A fresh start for teens after foster care
Emancipation from the foster care system can be exhilarating and terrifying for youths.
Teenagers, many of whom have spent their whole lives moving in and out of foster homes and group homes, are cut free from the foster care system at 18. Then they must fend for themselves.
At the Stanford Home for Children, social workers attempt to ease foster children's transition into independence. They help the so-called emancipating youths find apartments, roommates, jobs and furniture.
For Desaree Esquibel, 18, social workers' help has helped her move into adult emancipation.
Esquibel found a new apartment with the help of the Stanford Home program. Her social worker, Ebony Chambers, helped Esquibel pick out new furniture, dishes and linens for the apartment.
Chambers also worked to ensure that Esquibel, who is hearing impaired, found a work and living skills program that would help her train for a permanent job.
Esquibel proudly displays her new apartment to visitors, showing them her new couch, microwave, bedspread and bathroom linens.
"I'm learning new living skills," Esquibel said through a signing interpreter. "It's a little scary sometimes."
The Stanford Home program works to provide each transitioning youth with what they call "emancipation kits." The kits include all of the furniture, bedding, kitchenware and other items needed to set up a household.
"They're important because they give the kids a fresh start," Chambers said. "They are able to start out without having to start from the bottom."
The emancipation kits are funded through private donations. Workers at the Stanford Home have asked Book of Dreams readers to help them buy more kits.