Preparation of Youth for Independent Living - Essay Example

Preparation of Youth in Congregate Care for Independent
Living
The transition from foster care to independent living poses a lot of challenges for the youth. Getting away from the caring environment and carving a niche for themselves in society needs a great deal of adjustment and hard work. It is the responsibility of foster care to prepare these young adults for independent living. However, the awareness provided in foster care is not enough for facing the world independently, as observed by Mech et al (as cited in Freundlich, Avery & Padgett, 2006, p.64).
There are several areas the youth must be trained in to lead an independent life outside the foster care like education, health care, budget management, and so on. Courtney et al. found that these young adults are not engaged in real-life activities in foster care because of which they are not prepared for issues like personal health care, finding a means of livelihood, and appropriate shelter for themselves after leaving the care(as cited in Freundlich et al., 2006, p.65). A study by Youth Advocacy Center found that the focus of training is mainly on the issues pertaining to substance misuse, sexually transmitted diseases than on more important ones like education, social interaction, and so on (as cited in Freundlich et al., 2006, p.65). As expressed by Stein, some writers feel that this training is an early burden on the minds of youth, parents, and professionals involved in foster care (as cited in Freundlich et al., 2006, p.65). As discussed by Cashmore, various observations have revealed that youth are not allowed to actively participate in the planning processes about their future (as cited in Freundlich et al., 2006, p.66).
The authors of the article planned a study with the help of various other professionals to know the viewpoint of youth and various key members of the society that can be associated with this issue like lawyers, social workers, family court judges, congregate care representatives, young adults, and youth advocacy organizations’ representatives. The study was based on a set of questions to explore the thoughts of youngsters and others toward foster care. Out of all the members only congregate care agency representatives expressed their faith in the independent living training provided in the foster care and held the responsibility of the failure on the lack of enthusiasm in youth. On the other hand, lawyers, social workers, and everyone else held the limitations in the foster care system responsible for the collapse of youth once discharged from the care. They concluded that instead of giving verbal instructions, young adults must be trained by encouraging them to participate in real-life activities (Freundlich et al., 2006, Pp.66-68).
Some of the youngsters revealed that even though they were involved in the discussions pertaining to their future, their opinions were never acknowledged and simply neglected. The feelings of the youth about exiting from foster care were also diverse. Some were happy to go but some were scared and confused about their future. Some were satisfied with the awareness they were provided and some were not (Freundlich et al., 2006, Pp.68-70).
The overall reactions of the professionals and young adults were varied about the issues of concern. Some felt methods were satisfactory while others felt the efforts were not sufficient for facing independent lives. There was a general disagreement on the non-involvement of youngsters in the decisions about their future. The majority believed that their voice was not heard at all. The study concludes that present methods of training youth for independent living after leaving foster care are not adequate and need serious improvements. Young adults must be engaged actively in the verdicts about them. However, this study conducted with restricted resources has its own limitations (Freundlich et al., 2006, Pp.68-70).
The article tries to cover every issue related to the adequacy of the independent living training provided in the foster care system and its possible consequences on the lives of youth after leaving the caring environment. The issues, the article is trying to convey, are very well understood. The authors have used eight to ten lines on average for the paragraphs. The average number of words used per line is twenty to twenty-five.
Conclusion
The matter needs in-depth research and serious consideration. The foster care system needs improvements in its training programs for independent living as these issues have an important impact on the lives of the adults getting out of foster homes. Read More