Expansion proposed of Child Welfare’s Independent Living Program and other transition services
Whitney Rodgers has spent nearly half her life moving from placement to placement in the foster care system, but it wasn’t until she turned 17 that she began to worry about what came next – after foster care.
“I was always expecting there to be another step or two before I turned 18,” she said. “But then, at 17, I thought, the clock’s running out.”
Rodgers admitted she had always been a flight risk – running from foster homes and disappearing for months at a time. She said she was physically and mentally abused while in care, which led her to finally ask for some sort of mental or emotional support from the state.
“At first I was really messed up,” said Rodgers. “I’d seen a lot of crazy stuff. So, at that time, they offered me psychological help.”
Rodgers was 15 when the Department of Human Services placed her in a residential psychiatric care facility near Corvallis. Even though she felt mentally stable after about six months, the state kept Rodgers at the facility for nearly three years.
“My case worker was looking for a placement, but there was just nobody who was willing to take me,” she said. “It was defeating.
“Growing up, I was out on the streets, or I’d sleep at the DHS office, or in a motel … so with this residential care facility, at least I wasn’t homeless.”
When Rodgers was finally discharged just before her 18th birthday, she was ill-prepared to make it on her own. Like many foster youths, she didn’t have a family support system to help her transition to adulthood.
“I have no living grandparents,” she said. “My relatives had been deemed unfit and not approved by the state.”
To read the full article written by Libby Dowsett, click HERE
Comments (0)