Being Our Own Heroes
Mon, 05/11/2009 - 20:08 — ywp
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From: Your Name <you@example.com>
To: vgray@dccouncil.us, dslonneger@dccouncil.us, twells@dccouncil.us, callen@dccouncil.us, jackevans@dccouncil.us, sgrant@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, byoung@dccouncil.us, jshedlock@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, iesparza@dccouncil.us, mbrown@dccouncil.us, lwhartonboyd@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, tloza@dccouncil.us, mcheh@dccouncil.us, davidz@dccouncil.us, mbowser@dccouncil.us, Jholland@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, yalexander@dccouncil.us, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us, mbarry@dccouncil.us
Subject: Being Our Own Heroes
Your Personal Statement
Dear Chairman Gray and City Council Members:
We need your help to send more DC foster youth to college and vocational school.
On May 26th please vote to expand educational opportunities to the 1,200 older youth who are part of the DC foster care system. Right now the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is spending $1.1 million a year in federal money to provide educational and aging out support to 35 youth.
The Recommendation: CFSA receives $1,299,044 a year from the federal Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) to provide educational and aging out programming for older youth in care. These funds are currently administered by the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) -- through the Center of Keys for Life (CKL) program and the Educational Training Voucher program (ETV) run through the Office of Youth Empowerment. This $1.3 million in federal funding should be moved through a competitive bidding process to a private service provider with a strong track record in youth education and development. Please vote to include this recommendation as part of the Budget Support Act vote on May 26th.
Federal dollars are now being wasted: CFSA spends $1.1 million to serve 35 youth in their CKL program at a cost of $31,500 per youth to participate in a program with no outcomes, program plan, or goals. Many of the remaining 1,165 foster youth who don't get services will end up costing DC taxpayers money through incarceration, public support, and unemployment. Investing in DC youth now will save taxpayers millions of dollars in the long run.
Foster youth deserve educational opportunities: Right now only 8% of DC foster youth go to college even though 40% are graduating from high school and are eligible. More youth could be going to college and vocational school if they had training and financial support. Education, and specifically college, is probably the single most effective strategy for increasing the life prospects and well-being for foster youth.
2000 youth are too many to lose: Between 150 and 200 youth age out of the DC foster care system each year. Without educational opportunities, the options for these youth are bleak: 86% of youth age out without the necessary resources to support themselves. Many will end up incarcerated (68% of men and 46% of women are arrested within one year of aging out), homeless, and unemployed (46%). The average earnings of a foster care youth during the first year after aging out is $7,000, compared to $47,317 for people with college degrees.
10 years is too long to wait: CFSA has received over a $1 million a year in federal funding since 1999 for educational and aging out programming for older youth. For ten years --- the quality and impact of programs have been poor, the money has been wasted, and the costs to DC foster youth and DC taxpayers have been significant. Please vote to end the cycle of failure.
Follow state innovation: Many of the most successful educational and aging out programs -- supported by the federal Chafee funding-- are run by community based organizations. DC has a rich network of nonprofit educational and youth development resources that are ready to take responsibility to expand educational opportunities for DC foster youth. YWP does not accept government earmarks or contracts and will not benefit financially from this recommendation.
Foster youth leaders have been working hard to improve their own lives but they need your help! The youth leaders and members of the Foster Care Campaign at the Young Women's Project (YWP) have been working all year to raise awareness about foster youth's educational needs and the inadequacy of current CFSA programming. They organized a Hearing for the Committee on Human Services in January for older youth in care, testified 14 times this year before the Human Services Committee, collected data, wrote reports and fact sheets, requested and tracked data from CFSA, organized several meetings with decision makers and they are mobilizing their peers to continue to raise awareness among foster youth.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to DC foster youth! For more information on educational issues and programs for DC foster youth, please go to www.youngwomensproject.org.
Your Name
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
To: vgray@dccouncil.us, dslonneger@dccouncil.us, twells@dccouncil.us, callen@dccouncil.us, jackevans@dccouncil.us, sgrant@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, byoung@dccouncil.us, jshedlock@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, iesparza@dccouncil.us, mbrown@dccouncil.us, lwhartonboyd@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, tloza@dccouncil.us, mcheh@dccouncil.us, davidz@dccouncil.us, mbowser@dccouncil.us, Jholland@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, yalexander@dccouncil.us, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us, mbarry@dccouncil.us
Subject: Being Our Own Heroes
Your Personal Statement
Dear Chairman Gray and City Council Members:
We need your help to send more DC foster youth to college and vocational school.
On May 26th please vote to expand educational opportunities to the 1,200 older youth who are part of the DC foster care system. Right now the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) is spending $1.1 million a year in federal money to provide educational and aging out support to 35 youth.
The Recommendation: CFSA receives $1,299,044 a year from the federal Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) to provide educational and aging out programming for older youth in care. These funds are currently administered by the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) -- through the Center of Keys for Life (CKL) program and the Educational Training Voucher program (ETV) run through the Office of Youth Empowerment. This $1.3 million in federal funding should be moved through a competitive bidding process to a private service provider with a strong track record in youth education and development. Please vote to include this recommendation as part of the Budget Support Act vote on May 26th.
Federal dollars are now being wasted: CFSA spends $1.1 million to serve 35 youth in their CKL program at a cost of $31,500 per youth to participate in a program with no outcomes, program plan, or goals. Many of the remaining 1,165 foster youth who don't get services will end up costing DC taxpayers money through incarceration, public support, and unemployment. Investing in DC youth now will save taxpayers millions of dollars in the long run.
Foster youth deserve educational opportunities: Right now only 8% of DC foster youth go to college even though 40% are graduating from high school and are eligible. More youth could be going to college and vocational school if they had training and financial support. Education, and specifically college, is probably the single most effective strategy for increasing the life prospects and well-being for foster youth.
2000 youth are too many to lose: Between 150 and 200 youth age out of the DC foster care system each year. Without educational opportunities, the options for these youth are bleak: 86% of youth age out without the necessary resources to support themselves. Many will end up incarcerated (68% of men and 46% of women are arrested within one year of aging out), homeless, and unemployed (46%). The average earnings of a foster care youth during the first year after aging out is $7,000, compared to $47,317 for people with college degrees.
10 years is too long to wait: CFSA has received over a $1 million a year in federal funding since 1999 for educational and aging out programming for older youth. For ten years --- the quality and impact of programs have been poor, the money has been wasted, and the costs to DC foster youth and DC taxpayers have been significant. Please vote to end the cycle of failure.
Follow state innovation: Many of the most successful educational and aging out programs -- supported by the federal Chafee funding-- are run by community based organizations. DC has a rich network of nonprofit educational and youth development resources that are ready to take responsibility to expand educational opportunities for DC foster youth. YWP does not accept government earmarks or contracts and will not benefit financially from this recommendation.
Foster youth leaders have been working hard to improve their own lives but they need your help! The youth leaders and members of the Foster Care Campaign at the Young Women's Project (YWP) have been working all year to raise awareness about foster youth's educational needs and the inadequacy of current CFSA programming. They organized a Hearing for the Committee on Human Services in January for older youth in care, testified 14 times this year before the Human Services Committee, collected data, wrote reports and fact sheets, requested and tracked data from CFSA, organized several meetings with decision makers and they are mobilizing their peers to continue to raise awareness among foster youth.
Thank you for your leadership and commitment to DC foster youth! For more information on educational issues and programs for DC foster youth, please go to www.youngwomensproject.org.
Your Name
123 Your St.
Yousville, YO 12345
Phone: (123)456-7890
