4/1/3

By Victoria Rowell

It was 2:20pm at St. Patrick's School. I sat at my desk with my Capezio bag by my feet watching the clock. At exactly 2:30, I started my journey to 11 Garden Street.

My life changed every afternoon when I stepped into The Cambridge School of Ballet. There I heard beautiful music, learned ballet steps and began to believe that, with hard work, anything was possible. Eventually, I won a scholarship to the American Ballet Theater School and joined the American Ballet II Company.

My life as a ballet dancer was exciting. But my emancipation from The Department of Children and Family Services was a difficult transition that got worse when I lost all support when I turned 18.

Today, more than 18,000 young women and men are at the crossroads where I stood so long ago. Unfortunately, few of them will fare as well as I have.

Teenagers living with their families are not expected to fend for themselves after their 18th birthday. So why should foster children, who have suffered so much, be expected to make this leap alone? I'm not surprised that a recent report funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that "these young adults have a broad constellation of problems that make adjustment to adult life extremely challenging."

Without supports or services, connections or a community, too many foster youth become incarcerated, pregnant, homeless. The Casey report said, "without the extended support most families provide young people...youth leaving foster care... are less well prepared educationally, have a harder time embarking on a successful career, are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and are more likely to be involved with the legal system." Yet, the report concluded, "The total cost of providing extra services to assist a successful transition to adulthood should be modest."

Connections are important because foster care is all about disruption. Foster children need help to identify, maintain and reach out to people who can be consistent sources of support. Knowing that there is someone -- a foster parent, a teacher, a social worker -- you can turn to for help is absolutely essential.

Each teen also needs a community. My community was my dance class. There, I was not Vicki who had lived in five different foster homes in two states, I was a dancer. My teachers had faith in me and instilled in me the discipline and determination to succeed.

The Chaffee Act, passed in 1999, helps foster youth, particularly in job training and placement. Independent living programs also help with financial management, education and employment. But these programs need to be complemented by strong education, medical and mental health initiatives to give foster youth the support they need.

Services for foster youth are clearly a good investment. Without appropriate support, foster children will continue to be a disproportionate cost to society in terms of social services.

On a recent trip to Boston I was invited to speak at the State House about older foster youth in Massachusetts. Beforehand, I visited the Jose Mateo School in Cambridge and watched a young girl my foundation sponsors. I wondered if she ran to class as I had years ago.

I ran from Roxbury to Cambridge because I knew then, as I know now, that my life depended on it. Somehow I understood where those ballet classes could take me. Ballet was my anchor in sharp contrast to the uncertainty of foster care. There I acquired something no one could ever take from me: Knowledge. In that process I discovered my community and my connections that helped shape me into who I am today.

All of us can do better for our foster children. Their dreams and aspirations -- or their disappointments and disenfranchisement -- will be our future. We have the means to help them choose the right path.

Victoria Rowell is an actress. She founded the Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan and is National Spokesperson for Casey Family Services.