"We have a choice, we can continue to ignore foster children, or deal with the ramifications of our actions when they age out of the foster care system. Minorities, gay, trans-gender, refugees, immigrants, and women are all groups of people our society rallies behind, yet foster children continue to go unnoticed. No one wants to deal with #ParentLESSChildren, or better yet, a child that has been labeled flawed by society. It's time to stop treating foster children like they are invisible. They deserve to perfect their potential. If you'd like to see a decrease in homelessness, incarceration and unemployment in our society, transforming foster care is a powerful solution."
The mission of Empowerment Couture is to empower foster girls to successfully transition out of the foster care system, emerging as assets to society, financially independent and self sufficient women.
The 'Girl Gone Wealthy' Fund
Ungenita Prevost is partnering with Living Advantage, Inc to help Foster's Girls 16-21 years old "Transition Age Youth" successfully transition out of the foster care system and be an asset to society, financially independent and self sufficient women. The 'Girl Gone Wealthy' Fund was founded by Ungenita Prevost and will provide them will the necessary resources, tools and a powerful community of unconditional supporters.
With love and honor, a portion of our revenues goes directly to Living Advantage, Inc a nonprofit in Los Angeles serving Foster Youth.
Living Advantage, Inc.'s mission is to utilize innovative technology, social networking and media to reduce unemployment, homelessness and incarceration for foster youth.
We offer continuous support for their education, career, housing, and wellness needs, but also provide the financial and independent living skills necessary for self-sufficiency that will further their success in having a better quality of life upon aging out of the foster care system.
We help to empower disadvantaged and disenfranchised youth to take control of their destiny to be contributing and productive members of society.
We will provide the necessary direction and skills to realize their dreams through maintaining life documents, education, social skills, job training, counseling, motivation, and integrating with positive role models in the community to have a higher rate of successful outcomes.
"On any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the United States. In 2015, over 670,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care. Although half will return to their parents, this still leaves about 300,000 foster children, many who stay in foster care for years, while about 24,000 will be forced out of the system this year with no financial or family support. For foster children who never find a permanent home and simply age out of the foster care system, the consequences are significant and long-term, they often do not get the help they need with high school completion, employment, accessing health care, continued educational opportunities, housing and transitional living arrangements. Studies of youth who have left foster care have shown they are more likely than those in the general population to not finish high school, be unemployed, and be dependent on public assistance. Many find themselves in prison, homeless, or parents at an early age.”
Foster Care Facts:
8% are in institutions
6% are in group homes
Only 4% are in pre-adoptive homes
50% will complete high school
25% will be homeless
40% will depend on some form of public assistance
27% of males and 10% of females will be incarcerated at least once
It's Time For Society To Start Paying Attention
In December 1999, "The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999" was signed into law. This legislation helps ensure that young people who leave foster care get the tools they need to make the most of their lives. It empowers them by providing better educational opportunities, access to health care, training, housing assistance, counseling and other services.
There are so many statistics on this population, and it's time we as a society face the facts. Mrs. Hilary Rodham Clinton commented from an article she read. Mrs. Clinton stated, "For many Americans, the 18th birthday is an important one. Turning 18 means you can vote. It means you can often go away to get a job or to school. But it should never mean that you're left on your own. For too many young people, turning 18 has been just the beginning of a lonely and sometimes harrowing journey toward adulthood."
The article she read was from a statistic from Casey Family Program. It states, between 18,000 and 20,000 youth aged 16 and older transition from the foster care system each year, Studies show that youth in foster care tend to do less well than their peers in the general population in such areas as high school completion rates and employment. These youth also tend to experience higher incidences of homelessness. Further, research has shown that foster youth are at higher risk of delinquency, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy and parenting. Unfortunately, youth in foster care often do not get the help they need with high school completion, employment, accessing health care, continued educational opportunities, housing and transitional living arrangements. These are the areas in which youth need support to learn how to manage the activities of daily living and maintain connections to siblings, other caring adults and peers. Frequently, the foster care system and other related agencies such as Probation and Mental Health expect these youth to live on their own at age 18. Living Advantage targets our young adult foster youth who come from living in these types of systems and just simply need our support.
To find out more about Living Advantage, Inc and the work Ungenita Prevost is doing, please visit LivingAdvantageInc.org or on Facebook @LivingAdvantage!
