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Monroe County Youth Opportunities Unit (YOU Team)
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The previous articles in this series explored the foster care system and the steps some foster parents take toward adoption.
While the primary goal of foster care is always family reunification, kids don’t always return to their biological families if it’s not safe to do so. Since youth don’t enter the foster care system voluntarily, once a child reaches the age of 14, they need to consent to adoption.
So, what happens to older youth in foster care who are not able to return home and are not willing to be adopted?
The Monroe County Youth Opportunities Unit—or YOU Team—serves foster care youth who have the goal of independent living.
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APPLA Independent Living Goal
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“Some older kids in foster care aren’t willing to consent to adoption and don’t have relatives or non-relatives available for placement,” said Katie Klug, Supervisor of the Monroe County Youth Opportunities Unit (YOU Team). “When these teens are not able to return home successfully, our YOU Team steps in to help transition them into adulthood.”
The unit works with youth ages 16-21 with a permanency goal of APPLA (Another Permanent Planned Living Arrangement) or independent living.
“Many kids choose APPLA because they still hold a connection to their biological family and may see adoption as a betrayal to their kin,” explained Klug. “Other kids are in foster care families with no intention of adoption, like emergency placements or older foster parents concerned for their longevity. And some kids have either not found their forever home or get discouraged in the process and put up a wall.”
The YOU Team assists teens in foster care with vocational and college decisions, helping them to access resources and supports. Caseworkers hone in and focus on skills the teens already have, while assessing their mental health needs and chemical dependency issues.
“Some youth have been in foster care for years, and most for a minimum of about a year,” said Klug. “Upon entering foster care, it’s often apparent that the educational needs of these kids may not have been met at a young age. We contract with service providers for skill development and training to ensure that at a minimum, educationally, the teens earn a GED or high school diploma. We also connect them with community programs for employment, role-play job interviews and help them apply for vocational programs or college.”
The YOU Team also addresses basic independent living skills such as maintaining personal hygiene, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping, making meals, getting a driver’s permit, obtaining a driver’s license, maintaining a schedule, and budgeting.
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“Our caseworkers are often working with kids who have endured trauma,” Klug said, “many of whom have a history of physical and/or sexual abuse, which plays a significant role in creating barriers for them.”
The YOU Team consists of Klug in her supervisory role, one senior caseworker, and four caseworkers, each with 10-12 foster care kids on their caseloads. She explained that youth need adult support in order to be successful. Caseworkers fill that gap in their lives when it’s challenging for these kids to maintain a supportive connection with their biological families.
“Our work involves building trust in our relationships with these kids to be able to engage them in independent living skill development,” she said.
When youth reach the age of 18, they can elect to sign themselves out of foster care. In these cases, the YOU Team continues to provide case management services up until the day before their 21st birthday.
“Even in these supervision-only cases, a lot of youth maintain contact with our caseworkers and give us anecdotal updates,” Klug said, “as we’ve established such strong relationships with them.”
Cases can be transferred from other units, such as the adoption unit or residential services unit, after the youth’s permanency goal has changed to APPLA. For kids coming from in a group home or residential setting, there is a higher level of need than can be met in a foster home or therapeutic foster home. In cases where behavioral issues are masking many layers of trauma, more intensive services are required to meet their needs, such as 24/7 supervision or intensive therapeutic or educational services.
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What Does Success Look Like?
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“National statistics will tell you that kids who age out of foster care fail,” Klug said. “Our specialized unit doesn’t follow national or statewide statistics. Our kids must earn a GED or high school diploma, and we never discharge them to homelessness.”
Federally funded Section 8 vouchers are available under two different specialized programs to help stabilize youth upon leaving foster care. The vouchers are dependent on income but offer significant financial help toward youth going out on their own who are not able to return home, especially in these tough economic times.
“We measure success by youth having supportive adult connections that they are utilizing to further their strengths and goals,” said Klug. “I continue to be amazed by these kids who want to speak up and speak out, who have all these abilities and want to be their best selves to stop generational cycles, so they don’t end up in the same situation as their parents.”
She suggested we try to understand that there are unmet needs underneath behavioral issues and be willing to be creative in planning and providing the appropriate services.
“As mandated reporters, we can all share in their success by partnering with them,” Klug said. “Not all youth are on the same path forward educationally, so we should recognize an individual youth’s needs and meet them where they’re at to provide that support.”
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