Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Former foster youths meet with state lawmakers
WASHINGTON — Two Arkansans who have experienced the state’s foster care system traveled to Capitol Hill this week to meet with lawmakers and share their stories.
One of them even got a shout-out on C-SPAN.
Renee Gaddis of Hot Springs and Starr Wilson of Jacksonville were part of the annual Foster Youth Shadow Day, joining more than 100 other foster care alumni from 36 states.
Gaddis, 27, spent Wednesday with U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, while Wilson followed U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock.
The event was organized by the Bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.
Gaddis is a direct care shift supervisor and life skills coordinator at Ouachita Children’s Center in Hot Springs, an emergency shelter for foster children where she was placed after being removed from her home.
She sat in on congressional hearings, hung out in Westerman’s office and visited the House and Senate chambers.
“I’ve learned so much,” she said after the final roll call vote. “The biggest thing about this [visit] was building relationships. With not only [the congressman] but his staff members.”
Nationwide, there are more than 400,000 children in the foster care system, the event’s organizers said.
Foster youths often struggle because they can’t rely on a biological family, Gaddis said.
“You’re pretty much out there just kind of flailing on your own trying to figure out life,” she said.
It’s important for those who have gone through the system to be heard, she said.
“To a lot of people, we’re in invisible. At an event like this, it’s like [we’re saying] ‘Hey. We are out here. We are trying to better ourselves. We are trying to fight for what’s right.”
Wilson, a 23-year-old mental health paraprofessional for Pathfinder Inc. in Jacksonville, shadowed Hill and received a nationally televised tribute from the lawmaker.
Speaking in the House chamber, Hill said he wanted to “acknowledge the struggles foster youth encounter and [to] celebrate their perseverance, their fortitude as they attempt to navigate this complicated system and transition to adulthood.”
During the floor speech, the Republican praised Wilson’s ability to overcome adversity.
“After spending over 10 years in foster care, Starr, who is full of drive and passion, graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,” he said. “Unlike Starr’s story, when many youth across America ‘age out’ of the system, they find themselves with no place to call home and lack the encouragement and structure to pursue happiness.”
Wilson and a member of Hill’s staff watched the speech live.
“I was there when he gave it. We were sitting in the gallery. … It was amazing,” she said. “You go from being this invisible population to being highlighted on the [House] floor. That’s insane.”
The National Foster Youth Initiative, a nonprofit group that seeks to improve the child welfare system, helps organize the annual event.
La Mikia Castillo, the group’s national organizing director, said people who have been through the child welfare system “have a critical perspective that Congress needs.”
“They know what it’s like to be children of the state and children of the government. Their voices are important to help [officials] figure out how to improve those outcomes,” she said.
Westerman said the foster youth event had been beneficial.
“There’s no better way to understand a program than to visit it or talk to somebody that’s been through it,” the Republican said. “It’s beneficial for me for Renee to be here telling me about what she’s been through.”