Can death of a young man save future kids in Florida's foster care?
In the last photo ever taken of him alive, Regis Little is a handsome teen, his head cocked back confidently, a bemused smile across his lips. A faint patch of young beard curls from his chin. In reality, the 18-year-old product of Florida's foster-care system was tragically vulnerable.
One night last July, several months after he had aged out of the system, he was found stabbed in a parking lot off International Drive, a crowd of spectators gathered around his body. By the time paramedics arrived, Regis Little was dead.
Continue with story: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-regis-20100413,0,7939142.story
The other is inspiring.
Former foster child travels Road to Independence
That's the way the system typically works in Florida. But it's not just a shove out the door. In Grant's case, there was something better ahead.
Taking advantage of the state's Road to Independence program available to teens transitioning out of foster care, Grant already had lined up a place to rent, a $1,000 monthly stipend, training in financial matters and life skills, and a detailed plan for her future.
When local child-welfare advocates want an example of how things can go right, Grant often becomes Exhibit A. She is bright, personable and exceedingly polite, and she did something almost unheard of in Department of Children and Families history: She actually asked to go back into foster care.
"Kamesha gets a lot of the credit for being where she is," said Bethanie Barber, her guardian ad litem, the court-appointed attorney charged with advocating for Grant's best interests. "She is very, very savvy, she has incredible internal motivation and she was absolutely receptive to everything we put in front of her."
Continue story - http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-foster-care-freefall-kamesha-20100419,0,2535312.story
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