My father was Air Force and the best role model ever. He was so passionate about his career and proud. I agree, it seems special in terms of service. So happy to read it was a blessing for you too!

Some states have an amazing Youth Challenge Academy, it's a free 5.5 month program hosted by the National Guard & is for kids age 16-18; they live on site, get life skills, take classes towards GED or credits to get in their right grade. It's also a good Segway into joining the military as it is a boot-camp style program, but has lots of support to help them be productive once they graduate. I tried to get kids to get involved & me being in the military, I've had quite a few interested in the military but they often won't back up their interests with action/preparation.

I hope you are able to foster and be the difference in a child's life. :)

Agreed 🙌🏼 but (in my opinion) because my state is overseen by the state but run county to county and agency to agency… every one has to build from the ground up. It leads to an inconsistent message among many other downfalls.

What seems logical often gets convoluted with child welfare/government. I recently cared for children who potentially could go to a family placement who needed two car seats and two bassinets. (Whole other conversation how are you going to care for these kids if you can't even afford that.) The worker was talking about how long it would take to purchase the items for the family due to their rules about buying items and processes and approvals. So, the state could potentially pay thousands of dollars for foster care (medical care, stipends, child care etc) vice less than $400 for two infant car seats and two bassinets. Also, a lot of the social work supervisors are people who have done the job for X years. That experience is valuable but it's not the same as project management/logistics experience. For whatever reason, they often don't even use the resources available to them via the state. We have a state's ombudsman to help foster parents navigate issues not being resolved at the local county level. She has said XYZ exists and is available to the workers. So, why is each placement all confused and not at least some of it handled with checklists - You are getting a placement, you need XyZ info. There are workers who specifically deal with placements. This is not a new process every day. There are workers who work specifically with transitioning youth. The aging out is complicated by the fact that many foster children are often behind in school. Even if not by grade level, by skills due to neglect, disrupted school/changing schools, learning differences not identified and supported etc. Kids might have lost contact with their extended family. Unfortunately, my state also actively blocks foster parents from working towards reform. Groups have tried to introduce state legislation for several years to just give foster parents the right to attend an entire court hearing. (We have the right to attend, speak, but then are usually kicked out of the court for 'confidentiality' reasons when court is sometimes the only way to get information about the kids in our care. State attorneys show up in full force to try and refute anything requested.

​@@amys5669 the whole system is sick... You described so many huge problems in one little KZfaq comment... This is why I feel so bad for children trapped in the system but will no longer consider doing foster care. Instead I hope to adopt from foster care at some point. And maybe soon become a Casa (bc my impression in that they can kind of fight the system if that's what's needed since they have a say in court)

Good for you!! :D I am hoping to get involved somehow in my State as well.

Do they allow a 18 year old to open an account without an adult also on the account? I have also had success with Park National if there is one close. They allow the kid to have an account on their own at 15 with a state id.

That’s why I provide disclaimers that this is my experience. To forward the conversation, what state? What is the program? I encourage you to provide any supportive links for those who find this video.

@@stephaniejackson9089yes, Wells Fargo lets them open an account at 17 on their own. It includes checking, savings, and a debit card. Once they hit 18, they can access other services like credit cards.