's wonderful, it's great," said the Rev. Richard Jessie, executive director of the restoration effort. "It's going to add another level of concern and support."
Claflin is listed on the Georgia Register of Historic Places, and the Friends organization is awaiting official approval as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
The vision for the restored Claflin is ambitious, and will take a lot of funding. The Georgia Trust's recognition certainly doesn't hurt.
This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Childhood spent in the system, and now what?."