Ellena Jones

Hello, I am Ellena Jones, one of the co-directors on IFCA’s Alumni team. Just a little background about me I am currently a student at the University of Washington studying Social work. Before I go into more detail, I want to give a big thank you to you all for being here today and allowing not only me but IFCA’s alumni members the chance to speak about their expierences.

Today’s theme is about this idea of Normalcy and how foster youth attain a “normal” life. A normal life that we want to live, that we have a say in and have control over. A life that we love and a life we all deserve…

Let me be honest with you. There is nothing normal about being raised by strangers. Not just any strangers, strangers that get paid to care for us. Making a profit off of our existence… Paid for strangers that we can’t even call mom or dad but “foster mom or foster dad” which for me translates to “fake mom” or “fake dad”. We are a long ways away from normalcy, on average only 1% of foster youth end up graduating college… 50% of adolescents aging out of foster care end up homeless. Guess what the percentage is for youth leaving juvi and ending up homeless. You would think it’s a pretty percentage maybe 70-80%. but in actuality it’s 50%. Yes, the American foster care system is as supportive and successful as the juvenile justice system in preparing its youth for adulthood. (https://www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-teen-issues/statistics) something certainly needs to change.

What I find fascinating is that the United States keeps using a system that simply is not working. I will not be surprised if in 5 or even 10 years the outcomes are still the same. Why is this? I believe it’s because the foster care system was a bad idea to begin with. My ideal vision of the foster care system involves not having one at all. This means having the resources and materials necessary to provide preventative services for families in need. Before their kids ever get placed in the foster care system. Lets actually give these families a fighting chance. Schools are a good place to start because when a kindergartner misses school that means something is wrong in the house. Unlike If a high schooler ditches class because they are doing it purposefully. When I was in kindergarten, I missed an outrageous amount of school. If a social worker had intervened at that point instead of, two years later,and found out that their was no food in the fridge or that my mother needed medical attention then I could have by passed the difficult experience of being ripped away from my family and the trauma of being placed in the foster care system. I think many people who work in the foster care system feel like heroes. Like they are saving children. So it makes sense why we intervene so late. I believe it feeds out egos. But if we choose to intervene earlier we will save millions of children. Saving foster children doesn’t just mean fixing an unhealthy household it also mean saving them from the foster care system itself. Let me reiterate this one more time. The foster care system is a bad idea to begin with. I know that there will always be a foster care system because situations arise in which no amount of resources can fix. But let’s start figuring out ways to make that experience short and brief. So that foster youth, like myself, can look back on my childhood and remember going to the park with my parents; not being placed in a strangers home wondering where I will be sleeping tomorrow or if I will ever see my biological parents again.