AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE IS A PERILOUS EVENT FOR FOSTER YOUTH. This is especially true for foster children whose experience in the foster care system included little or no preparation for leaving foster care and who emancipated directly from placement with little or no family support. Left to survive by their wits, this population of foster care kids would seem the most at-risk; yet, some former foster kids somehow manage to successfully navigate leaving foster care and go on to accomplish great things. Unlike most books about foster care and foster parent books, however, this book by foster children uses actual life experiences to present insider knowledge regarding what is required to prepare foster youth for life after foster care. The very personal setbacks, successes and life-lessons conveyed in these ten riveting and revealing foster care memoirs are the soul of this book.
What these talented authors learned in the process of writing their foster care stories is their self-revelation of how their individual foster care experiences affected their adjustment to life after foster care. Their insights and recommendations provide the unique client perspective required for foster care workers, social work and child welfare professionals, as well as foster parents and families considering foster parenting, to grasp the significance of the crucial roles they play in preparing a foster child for life on her or his own. And, no less importantly, kids in foster care getting ready for life after foster care, as well as recently emancipated alumni who crave guidance from role-models, now have access to a detailed road map that illuminates the path to their self-actualization.
Discover what these ten exemplary alumni role-models learned from writing their true stories about surviving foster care, their lives after foster care, transitioning from foster care and what is required to prepare emancipating foster youth for happy, healthy and successful adulthoods.
Dr. Debraha Watson
Dr. John Seita
John Tuohy
Dr. Capri Cruz
Dr. Lisa Jean Feinics
Helen Ramaglia
Dr. Vivian Dorsett
Chris Chmielewski
Dr. Paul Owen
Dr. Adam Starks