We are Robert and Kathleen Raskin, and today we’d like to discuss a system that is helping to prevent young adults who have aged out of the foster care system from falling through the cracks. In the state of Kentucky, foster children who have reached the age of 18, which is the age of majority, have the option of recommitting to the state until they reach the age of 21. Approximately $3M per year is spent on services for foster kids between the ages of 18 and 21, and this includes many benefits like the waiving of college fees, free housing, life-skills training, one-on-one counseling, and grocery stipends. Despite this innovative program, the vast majority of foster children who age out of the system choose to go it on their own.

Family or Freedom
Why don’t more of these at-risk young adults accept the help that is offered to them? When you consider what many children go through in the foster care system, it’s not surprising that these kids are choosing to leave it despite the possibility of extended benefits. In one interview a foster mother in the state said, “You can put everything on a golden platter and hand it to them, but if it’s not family or freedom, they won’t take it.”

These individuals are seeking families and the freedom to finally not be controlled by the system, and it is clear that improvements to the system need to be made if they want to make any headway with the former foster children of the state. We hope you join us, Robert and Kathleen Raskin, in our quest to hold child protection organizations accountable. Once these issues are addressed, perhaps more of these Kansas kids will be willing to accept help.