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Jessica Jimenez

Student at CUNY College of Staten Island majoring in childhood education

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Life After Foster Care: Believing I Can Succeed

Posted: 04/11/11 07:16 PM ET

My name is Jessica. I am a college student currently in foster care. I have been a ward of the state for more than 13 years. At a young age, my mother was diagnosed with a serious illness and couldn’t take care of me and my younger brother and sister. Unfortunately, my father was dealing with his own struggles, so at the age of seven, I entered foster care. Thankfully my siblings and I were all placed together, which sadly, is not the case for many children in our situation. Even at that young age, I felt very protective of my younger brother and sister. My life had changed dramatically and I was forced to grow up quickly. 

As we went back and forth between different foster homes, I would daydream of a beautiful house filled with heart-shaped mirrors, a billion dolls, and a huge, king-size bed that I could share with my brother and sister (hey, I was only seven). When it became clear that my parents weren’t going to get better, we went to live with my grandmother. She wasn’t financially stable and didn’t know how to speak English. She tried her best to provide for us, which wasn’t always easy.

Now as a young adult, I thank God for being in foster care. I know I am a strong woman today because of all that I went through as a child. New Yorkers For Children has been such a blessing. At the age of 18, I was unsure of my future. College was a goal, but I had no idea how to make it happen. New Yorkers For Children came into my life and encouraged me. One day, they sent me a package containing so many necessary items for school; from a laptop to a book bag to school supplies. This gift made me feel much more prepared to study and focus on accomplishing my goals. New Yorkers For Children has been there for me ever since. 
I recently joined their Youth Advisory Board where I meet with others in foster care to plan awareness events and speak about how we can help at-risk children. I love being a part of New Yorkers For Children because they genuinely care for youth in foster care. I know what it feels like to have nothing and to have someone reach out a hand in friendship. Being a part of this organization inspires me to give back to my community. I participate in New Yorkers For Children events that help to create unforgettable moments for young people who often go without these kinds of opportunities.

I also volunteer at my church as a youth leader. I counsel young girls in need of guidance and a safe haven. This is my passion. It fills me with joy to help others in this way.

Now at age 21, I will soon age out of foster care. It is a difficult time for me because I have to look for an apartment, continue my education, and apply for jobs to support a life on my own. 
Despite the challenges I will face, I have hope that everything will turn out fine (as I did when I was a child). I am fortunate that I had New Yorkers For Children by my side to help me overcome the obstacles that life in foster care sometimes presents. It is good to know they will continue to be a source of encouragement as I transition out of care. I look forward to sharing my experiences with others to demonstrate that with a little support, the sky is the limit for your future, no matter what your past may have been. 

AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE 

Additional HHS Assistance Needed to Help States Reduce the Proportion in Care 

United States of America, Government Accountability Office (GAO)

(July 11, 2007 Report to the Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means , US House of Representatives: The Honorable Charles B. Rangel)

“Children of all races are equally as likely to suffer from abuse and neglect, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS); however, HHS data show that a significantly greater proportion of African American children enter and remain in foster care than children of other races and ethnicities.

African-American children across the nation were more than twice as likely to enter foster care compared with White children in 2004, and African American children remained in foster care about 9 months longer. 

On the last day of fiscal year 2004, African American children totaled 162,911—or 34 percent—of the 482,541 children in foster care, according to HHS data—about twice their proportions in the general child population. Although there is great variability among and within the states, data from nearly all states show some disproportionate representation of African American children in foster care. State data also show patterns of disproportionate representation in foster care for Native American children and, in certain localities, Hispanics and Asian subgroups are also disproportionately represented to some extent.

Concerned about why African American children are overrepresented in foster care, you asked us to analyze:

(1) The major factors that have been identified as influencing the proportion of African American children entering and remaining in foster care compared to children of other races and ethnicities;  

(2) The extent that states and localities have implemented strategies that appear promising in addressing African American representation in foster care; and

(3) The ways in which key federal child welfare policies may have influenced African American representation in foster care.”

READ THE REPORT: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/GAO%20rpt%20Af%20Am%20and%20Foster%20Care.pdf

 CALIFORNIA’S CHANGINGPRISON POPULATION 

 The California state prison population has grown rapidly in the past 15 years. 

Since 1990, the prison population has increased by 73 percent – nearly three times faster than the general adult population. California prisons currently hold about 171,000 adults; approximately 616 per 100,000 adults in California are in state prison. California ranks 17^th among all states for incarceration rates. 

The prison population is aging. 

In 1990, 20 percent of prisoners were under age 25; by 2005, only 14 percent were under age 25. During this same period, the share of prisoners age 50 and older grew from 4 percent to 11 percent. 

Women represent only a small share of the prison population (7%), and they differ significantly from men across several important measures. 

A majority of men are imprisoned for violence (52%), whereas women most often serve time for property crimes (36%) and drugs (30%). Two-thirds of women in prison are mothers of children younger than age 18; half lived with their children at the time of their arrest. Among male prisoners, half are fathers of children younger than 18, and 42 percent were living with their children at the time of their arrest. 

Most prisoners are nonwhite. African Americans and Latinos are overrepresented in prison. 

Over half of the general adult male population is nonwhite. But three of every four men in prison are nonwhite: 38% are Latino, 29% are African American, and 6% are of another race or ethnicity (Figure 1). Seventeen percent of prisoners are foreign-born; incarceration rates are much lower for foreign-born adults (297 per 100,000) than for U.S.-born adults (813 per 100,000). 

African Americans have a dramatically higher probability than other groups of being imprisoned. 

Among adult men in 2005, African Americans were incarcerated at a rate of 5,125 per 100,000 in the population, compared to 1,142 for Latinos, 770 for whites, and 474 for men of other races. Among women, African Americans were incarcerated at a rate of 346 per 100,000 in the population, compared to 62 for Latinas, 80 for whites, and 27 for women of other races. 

Inland and poorer areas of the state contribute disproportionately to the prison population. 

The San Joaquin Valley, the Inland Empire, and the Far North regions of the state have the highest incarceration rates, at 865, 835, and 791 per 100,000 residents, respectively. Wealthier coastal regions have much lower rates: 357 for the Bay Area and 386 for the South Coast (Orange and Ventura Counties). 

A majority of prisoners (just over 50%) are serving time for violent crimes. 

Due in part to Proposition 36, which mandates drug treatment instead of incarceration for some drug felons, the number of prisoners serving time for drug offenses has dropped since the passage of the proposition in 2000. Meanwhile, the number of those incarcerated for violent crimes has continued to rise steadily over the past 15 years, so that violent criminals now constitute a majority of the prison population (see Figure 2). 

Most prisoners serve determinate sentences, but the number of “strikers” is growing. 

Fifty-nine percent of prisoners are serving determinate sentences, 12 percent are serving an indeterminate life sentence, and 2 percent are serving life without parole. Fourteen women and 638 men (0.4 %) are on death row. Since 1994, increasing numbers of prisoners have been sentenced under the Three Strikes law – currently, 5 percent are “third strikers,” serving 25 years to life, while 21 percent are “second strikers,” serving double the normal sentence for a second felony conviction. 

The prison population experiences frequent turnover. 

Every year, approximately 120,000 prisoners are admitted into the system, and a similar number are released. A growing majority of admissions are returns to prison for new crimes or parole violations, as opposed to new admissions – 67 percent were return admissions in 2004, compared to 59 percent in 1990. High recidivism rates present serious concerns for many communities, including the prospects for prisoner re-entry, the stability of family life, and public health. 

Public Policy Institute of California 415-291-4400 www.ppic.org