SAN FRANCISCO - Anthony Pico qualifies as an expert on foster care after spending 18 years in California's program. And he says it's far from perfect.
But staying in the system and receiving financial help as long as possible would be much better than being cast adrift, said Pico, who took part in a broad discussion of foster care at a meeting of the American Bar Association.
"I'm an adult, but I don't want to move out. I don't want to start paying rent. If I stay in until I'm 19 or 20, I'll be more stable and maybe I won't repeat the cycle," Pico explained at a weekend session of foster care experts and advocates at the ABA conference.
Pico, who lives in transitional housing in San Francisco, provides a human face to a problem that frustrates the social workers, lawyers and judges who work with foster children.
Many states cut off support for foster care youth when they turn 18, even though most people that age continue to receive financial help from their families.
And even when states do extend help, the children who have been in the foster care system often decline the aid.
Belinda Edwards, a juvenile court judge in Atlanta, estimated that up to 70 percent of the people who appear in her court "want nothing more to do with" Georgia's child welfare system even though the state will provide benefits beyond the age of 18.
Pico, an articulate spokesman for a group that often is ignored or reported on only in cases of horrific abuse, said he understands what is happening in Edwards' courtroom. Full Story - Nickelodeon Shop
But staying in the system and receiving financial help as long as possible would be much better than being cast adrift, said Pico, who took part in a broad discussion of foster care at a meeting of the American Bar Association.
"I'm an adult, but I don't want to move out. I don't want to start paying rent. If I stay in until I'm 19 or 20, I'll be more stable and maybe I won't repeat the cycle," Pico explained at a weekend session of foster care experts and advocates at the ABA conference.
Pico, who lives in transitional housing in San Francisco, provides a human face to a problem that frustrates the social workers, lawyers and judges who work with foster children.
Many states cut off support for foster care youth when they turn 18, even though most people that age continue to receive financial help from their families.
And even when states do extend help, the children who have been in the foster care system often decline the aid.
Belinda Edwards, a juvenile court judge in Atlanta, estimated that up to 70 percent of the people who appear in her court "want nothing more to do with" Georgia's child welfare system even though the state will provide benefits beyond the age of 18.
Pico, an articulate spokesman for a group that often is ignored or reported on only in cases of horrific abuse, said he understands what is happening in Edwards' courtroom. Full Story - Nickelodeon Shop
