Finding hope in foster homes
Leadership council gives girls in foster care a chance to succeed
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Lydia Ledesma-Reese

The year Raquel Montes turned 8, her life took a turn for the worse. Her mother died, and it wasn't long afterward that her father, an alcoholic, remarried. Their home had always been a violent one, but after her father married again, the abuse intensified.

Life for Raquel became unbearable. She was 12 the first time she ran away from home, and the occasion marked her first encounter with the Ventura County juvenile justice system. She was arrested and returned to her father. Two years later, however, she was removed from her father's home and he relinquished his parental rights. She was sent to live in a group home.

Living there was worse than any foster home would have been, Montes, now 22, told an audience of 200 on March 8 at Spanish Hills Country Club in Camarillo.

Girls living in a group home have no family life, no rights and no opportunities to develop life and social skills, she said.

"It's the worst place to be," Montes said.

Her life has since turned around. She's one of the few former foster youth to attend college. She gives credit to a program she participated in when she turned 18 that set her up in an apartment and taught her real world skills such as balancing a checkbook and shopping for groceries. But the program ended a few years ago when it lost funding, Montes said.

She shared her story with prospective volunteers who'd come to hear about a new effort underway to help this vulnerable population of young women.

The United Women's Leadership Council is a newly formed organization, under the umbrella of the United Way of Ventura County, with the mission of identifying critical gaps in social services, particularly those involving women, and working with agencies and organizations to fill them.

The council plans to focus its energies and resources on specific projects for at least three years. The first project the council has chosen is helping young women ages 15 to 19 transition from the county's foster care system into society.

Nationwide, half of all foster care youth become homeless sometime during their first 12 months of emancipation.

In California the picture is just as dismal. According to the Children's Advocacy Institute, of the 4,000 youth who age out of the foster care system each year, 65 percent have no place to live, 46 percent haven't completed high school, and 51 percent are unemployed. Fewer than 3 percent of former foster youth attend college.

In Ventura County, an average of 80 young women each year leave the foster care system when they turn 18. Many become pregnant, homeless and/or turn to gangs, alcohol or drugs.

"It's not a really pretty outlook for this group," said Lydia Ledesma-Reese, United Women's Leadership Council chair.

In collecting data on this group, the council has uncovered some of the unique challenges these girls are up against, which include living in 15 to 18 foster or group homes and having to make frequent adjustments to new schools, LedesmaReese said.

In addition, legal restraints often contribute to their loneliness and lack of friends, she said. For example, girls in foster care generally don't spend the night at friends' homes because the entire family would have to be fingerprinted.

"I don't know how we can fix that, but at least we've got to start looking at how we can fix these glitches," Ledesma-Reese said.

She said that although the council is still being developed, they've charted a course. They'll identify the agencies and organizations that work with this population of girls and how best to supplement or enhance their efforts, including offering financial assistance. The council also plans to form focus groups to include current and former foster youth to get their input on how best to help young women.

LedesmaReese, a 30year educator who once served as president of Oxnard College, said the council will form a mentoring program, matching members with girls in foster care and empowering the girls through partnerships with other women's organizations, such as political caucus groups.

The council is also encouraging its members to become foster parents. Since the March event, several members have signed up, she said.

The annual membership donation of $1,000 will be used to help young women who are leaving the foster care system get established, said Leanne Neilson, vice chair of the council and associate provost at Cal Lutheran University. Individuals can make a donation of any size to become a "Friend" of the council.

Amy Fonzo of United Way of Ventura County said that so far $23,000 has been raised through membership donations.

Another council event is planned for the summer.

For more information on the United Women's Leadership Council, call Fonzo at (805) 485-6288, ext. 230.