After being told many times that I was worthless, I began to believe failure was my destiny. I began to believe I would be like the over 90% of youth in foster care who did not further their education. However, little did I know, God had other plans for my life, plans of prosperity, peace, and happiness. At the age of 76 (when most people retire) my pastor the late Dr. Helen L. Brown took on the task of raising a rejected and heartbroken teenager. Dr. Brown has been a mother, friend, chastener, counselor, and spiritual leader to me. With her encouragement I have spent the last three years researching child welfare issues particularly with respect to youth emancipating from foster care. My research on youth emancipating from foster care has been documented and quoted by foster care officials, college professors and community leaders. I have noticed from my research that minorities are over represented in foster care and far too many youth are leaving foster care without permanent homes. I have spoken to individuals in my state’s capital as well as our nation’s capital in regards to foster care reform.
My experience as a congressional intern through the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute has equipped me with the skills necessary to impact the lives of many youth on a macro level rather than a selected few on a micro level: while simultaneously providing me the opportunity to obtain a deeper knowledge of how to impact laws and policies in child welfare. As a result, I have started my own non-profit organization L.I.F.E. (Leading Individuals through the Foster care Experience) where our mission is to advocate for the overall well-being of youth in foster care, to promote normalcy, prevent the separation of siblings in order to strengthen sibling bonds, and to better prepare foster youth for life outside of foster care.
“I recommended the FYI program to a friend of mine who ultimately interned through FYI the year after I did. Like me, he has also stated that he felt this was a life changing opportunity for him. I continue to encourage foster care alumni who I know to apply for this program because I feel that this is a wonderful opportunity to see our nation's capitol, to learn about the political structure of our legislature and to meet other people who have similar life experiences to themselves.”
“Due to being an intern with FYI, CCAI asked me to help them pick interns for a couple of the other classes, which was an honor but a grueling decision to have to make. CCAI also contacts me every Christmas to send me cards and gifts, which makes me feel like they are remembering me and caring about my future. I have also nominated a number of people I know for Angels in Adoption and their selection has been one of the few ways I have felt that I have been able to thank them in the way that they truly deserve. Thanking these people has been a delight for me and for the people who were recognized and I feel that the legislators who made the choices were more educated for having learned about them.”
“The FYI program was where I discovered what I actually wanted to do; how I wanted to impact the foster care system. For nearly three years I had been passionate about reforming the foster care system, but it was during my time on the Hill that I realized how I wanted to change it. While direct service was rewarding to me, I felt like I wasn’t able to change the foster care system on a substantive level. The FYI program didn’t just teach me legislative ideas, it inspired me and emboldened me to create my own ideas.”
“Due to being an intern with FYI, CCAI asked me to help them pick interns for a couple of the other classes, which was an honor but a grueling decision to have to make. CCAI also contacts me every Christmas to send me cards and gifts, which makes me feel like they are remembering me and caring about my future. I have also nominated a number of people I know for Angels in Adoption and their selection has been one of the few ways I have felt that I have been able to thank them in the way that they truly deserve. Thanking these people has been a delight for me and for the people who were recognized and I feel that the legislators who made the choices were more educated for having learned about them.”
Information about the Program
The Congressional Foster Youth Internship Program provides talented college students who have spent their formative years in foster care an opportunity to intern in a Congressional office for a summer.The FYI program instructs these young adults in how best to bring their unique perspective and resilient spirit to bear as advocates for the needs of other waiting children. The FYI Alumni Network now represents over 80 former interns who have used their FYI experience as a foundation for a wide variety of distinguished careers.
Almost half of a million children reside in the U.S. foster care system and 123,000 of these children are eligible for adoption. Many of these children spend their teenage years in the foster care system, moving from home to home but never finding permanency. In 2008, 29,500 young people “aged out” of the U.S. foster care system. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services. Several foster care alumni studies show that without a lifelong connection to a caring adult, these older youth are often left vulnerable to a host of adverse situations.
By bringing together former foster youth with Congressional offices, CCAI helps raise attention to the policy and procedural barriers that trap children in the foster care system. The Congressional Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program facilitates the awareness needed to engage Members in reforming the system by uniting lawmakers and foster care veterans. These foster care veterans are children who were either adopted after the age of fourteen or who were in foster care on their eighteenth birthday. Each intern is provided regular interaction with Members of Congress and their staff, providing opportunities to share their unique perspectives on foster care. This interaction is instrumental in raising awareness about the importance of legislation that addresses the needs of foster children, as well as the unintended consequences of the system. After their time on Capitol Hill, the interns remain an instrumental link and resource to many Congressional offices. Some interns have even joined the Congressional staff after their internship.
The Congressional Foster Youth Internship program is also instrumental to empower and equip the interns to affect positive future change. They are given an inside look of the legislative process and the program encourages them to take an active role in developing policy suggestions. The program also helps the interns in job readiness and employment. These foster youth are more easily able to secure jobs after college due to enhanced skills and the professional recommendations gained from the FYI Program. The program gives these youth who face a severe vocational disadvantage with youths their own age equal opportunity to access positions in an arena they would have no prior admission. CCAI’s goal is to help these youth build their futures by gaining the experience, contacts, reaffirmation, and life skills they need to succeed.
