They're young women at a crossroads, wondering where life will take them, where they'll fit in. But since their names aren't Paris or Lindsay, no one's jockeying for a photo op. In fact, few people actually give a damn what happens to them.
This is about the few who do, and why this is turning out to be a summer of worry.
You may have missed the story about the state Senate, in the final hours of the fiscal year last month, torpedoing a bipartisan bill to pump money into California's transitional housing program for children who turn 18 and have to leave the foster care system. Republicans and Democrats crafted the bill, and the state Assembly supported it unanimously.
But hey, let's make a case for fiscal responsibility on the backs of those with zero political power: teens who can barely afford lunch, much less a campaign contribution.
Those who work with teens who age out of the system are hoping that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who sponsored the bill, will find some other pot of money to augment what's now available.
“My fear is that any time there is an opportunity for funding and the funding goes away, the attention also gets pulled away from the issues,” said Ken Tyner, director of residential services for the YMCA of San Diego County. “I haven't lost complete hope, but I have concerns that the state Legislature isn't taking this issue as seriously as it should.”
How serious is it? When children age out, 40 percent will be at least temporarily homeless and 25 percent spend time in jail within two years of leaving the system.
The county is still hoping to get additional state money for its transition plan. It already offers its successful HOME program, a voucher system that gives the teens what amounts to a housing allowance at various apartment complexes. But it has a waiting list, as do many smaller programs.
If you added up big and little programs throughout the county, you'd come up with about 125 beds, Tyner estimated. But about 250 young adults leave the system every month.
There are some bright spots, though, and one of them is Mary's House in Escondido. It's a great example of patchwork. Take funding from the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, referrals from the county and case management from the YMCA's Youth and Family Services, and you have a house where five young women (with the help on an on-site manager) work at getting a job, enrolling in college, opening a bank account, maintaining good credit and saving for an apartment.
Three dozen women have lived in the house, for a average of six months, since it opened in 2003. After they leave, help is just a phone call away.
“When they leave here, they lead adult lives, able to handle a crisis without turning their lives upside down,” said Krysta Creighton, the house's program director. “We are not a shelter. If someone is not ready to practice independence, they won't last, because we're here to help them face the trials and tribulations of life, and we do that on an emotional level as well with an on-site therapist. Medically, we work with them to find jobs with health benefits. We are thinking realistically about what they are going to face.”
The house is named after Mary Goodall, a longtime supporter of the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation. It will soon be joined, on the same piece of land, by Jack's House (Jack is Mary's husband) and Jeannie's House, named for Jeannie Rivkin, a supporter of the foundation for decades.
The two six-bedroom houses will be part of another patchwork that includes HomeAid San Diego, a coalition of developers, property companies and building-trade professionals. A volunteer builder captain heads up a project, bringing together dozens of construction specialists to develop plans, grade land and do the construction. The professionals donate all services or provide materials free or at cost. Private donations pay for the rest.
HomeAid San Diego has been responsible for similar work for nonprofit organizations throughout the county, including a recent housing project for Interfaith Community Services in Escondido.
“The intention is to make it homelike and make it consistent with the neighborhood,” said Sara Thomas, the executive director.
“We want the girls to feel as if they're home, in a safe and comfortable place that will be a good launching point for the rest of their lives.”
The good members of the state Senate who voted against the funding probably last worried about where they would sleep, ah . . . never. The young women of Mary's House have personal stories, and I'll share some of them with you next week.
Mary Curran-Downey can be reached at mary_currandowney@hotmail.com.
