Orangewood Op-Ed Article - July 2011

The Untold Graduation Story

Almost half of teens in foster care do not graduate from high school.
Inspiring graduation stories abound this time of year happy stories of those who made it. But what about those who dont? According to statistics, 46% of California teens leaving the foster care system have not completed high school versus 16% of the general population. Rescuing children from an abusive home and placing them into the protective care of the foster care system is a responsibility that we as a society have assumed. But when almost half dont graduate from high school, we are failing these children. Making a successful transition from foster care to independent adulthood is challenging for most teens. They dont have the emotional or financial support of a stable family. Without a high school diploma, the challenges are even greater. Former foster youth are over-represented among incarcerated, unemployed, and homeless populations. Seventy percent of California state penitentiary inmates have been in foster care. Fifty-one percent of California foster youth are unemployed within 2-4 years of emancipation. Foster children comprise less than 0.3% of Californias population and yet 40% of persons living in homeless shelters are former foster children. One of the key contributors to the low graduation rates among foster teens is instability. Too often foster teens do not have stable living and learning environments during their high school years. In Orange County, more than half of all teens in foster care have been in the system for more than 24 months. Of those, 83% have experienced three or more placements. As a result, they have difficulty forming positive connections with others. A new placement frequently means a new high school. Studies have shown that it takes 4-6 months for a child to recover academically after changing schools. At Orangewood Childrens Foundation we have 30 years of experience working with children and teens in foster care. In recent polls among the over 600 foster youth who visit our on-site resource center annually, weve learned that a number of our foster teens have experienced many placements and high schools. One former foster youth, Jason, had 15 different placements during his adolescent years! This is unacceptable. Providing the stability foster care teens need to successfully complete high school IS possible. For our part, Orangewood Childrens Foundation is creating a residential high school that will offer Orange County foster youth the very best education available in a stable and nurturing setting. It will offer the stability and connectedness that these teens have been lacking. We believe this is one positive move among many that needs to be taken immediately. Over 30 years ago, the community rallied around the need for a safe, peaceful shelter built

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specifically for Orange Countys abused, abandoned and neglected children. Over $8.5 million was raised, 80% from the private sector. The result was the Orangewood Childrens Home (now called the Orangewood Children & Family Center), which has become a national model. The time has come once again for our community to rally around these children. If we have any hope of improving the outcomes for current and future foster youth, we must begin to elevate the priority of these children in our local and national conscience, identify solutions, and then resource those programs adequately to make those necessary changes that will finally begin to make a difference. This will of course not be easily accomplished as the government continues to strip away funding from those programs that support foster children and at-risk youth. Private philanthropy has provided some relief but cannot alone be expected to carry the responsibility that we all share for the well-being and support of our children. We must all advocate for those who have no voice in our society. Please join us in this cause! Help us help foster youth graduate from high school.

Submitted by: Cal Winslow CEO Orangewood Childrens Foundation (714) 619-0202 cwinslow@orangewoodfoundation.org