No Place To Be

What if you suddenly became independent at age 18 with no family to speak of, no friends because you ahve changed schools frequently, no financial resources, and not much in the way of a support system.

Would you end up homelss, pregnant or father to a child, addicted to drugs, or in jail? At age 18 would you know where to turn for help?

Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience trying to navigate and obtain social services for myself and for others. It is near impossible for many to jump through all the hoops necessary and required for those of lower income or diminished emotional or mental capabilities.

This would appear to me to be one of the significant challenges also facing young adults aging out of the Department of Children’s Services system. Imagine for a moment you are 18 and will not be going to school after High School. You may not have a job, or if you do it is a lower wage position. You may not have an apartment, if you do it costs everything you make to keep the roof over your head.

You need your Social Security Number, Driver’s License or State Issued ID and Birth Certificate to apply for services. (Difficult to keep personal documents together when you bounce from place to place).

You have to know what assistance is available in order to understand where to go for help. The process to get this information is tortuous and requires many steps and multiple agencies in many areas of our country.

Once you apply, you will be asked to produce any number of additional supporting documents for your case file and prior to approval for assistance.

If you gain approval, you will be subject to continual mailed requests for re-certifications, additional information, etc. If you are a young adult who aged out of care and you couch surf with friends, this poses some real challenges. Without a good stable permanent home address, you will miss some of these mailed notifications and will be kicked off assistance if you fail to provide requested information at an arbitrary time decided upon by the system.

This does not scratch the surface of the challenges these young adults face, and is the starting point to understanding how we can make becoming self-sufficient easier for these young adults without strong family ties.

Let's find ways to ensure they do not find themselves with No Place To Be!