Article: Excerpts from letter

Vol. 3, No. 2 • Spring 1999

Excerpts from SAY SO's
Letter to Governor Hunt

. . . Adults make decisions without asking kids in the system about what we want and need. We are the people who live in foster care. Please ask us how to make it better. These are the things that we want you to know about foster care:

Foster care is not temporary for a lot kids. Many of us live in foster care for many years, and that�s not okay.

Many of us don�t have contact with our families and siblings, something that other youth take for granted.

Foster parents and foster youth are left in the dark about information that we need to know.

Foster kids are just like other kids but we don�t get the same opportunities or treatment. For example, many of us can�t join after school activities or go on school trips.

Different age foster youth have different needs. The policies for preschoolers should not be the same as those for teenagers.

More is expected of foster kids than other kids. Foster kids are not bad, but the community thinks we are. We didn�t want to be in foster care. It�s not our fault.

These are the things that we think will make foster care better. We have lots of specific ideas and would like to talk with you about them:

Youth in foster care should be involved in training social workers and foster parents, in making decisions about their own lives (we want to be involved in making our permanent plan), and in making decisions about foster care policies.

Adults need to improve the quality of services that we get, and give us more options (like graduated living and placement options)

Foster and adoptive parents, social workers, and foster youth need more support from the foster care system.