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Successes All
Around!
 April showers bring May flowers.” The successes within foster care are many, and
blossoming children are everywhere in our community. We usually focus on the
tragic circumstances of child abuse and the foster care system. But, there are many
wonderful success stories that we believe you would enjoy hearing about. So, in an
effort to provide balance and show that there are indeed flowers that bloom, even
out of tragedy, we will have a success story in all of our newsletters. Here is the
first story we would like to share with you and it began in…..
Sacramento on a lovely spring day in 1993 and a beautiful girl child was delivered
to a single, drug addicted mother. Unfortunately, the effects of the mother’s drugs
in the child were so severe that her mental and physical health were
impaired. The child was removed from the care of the mother and placed in a
foster home. Several years passed and the foster care system provided some help, but the child required more; she needed
to be held more often, receive individual attention and love. With the number of children needing help, it was not possible
to provide or replace all that was lost for this small soul, until the spring of 1997.
A volunteer involved in foster care saw and fell in love with this small child. Knowing the obstacles she and this child
would
face did not deter this compassionate, determined and loving woman, and an adoption took place.
Eleven years have passed since the day the woman took this child in hand and provided a loving home;
11 years of trials, joy, growth, human understanding and yes, patience. This child, now 16, is graduating from
high school and entering
college. Her future is now in her own hands, and what an awesome gift she has been given.
Kevin West, 20, a former
foster youth from Santa
Cruz, said he was forced
from his group home the
night he turned 18 and
was homeless until the
family of a high school
classmate took him in.
"I truly believe that
every foster youth
deserves the chance I
was given," said West,
who attends community
college and hopes to
become a social worker.
"They deserve all we can
do for them - and then
some," said Democrat
John Burton, former
Senate president pro
tem.
Monday's event touted
research on foster youth
from three states -
those who remained in
state care until 21 in
Illinois, and others who
were forced out of the
system at 18 in
Wisconsin and Iowa.
Foster youth who
remained in care until
21 were three times more
likely to enroll in
college, 65 percent less
likely to be arrested,
and 38 percent less
likely to get pregnant
as teenagers, according
to the report by
researchers from the
University of Washington
and Chapin Hall Center
for Children, an
independent research
facility at the
University of Chicago.
Supporting foster youth
until they turn 21
increases their lifetime
earning potential by at
least $92,000,
Our
Mission is our
Vision to the future!
 Each
year SCA continues to
advance its
mission
- to be an exemplary
agency using best
practices and utilizing
effective advocacy
through all levels to
ensure that abused and
neglected children in
the dependency system
are able to realize
their right to live in a
permanent safe, and
nurturing environment.
This includes ensuring
that when children leave
the dependency system
they have the
educational foundation
and resources to help
them to contribute
positively to our
community. |
