From Harford County government:
The Harford County Local Management Board, Department of Social Services and CASA will sponsor the viewing of a documentary called “From Place to Place.” It features the stories of three youth aging out of foster care and the barriers they face in their communities. It’s all in an effort to raise awareness of the needs of transitional aged youth in care in Harford County. This event will take place on November 20, 2014 from 6:30pm to 9pm at Harford Community College in the James LaCalle Conference Room in Edgewood Hall in Bel Air.
Each year, nationwide, thousands of youth in foster care turn 21 and leave a system that has often provided their only support for many years. The odds are that one in five will end up homeless. In 2011, the Harford County Local Management Board formed a Ready by 21 Taskforce to review local resources and issues that the community needed to help local youth in become independent by the age of 21. The task force made recommendations about maximizing resources to support youth in the areas of housing, education, employment, health, mental health, and cross-cutting issues that impact these areas. In 2013, the LMB and Harford County Department of Social Services developed a work group to begin implementing the recommendations for youth, in out of home care.
In response to the limited resources for Harford County youth placed in foster care, the Ready by 21 Workgroup developed a new program known as “The Launching Family” Program to provide semi-independent living arrangements and mentoring for youth in care between the ages of 18 and 20. Following the film, participants can engage in a public discussion and learn more about the program. Anyone interested in volunteering to mentor or work with at-risk youth is encouraged to attend. For further information, please contact Kim Parks-Bourn at kjparks-bourn@harfordcountymd.gov or by calling 410-638-3389.
The film is very powerful and everyone should consider attending to learn more!
Actually, the task force began much earlier, in 2008-2009, under the prior director who was a visionary and was such a compassionate and dynamite leader. Now, less money is available for direct services and instead we seem to be convening more feel-good events, and producing meaningless “stuff” rather than delivering meaningful services.