KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010 / NEWS
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Jaymee Metzenthin, the independent living coordinator for the state of Kansas helps former foster children such as Matt Hudson find avenues to successful lives. Sitting on Metzenthin's desk is a photograph of former foster children she has worked with, including Hudson, center.
Howard Ting/KANSAN
living coordinator for TFI Family Services, the largest foster care provider in Kansas. Spencer said she always tried to remind foster youth that the state was there to help in a tough financial situation.
it can be hard to know where to go." Spencer said. "But we like to tell the kids that they can call us, because we are here for them no matter how unique the situation."
"If you don't have your parents to call when you run out of money,
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Besides making herself available to those who are no longer
"If you don't have your parents to call when you run out of money, it can be hard to know where to go."
"Most of these kids' fear of living on their own revolves around financial needs in one way or another," Spencer said. "So we like to get them ready for these."
in the system, Spencer also helps younger foster children prepare for the financial challenges they may face when they live on their own.
CASEY SPENCER Independent Living Coordinator for TFI Family Services
Spencer organizes group activities and mock budgets to assist the young adults. She said the programs were the only places for them to learn how to do such things as balance a checkbook, build a resume or buy necessary groceries.
"It's hard to live on your own, until you actually go through it," Spencer said. "But this type of practice can help."
FIGURING IT OUT
Matt and Christie said that typical college challenges, which other students might take for granted, could be significant obstacles for former foster children.
- "It's the simplest things that you never think about because you were taught so long ago, but
But it's not just the big things that create complications; it's the little things too. Where do children of the foster care system go during college breaks? Their foster families have no obligations to welcome them into their families after the children have left. And hangine
we were never taught this stuff!" Matt said. "How do I get a car?" How do I get an apartment?
Matt was lucky to have foster parents willing to co-sign on such commitments for him. Christie usually had to ask her biological grand-
with a friend's family can be awkward.
"You basically have two alternatives: either find someone that will co-sign for you or say 'I'm sorry, I don't have anyone to ask so please just judge me on my good character."
mother to co-sign, but she said she really only had one other option.
Matt spent holiday breaks with his foster family and Christie with her biological relatives, but each knew of students in other situations who asked to join
a friend's family gathering. McCollum Hall is also open during holiday breaks as an option for students unable to leave the area.
bling for toster students, who often must work multiple jobs to support themselves while in college. During her senior year, Christie worked three jobs in addition to the 21 credit hours she
Time management issues can also prove to be especially trou-
was taking at KU. It was tough, she said, but possible with a lot of organization and planning.
"You have to learn to squeeze the most out of every day," she said.
When it comes to the general academic challenges they faced, Matt and Christie said they thought any former foster child could easily overcome these if they used University resources.
"If you need help, the help is out there. But you've got to reach out for yourself. No one's going to do it for you."
"If you need help, the help is out
there," Matt said. "But you've got to reach out for yourself. No one's going to do it for you."
MATT HUDSON
Alumnus and former foster child
"Some people will never realize the trauma we've gone through," Christie said. "It's a tough situation for someone so young and a lot of people underestimate this."
Christie said this was often a challenge for students who grew up in foster care, may feel
Now, Christie has steady employment and a fiance with whom to begin her own family. She said it was easy to look back and have no regrets. However, she stressed that she would never wish her experience on any child.
portant things to figure out."
One University resource is the TRIO program, which serves first-generation, low-income and disabled students. Christie said the program offered free career counseling, academic advising, tutoring and workshops on a number of academic, financial and social tonics.
LOOKING BACK
Christie said she thought foster children who went on to attend
"You have to learn to squeeze the most out of every day."
"A lot of these people feel like they can't trust anyone because they're constantly been abandoned and let down over and over again," Christie said. "So, who can you trust? Where do you go when you have a problem? These are very im-
unable to depend on others or don't know how to ask for help.
"They taught me about writing a resume, choosing a major, studying abroad, tax prep and filling out the FAFSA," she said.
CHRISTIE JONES Alumnus and former foster child
college were a rarity, which bothered her very much.
"There's a lot of money out there for these kids, but I don't think everyone's aware of it." Chris
"I never waited for any of my caseworkers to email me — I tried to be on top of things and ask questions about anything I didn't understand."
tie said. "I think every foster child wants to be successful, it just depends on if they find the resources and guidance to get them there.
Every day, she thinks about her life and reminds herself not to dwell on the past. She thinks about all the struggles; the moving, the hopelessness and the need to feel "normal." But then she thinks about the road ahead that is her future.
Christie said she hoped her story was proof to young foster children that they could do whatever they put their minds to.
— Edited by Katie Blankenau
"Even in Lawrence, there were parents that would not let their kids be around me because I was a foster kid," Christie said. "I look at some of those kids that aren't very successful now, and I laugh, because I was supposed to be the kid that was blemished."
MATT'S STORY
Matt Hudson never had much consistency in his life. For most of his childhood, he lived in Maine with his parents. But when his parents got divorced, Matt and his father began bouncing around the map: from Oklahoma to Iowa and Louisiana, finally settling in Humboldt.
A few years later, at the age of 14, Matt went into foster care because of a physically abusive relationship with his father. He stayed in a few temporary homes in different parts of Kansas. Just before he was to begin his freshman year of high school, Matt was placed with a long-term foster family in Pittsburg. But after some time there, Matt realized he wanted to return to Humboldt.
With the help of his caseworker, Matt was able to move to a foster family in Humboldt the summer before his sophomore year. However, after only a few months Matt found he was incompatible with the family and again began looking for another home.
He asked a friend whose parents had a foster child license if they would let him join
their home. Seeing the chance to help a friend, the family took him in.
It was during his time at Humboldt High School that Matt really began to get involved with his own education, taking part in forensics and debate, scholar's bowl and journalism activities.
He also began advocating on behalf of other foster children. He joined the Kansas Youth Advisory Council, which advocates on a number of foster care-related issues.
Matt eventually became president of the group, and its longest acting member ever. He helped improve the state's process of sibling visitations, caseworker meetings and transferring high school credits.
Matt said he decided to attend the University because he had a lot of friends who were going there and he used a tuition waiver from the Foster Child Education Assistance program to afford it. He is now studying law at Washburn University in Topeka.
WAIVING THE ISSUE
Soon after Matt Hudson entered the Foster Child Education Assistance program in 2005, he noticed some major flaws in the system.
As a former foster child, Matt was receiving a tuition waver to attend the University. Although the program would waive tuition for a full eight semesters, or enough to graduate from a standard undergraduate degree program, this only applied until the semester of the student's 21st birthday. And the program was limited to a maximum of five recipients per college.
"It was really limited in a lot of ways," Matt said. "It would be nearly impossible to get the eight semesters in before you turned 21."
But even more important, Matt said, was the fact that the tuition waiver wasn't really a waiver at all. In fact, state colleges were waiving only 20 percent of the cost of tuition. The rest was being paid by education training vouchers, or ETVs, that would otherwise have benefitted foster children in other ways.
"The state was using the same ETV funds to pay for the rest of the tuition. It was like double dipping, a big 'no-no'", Matt said. "But it was what they had been doing."
In February 2006, Matt was asked to testify before legislators in support of the existing program and the changes proposed under a new Foster Child Educational Assistance Act.
"It didn't seem like anyone really resisted any of the changes that were suggested."
Matt said.
For students enrolling in college July 1, 2006 or later, the state extended the program an extra two years, or through the semester of a student's 23rd birthday, and removed limits on the number of participants per university. It also ensured that the state would use no other ETV funds to support the program.
Matt said he commended the state for the changes it made to the program.
"It is not a common thing at all," Matt said. "A lot of states have a really hard time making something like this work."
In March 2007 after the law was changed, Matt returned to the state capitol to speak in support of the program. This time lawmakers removed the expiration date on the bill, which must remain as is unless formally amended.
Although he supported changes to the original program, Matt said he was still thankful to the lawmakers who originally made the bill a reality.
"The original program wasn't perfect for a lot of reasons, but it was still free school." Matt said. "They were probably so excited to get the bill going that they were hurried through some of the details."
— Edited by Katie Blankenau