Casandra Kuhn, 19, has only lived in the city for two months and she's working on getting her life in order.
She resides in an independent living facility, and is pursuing her GED while training to work at the More Than Words book store on Moody Street, which employs young adults who have been in foster care.
Kuhn is a product of the state's foster care system, having been placed in 16 different facilities throughout her life. She hopes to someday become a social worker and plans to attend college.
Without help, people in her situation often find themselves facing difficult lives, Kuhn said.
"We need supervision, we need consistency and care and having a voice," she said. "Moving from school to school ... I'm not as good in certain subjects because I'm so far behind ... but there's things out there that can help you, like More Than Words."
Kuhn attended yesterday's forum at Brandeis University led by the state task force on youth aging out of Department of Children and Families care. Representatives of several organizations and students gathered to discuss better ways to prepare at-risk foster youth.
The task force is a multi-agency group formed in 2002 to develop new strategies for improving the lives of youth transitioning from Department of Children and Families care.
The force is led by Director Della Hughes, a senior fellow at the Heller School on Brandeis University's campus and co-chairwomen, Joan Wallace-Benjamin, president and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers, and Maria Mossaides, executive director of Cambridge Family & Children's Service.
Wallace-Benjamin, a former chief of staff for Gov. Deval Patrick, spoke about her role in the task force.
"As co-chairwoman I helped bring people together to identify gaps in service and identify policies that need to change," she said before the forum. "(A number of agencies) have come together to figure out a plan of action for these kids."
"Aging out" refers to foster youths who leave the care of the state as an adult without reuniting with their families or being adopted, Hughes said.
"After aging-out, if they don't have supervision or resources or care, they often become homeless or incarcerated," she said. "It's really pretty dismal."
Brian Condron, director of advocacy and public policy for The Home For Little Wanderers, said the task force has been working with state legislators to figure out policies to help foster youth in this situation.
"We've been working hand in hand with legislators. If you ask anybody up on Beacon Hill what 'aging out' means, now they'll know," he said. "All of this is just a recognition that the commonwealth is the parent of these youths who are aging out. We can't just tell them, at age 19, 'goodbye, good luck."'
Recently the task force commissioned a study to figure out how to deal with the aging-out crisis. That culminated in a report titled "Preparing Our Kids for Education, Work and Life," which was released in June and discussed at the forum.
"We wanted to really know what's happening in Massachusetts. The task force is developing a set of recommendations based on the research," Hughes said. "Essentially what we're saying with our recommendations is we want to change the paradigm for child welfare. When it was established, it was about protection.
"The new paradigm is protection plus preparation."
Hughes said their recommendations for a youth to transition successfully out of foster care focus on basic principals like having access to an education, a caring adult, and emotional, physical and mental well-being.
According to a 2008 Department of Children and Families quarterly report, there were 6,348 youth ages 12 and up in the department's custody. The young adults have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect, behavior, and placed in alternative settings, such as foster homes, group homes and residential facilities.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jgilbrid@cnc.com.
