For foster kids, ‘ aging out’ doesn’t have to mean giving up
At 18 months, his mother scalded his hands so severely that they would be permanently deformed. Years of horrific abuse, including daily beatings by his father, followed before Child Protective Services stepped in. His childhood became a blur of dozens of foster home placements, which ended only when he turned 18. Then he was on his own. At one point, he ended up living under the Gulf Freeway overpass next to the Greyhound station in downtown Houston.
Countless times I’ve driven past that spot onmy way to work, and it never occurred to me to wonder about the people there, dozing on black trash bags stuffed with their meager belongings: What’s their story? How did they end up sleeping on the street?
Then I read “Almost Home: Helping KidsMove from Homelessness to Hope,” a new book on the crisis of youth homelessness, and met “Benjamin,” a young Houston man whose personal narrative exemplifies the broken Texas foster care system.
In “Almost Home,” authors Kevin Ryan, president of the Covenant House youth shelter network, and Tina Kelley, a former New York Times reporter, tell the stories of six young adults abandoned by their fami-
lies and society— until they arrive at Covenant Houses in various parts of the country. Each story illustrates a particular reason for homelessness, such as human trafficking and domestic violence.
Not surprisingly, Benjamin’s time on the streets can be directly traced to Texas’ inadequate foster care system, which traps thousands of kids in a family- less limbo. About 16,000 Texas children are in foster care, and each year, about 1,500 will “age out” when they reach the magical age of 18. It’s as if the state of Texas says: Happy birthday! You’re on your own!
In 2009 some 6,400 kids had been in foster care for more than three years— churning through an average of 11 different placements. Five hundred kids had been in foster care for more than a decade.
Learning the basics
Why so many different placements? Foster parents often aren’t equipped to deal with children who have been traumatized by abuse. The children act out— often in anger— and overwhelmed foster parents give up. The abused child is moved once again, which often serves to exacerbate behavior problems. On and on, until they turn 18.
Houston’s Covenant House director Ronda Robinson told me what happens next:
“You are tossed out in this mean world without being prepared,” she said. She’s used to newly minted “adults” arriving at Covenant House, carrying their belongings in trash bags. “I turned 18 today,” the kids tell her. “They told me to come here.”
Covenant House— supported mostly by individual donations— works with about 60 kids at a time, helping them get jobs and learn the basics of being an adult: opening a bank account, getting an apartment, sticking to a budget.
Robinson remembers “Benjamin,” a pseudonym used to respect his privacy. When he arrived, he had horrible self- esteem, and kept his deformed hands hidden under the sleeves of a windbreaker.
With an uncontrollable temper, Benjamin was his ownworst enemy— at one point he sabotaged an opportunity to play college football. Too ashamed of himself, he began sleeping under the Gulf Freeway overpass. But Robinson sent staff members out to find him.
“He’s doing great. He just got married,” she says. Benjamin works in a mid- sized Texas city, counselingmiddle school students. “He has overcome a lot of things and was able to come back and speak to the young people here.”
‘ They didn’t quit on me’
Robinson said Benjamin showed the Covenant House residents his scarred arms and said, “These aremy badges of courage … they show how far I’ve come. This has made me strong.”
I contacted Benajmin by phone and asked him why he thought Covenant House turned his life around. He didn’t hesitate: “They stuck with me. They didn’t quit on me even when I quit on myself.” He loves his job. “I’mexcited to be able to give back. It’s awesome.”
Ryan says he hopes the book will inspire readers to get involved in helping end youth homelessness.
Candlelight vigil
The uplifting stories related in the book prove that even kids with seemingly unsolvable issues can be helped. “Never, never, never give in to the old lie that some kid is too far gone to be helped,” Ryan told me.
Even small gestures help: On Nov. 15 at 7 p. m., Houston’s Covenant House, 1111 Lovett Blvd., will participate in an International Candelight Vigil and Rally for homeless youth. Residents will share their stories; the public is invited to donate new or gently used gloves, jackets and rain gear to prepare residents for winter.