Wilhelmina A. Leigh and Danielle Huff
2008-03-19 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Because of our particular interest in gathering information about the experiences of African-American males in foster care, the youth listening sessions [we held in Jacksonville, Fla., Houston and Chicago] included more males (72 total) than females (20 total). ...

Many youth either currently or formerly in foster care ... do not feel that they have any real advocates to guide them as they navigate through the foster care system or, later, through life. This was true for some youth in spite of large numbers of interactions with many different adults, including foster parents, relatives, social workers (or caseworkers) and teachers/counselors. ...

Many youth ... complained of receiving no support for career decision-making ... [and] of receiving assistance with planning for their futures only after reaching age 17, when it was too late to choose certain careers. ...

Many ... complained about being inappropriately placed into special education classes and, therefore, receiving a high school completion document that limited their future educational and employment options. ...

Stakeholders in the three listening sessions find it problematic that many males within the foster care system (especially African-American males) are placed in homes in which no adult males reside and, thus, are reared by single women, largely without positive male role models.

Read more at www.jointcenter.org.