A place to call home: Fostering Independence includes transitional housing for young adults leaving foster care. The city and six corporate sponsors have contributed to the $1.3 million project. -- Kelly Wilkinson / The Star   Key findings A study of those who had been in foster care released earlier this year found the young adults, ages 20 to 33, struggling to keep pace with their counterparts in the general population: 22 percent were homeless at some point in their first year out of the foster care system. 80 percent were employed, compared with 95 percent of the general population in the age group studied. 16 percent were on public assistance, five times higher than the general population. 33 percent lived in households at or below the poverty level, three times the national poverty rate. 33 percent had no health insurance, compared with 18 percent of the general population in the same age group. 54 percent experienced mental health problems. 25 percent experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, a rate twice as high as that of U.S. war veterans. 2 percent had earned a bachelor's degree. Source: Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study, by Harvard Medical School and Casey Family Programs

Tony King knows he needs help if he wants to lead a successful, productive life.

That's why the 18-year-old has hooked up with Fostering Independence, a new program designed to assist former foster children in making the transition from state care to life on their own.

With no family to turn to for help, little money and even less preparation for life outside the child welfare system, King said, he bounced among homes of friends and acquaintances after he was released from foster care in September.

His experiences are similar to those of many former foster youths who are cut loose after their 18th birthdays and left to sink or swim.

Many fail.

The sad reality has prompted a coalition of community organizations and businesses to reach out to former foster youths through the Fostering Independence program, which officially launches today.

King is among the first group of participants in the residential program thought to be the first of its kind in Indiana.

In addition to getting safe and affordable housing in one of four duplexes recently built along West Morris Street, King and others in the program will receive employment, educational and health-care assistance for up to four years as they learn to live on their own.

But it isn't a free ride. Participants must pay rent, work and continue their educations.

"I don't have any other option than trying to make it on my own, and that's why I wanted to get into this program," King said.

"I want to take full advantage of the services here so I can make it when I go back out."

The launch of Fostering Independence is the culmination of a two-year partnership between the West Indianapolis Development Corp. and the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, not-for-profit agencies that serve residents on the Near Westside.

The city and six corporate sponsors also have contributed to the $1.3 million project that eventually will provide services to 32 young adults at a time.

Beth Gibson, community building coordinator for West Indianapolis Development, said the project was inspired by local and national studies that reveal the myriad of struggles youths face when they "age out" of foster care. In Indiana each year, about 300 young adults leave the system after their 18th birthdays, including about 100 in Marion County.

A study released earlier this year by Harvard Medical School and Casey Family Programs found many foster youths are released without important life skills and with little support. Nearly a quarter went homeless at some point during the first year; one in three lived below the poverty level and had no health insurance.

Gibson said officials of the two agencies decided to do something for this group of young people, with each agency bringing its specialized expertise to the project.

The development corporation's role involved the bricks and mortar part of the project: purchasing a block of dilapidated houses and business buildings, razing the old structures and building the four three-story duplexes.

Staff members from the Mary Rigg center and its community partners are responsible for the education and job programs and other services.

"We're providing a safety net while we help them figure out how to become truly independent," Gibson said.

City and child welfare leaders are hailing the new program.

"There is no more important group for our community to reach out to than foster children, who -- by no fault of their own -- face a number of challenges and hardships that put them at risk of homelessness," said Mayor Bart Peterson.

"Fostering Independence will be a national model for ensuring that our at-risk (youths) don't fall through the cracks and are given the opportunity to beat the odds, become self-sufficient and successful."

Although the program is not affiliated with the state Department of Child Services, which oversees the state's foster care programs, Director James W. Payne said it is a great idea.

"We are thankful to the public and private sectors for recognizing the need for young people who are at or approaching adulthood to have a place to grow," Payne said.

National Starch & Chemical Co. is one of the six businesses that have pledged up to $12,000 to sponsor a program participant for four years. Steve Clarke, a company official, said the investment makes sense for several reasons.

"We think it is important to be a good neighbor and support our community," he said. "It's good for business, too. Programs like this help us by making Indianapolis a better place to live, which makes it easier to recruit and keep workers."

Becky Burgess Osher, a social worker at the Mary Rigg center who is overseeing the new program, said the help participants receive will depend on their skills and problems. Services will be tailored for each person: Some may need job training or mental health services; others may get more basic help with things such as opening a bank account, cooking and laundry.

Osher said each participant must make a list of goals, then develop and follow a plan for reaching those goals.

"There really is nowhere else for these young people to go," she said. "They often leave the state's care with everything they own stuffed in a trash bag or suitcase and no support. That's why we think it is so important to help them get the assistance they need to learn how to make it on their own."

Call Star reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204.

Press Release

IPIC's Youth Employment Services reaches milestone in securing jobs for at-risk youths

A program that helps dropouts and jobless high school graduates get training and secure jobs recently reached a milestone when its 200th participant was placed in a job.

Youth Employment Services is operated by the Indianapolis Private Industry Council Inc. YES was created with money from the federal Workforce Investment Act and supplemented with a grant from the Lilly Endowment, resulting in a program that is flexible both in its eligibility criteria and the ways it helps young people.

To date, the portion of YES funded by the endowment has placed 208 young people in jobs and helped 51 earn their General Educational Development, or high school equivalency, diplomas. One hundred six youths have stayed in their jobs at least 60 days.

In September 2003, Lilly Endowment provided $3.75 million to be used over three years - through June 2006 - to get at-risk young people up to age 25 into training and employment; train local service providers; upgrade the tools and equipment used by providers; and introduce youths to the burgeoning life sciences sector. YES also provides vouchers to its participants to pay for a wide variety of things that prevent them from getting and keeping jobs.

To be eligible for services provided under the Workforce Investment Act, youths up to age 21 must have a low income or come from a family with a low income and must face at least one of these employment barriers: is deficient in basic literacy skills; is a school dropout; is homeless, a runaway or a foster child; is pregnant or a parent when enrolled; was an offender; or needs additional assistance. The Lilly Endowment grant helps young people up to age 25 who don't fit those criteria to get the help they need.

"Far too often, we see young people's paths toward success blocked by seemingly small obstacles - impediments that would be almost meaningless to someone who had already made a successful transition into the working world but that may be insurmountable for at-risk youths and young adults," said Joanne Joyce, IPIC's president and chief executive officer.

"YES helps them clear those hurdles, allowing them to race toward a good job and the ultimate finish line * self-sufficiency."

For example, if a young adult secures a good-paying job but doesn't have the money to buy the required uniform, tools or appropriate clothing, YES can provide a voucher that will pay for those needs. Another young person may be unable to use her car to get to her community college classes because she has so many parking tickets that a boot has been placed on its tire. YES can help with that too.

YES also can assist a youth who has just been released from jail and owes an $85 weekly fee for home detention - but won't receive a paycheck until after the fee is due. And it can assist a young person whose job may be threatened when her regular babysitter gets sick and she does not have the money for interim child care.

"Anyone in this area recognizes that, for young people and families that are vulnerable, sometimes having a car that won't work can really knock them out of a chance for a job," said Willis Bright, director of youth programs for Lilly Endowment. "If there are no resources there to maybe help overcome that particular issue, you may fully defeat all the other things that you have put in to moving a person towards economic self-sufficiency."

Because YES is experimental, it is the subject of a long-term evaluation by Brandeis University's Heller Graduate School for Social Policy and Management in Boston. An interim evaluation in November 2001 found that vouchers work. More than 90 percent of the youths asked said the vouchers were the "most effective" tool to help them find jobs and stay employed. More than three-quarters said they couldn't have kept their education, training or jobs if they had not received voucher assistance.

Source: Indianapolis Private Industry Council Inc.

Indiana Sports Corporation News Release

For Immediate Release:
July 29, 2004

Contacts:
Bill Benner, Indiana Sports Corporation - (317) 237-5113
Jeff Weitekamp, Indiana Sports Corporation - (317) 237-5016

A Super Start
300 Indianapolis Underserved Youth Learn to Swim Thanks to CHAMPS Grant

INDIANAPOLIS - The greatest swimmers in the world will converge on Conseco Fieldhouse in October for the 7th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).

But even they had to start somewhere.

For hundreds of young swimmers from the Indianapolis area, their start in swimming - at the most, leading to a competitive career in the sport or, at the very least, acquiring a skill that can provide fun and exercise for a lifetime - begins in a program sponsored by a neighborhood community center.

It introduces swimming to children and then adds to their skills. For many of the youngsters who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, it is an opportunity they otherwise might not have.

The "Super Summer Swimmers" program is sponsored by the Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center and, this summer, nearly 300 youth are taking part in three-times-a-week swim lessons at various swimming pools in the IndyParks system. The cost of renting time in the pools is funded by a CHAMPS grant from Indiana Sports Corporation and Indiana Black Expo. CHAMPS programs receive their funding from proceeds of the Youthlinks Indiana Charity Golf Tournament.

"What the grant means," says Toby York, manager of youth services for Mary Rigg, "is that my kids get to swim."

Such a simple thing that many would take for granted. But in the impoverished neighborhoods from which many of "his kids" come, having the chance to swim is a delight.

"I've learned how to do 'floats' and backstroke a little," says 11-year-old Jaimie, who is in her second year in the program.

"I didn't know how to do the strokes but now I can do freestyle in the five-foot (deep) water and I like that,' says nine-year-old Morgan.

"I just love swimming," seven-year-old Audrey chimes in.

On this particular hot, muggy, mid-summer afternoon, the youngsters are splashing about in the pool at Rhodius Park on the city's near-Westside. Approximately 80 children are divided into smaller groups in various areas of the pool. Instructors - many of them volunteers from AmeriCorps - provide constant attention and encouragement. A log is kept for each child, measuring his or her progression through skill levels.

When the summertime program ends, there will remain a bonus. With the World Championships coming in October, funding preference was given to a number of CHAMPS programs that feature swimming. Those youngsters then will be able to attend a session of the World Championships, with the tickets donated by local companies and businesses.

This year, eight CHAMPS programs have a significant swimming component.

"It is part of an initiative to make certain that there is a tie-in between the high-profile sports events that come to the city and the grass-roots programs that are funded by the CHAMPS grants," says Dr. Phil Borst, vice chairman of Indiana Sports Corporation's Youth Committee.

In the case of the Mary Rigg program, the thrice-weekly, three-hour swim lessons are just part of a day-long schedule of activities that includes lessons in respect, teamwork, reading, as well as free lunches.

Without the program, many of these children would be cast adrift, left to seek out unsupervised activities on their own.

"We're about the only option they have," says York.

And it's possible that some child, provided the opportunity to learn to swim and inspired by the examples of greatness they will witness at the World Championships, will find the motivation to continue to improve their skills and bring self-discipline and dedication to their own lives.

At the very least, it's a start. And a chance.

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