Blog Posts -- Solution Stories

By Cassandra Gonzalez, Rise Magazine, June 15, 2022 Power Dynamics and Systemic Oppression I vividly remember walking into a visit at the foster agency with my girlfriend, bringing clothes for my son. Twice, I corrected a worker who was misgendering my partner, calling her “he” and not “she” because of her attire. I saw LGBTQIA-friendly signs up at the agency. My son was with a foster mother who dressed the same way as my partner—but her gender was said appropriately. It’s hard seeing foster...

A resource curated by MoneyGeek, a website created to make personal finance more "approachable and accessible" to everyone through free content and tools, provides expert input and guidance aimed at ensuring the successful financial futures of youth exiting foster care. The webpage utilizes infographics, call-out boxes, and bullets to convey information in a digestible format, organized into three sections: Financial roadblocks and solutions: Five financial challenges specific to youth...

By Anonymous, Art by Eileen Jimenez, Rise, March 15, 2022 I am a single mom and it is only my son and I living together. That means that unless he is in school or at camp, wherever I go, he goes, too—even when I have to go to the hospital. I have numerous medical problems and when I end up in the hospital, it’s not always during school hours. There are lots of reasons why I would need to bring my son with me to the hospital, such as if I’m having seizures or sudden severe pain, and these...

by Keyna Franklin, Rise Magazine, February 15, 2022 If it was easy to get child care, many families wouldn’t get an ACS case or have to deal with the family policing system, because they wouldn’t have to leave their children at home. If I had access to child care, I never would have become involved with the family policing system. ACS became involved with my family when I left my younger kids with my 14-year-old child watching them when I went out for an appointment. If I knew that this...

By Jane Coaston, title image by Alex Merto, The New York Times, December 18, 2021 In 2006, 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel was murdered by his foster parents near Cincinnati. They left him in a second-floor closet in August wrapped in tape and a blanket in a playpen with no food or water while they went out of town to a family reunion, dog in tow. When they returned home, they took his body to an abandoned chimney, doused it in gasoline and burned it, throwing most of the remains into the Ohio...

By Zoraida Ramirez, Rise Magazine, December 08, 2021 A Hard Decision I left my son with a family friend in 2007 when I was 20 years old and he was one and a half. I had run away from foster care and had nowhere to live and no money for food. I was also dealing with depression and trauma—and an abusive partner. I didn’t have support from my family and felt uncared for and alone. The family friend lived in a cozy, nice home. She suggested that I leave my son with her and write a statement...

By Sarah Duran, December 21, 2020 San Antonio. SAN ANTONIO — There's no place like home for the holidays and that is exactly where Ellie, Daisy and J.P. Seastrunk will be spending Christmas this year with their newly adoptive family. The 6-year-old twin sisters and their 10-year-old brother were adopted in October after spending three years in the foster care system. "I pretty much fell in love from the moment the idea was put in front of me and we made a commitment to go ahead and say yes.

By John Kelly, August 30, 2019, for Chronicle for Social Change The Chronicle of Social Change is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 12 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships. The program is overseen each summer by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Each of the FYI participants crafted a policy recommendation during their time in Washington,...

By Eric Russell, Aug 1, 2019, Portland Press Index A new federal program targeting young people who age out of the foster care system could provide housing vouchers to as many as 25 youths in Greater Portland. U.S. Housing and Urban Development regional administrator David Tille will be in Portland on Friday to give more details about the initiative that was announced last week by HUD Secretary Ben Carson. Rhonda Siciliano, a spokeswoman for HUD, said Wednesday that the Foster Youth to...

I am a long-time advocate for how the power of neuroscience can transform the youth-serving profession. When combined with a commitment to putting the needs of youth first and a sizable dose of courageous leadership, the insights and practical guidance provided by brain research can have remarkable results. A prominent example of the transformational application of this “secret recipe” can be found at the Sacramento County (California) Youth Detention Facility (YDF). In 2010, Sacramento...

Despite finding himself in foster care at age three, having abusive foster parents and not knowing who his biological parents were when he was growing up, Steve Pemberton says he wouldn’t change his past. If he could go back in time, he said about his younger self, “I wouldn’t pull him out of the situation.” “Every dream that he has is going to come true, and then some,” he said. Pemberton, 50, is from New Bedford and now lives in Chicago with his wife Tonya and their three kids. He began...

The Opioid Crisis – it is an ominous, frightening, pervasive threat with far-reaching feelers, literally taking hold of families across the country. This crisis is often referred to as the paramount issue in communities, cities, and states. An issue worthy of attention, strategy, and community mobilization. State leaders gathered Friday to discuss strategies to protect young people from opioids and the trauma often associated with the dangerous drugs. Tackling the opioid crisis before it can...