Connection Fair offers guidance to foster teens

The goal: Ease the way from foster care to independence.

By Chandra Broadwater, Times Staff Writer
Published February 15, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Without some connection to the communities where they live, foster children who age out of the state system face a great risk of ending up homeless or in jail.

So say local officials who are trying to change that trend.

Monday, Kids Central Inc. will host the first Community Connection Fair in Brooksville for Hernando and Citrus County teens, whether in foster care or not.

The goal is to connect teenagers with available help in housing, education, health, employment and transportation, said Lynn Routh, spokeswoman for KCI Circuit 5, which oversees foster care in Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Sumter and Marion counties.

"We wanted to get teens in foster care more involved in having a say in what their futures look like," Routh said. "Not only did we want to educate foster kids and parents, but to let everyone else in the community know what they have should they need it.

Representatives from 25 organizations such as Pasco-Hernando Community College, the Citrus County Housing Authority and Mid Florida Community Services will be at the fair.

The idea came from the hiring of county contacts, called navigators, for teens in the independent living program, Routh explained. Children ages 13 to 17 in foster care enroll in the program, which aims to help them prepare for life on their own.

In Hernando, 43 foster children are in the independent program. Another five, ages 18 to 22, are in a program that helps pay for living expenses if they enroll in college.

The Circuit 5 service area has 296 youngsters in the 13 to 17 age group and another 84 who are going to school.

The fair is just another way to help them out, Routh said.

But as officials try to pin down local numbers, national statistics show that up to 40 percent of people who end up in jail or become homeless say they were in the foster care system at some point in their lives.

About 75 percent of the time, foster children age out of the system the day they turn 18, said Kara Votta, Hernando's independent living navigator. Many are unprepared for independent living and wind up on some form of public assistance, she said.

They all need affordable housing, furniture, items like a microwave and a toaster, not to mention transportation and a job, she explained. Many need help in basic life skills.

"I had one child call me and ask if it was okay to put a can of soup in the microwave," Votta said. "There are just so many things these children don't know."

Without assistance, and without some connection to their communities, every child who ages out of the foster care system is at risk, Routh said.

"There's a lot of ways local residents can help foster children," she said. "The fair is one way, and we're appreciative of all the people who are going to be there Monday."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or call 352 848-1432.

Kids Central Community Connection Fair

Held Monday, 3 to 7 p.m. at the Jerome Brown Community Center, 99 Jerome Brown Place, Brooksville.

Door prizes will be awarded throughout the afternoon. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call Kara Votta at 502-6565 in Hernando, or Angel Vincent at 598-1275 in Citrus. Transportation is available upon request, and more vendors are encouraged to participate in the event.

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 20:59:25]