Breaking the Cycle of Foster Care Through Education

It does not take an inordinate amount of insight nor a wealth of experience in Family Court to appreciate the fact that foster children generally are deprived of what most of us would consider a "normal" childhood.  It is this life of severe, punitive and utterly undeserved deprivation that often results in foster children themselves growing up to become juvenile delinquents, criminal defendants and neglectful parents themselves.  Having had the benefit of practicing in Family Court for nearly 20 years, I have been there long enough to have represented children placed in foster care, only to come across them again, years later, as either juvenile delinquents or respondents themselves in child abuse and neglect cases. 

The ones I never see again, in court anyway, are generally the ones that, in spite of overwhelming odds, and without a great deal of outside support, demonstrate the grit, determination and will to get educations.  As a general rule, it is often challenging enough to get many foster children through high school.  But, as more fully discussed in an article in the New York Times here, some colleges are trying to get children in foster care to aspire to more than that by offering special programs that cater to their needs.  These programs include counseling, support groups, programs for career development and, of course, financial aid.  These are extremely laudable efforts by higher institutions which are trying to bring a previously deprived demographic into their academic fold. 

What is also not commonly known is that as a foster child, the child is entitled to have the foster care agency contribute to the cost of a college education.  Moreover, they can assist children in securing other financial assistance, housing, employment and a host of other services.  And as more fully discussed here, that assistance does not end once the child is adopted. 

Having a safe, secure home is obviously the top priority for an abused or neglected child.  But once that child is safe, all of us who are charged with helping that child reach his or her fullest potential (judges, referees, case workers, social workers, therapists, attorneys for children, foster parents, etc.) must do more to bring that potential to fruition and, once and for all, break the cycle of foster care.