Fostering a climate of success

How would you like to make a child’s life better? Easily. With a little work, or with harder work — whatever suits your fancy. We’ve been working on four great ways to help — three for individuals and one for businesses.

Over the years I’ve worked with others to improve Alaska’s foster care system — one that has historically seen 40 percent of youth end up homeless at some point after leaving foster care, and less than 10 percent graduate college. The criminal and other unhealthy statistics are as alarming. The Legislature has done a good job of looking at fixable problems, though lots more work needs to be done.

Mentorship

Last year we started a mentorship program. We need more mentors across the state. Today, youth coming out of foster care have no parent to call when they need advice or help. No adult shoulder to lean on. No one to take them out for dinner or lunch. Often, they have no one. What would your child’s life be like if they couldn’t call you when they needed help? Studies show mentorship breeds success in a system that breeds too much failure.

We have started a mentorship effort at two agencies. First, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Covenant House recently received a small state grant to train and background check volunteer mentors, and they will do so long distance wherever they have an office — and beyond, funds permitting.

Want to be a mentor to a child leaving foster care and about to lose their link to a responsible adult? Call Danielle Pittner of Big Brothers Big Sisters at (907) 433-4600. If that agency is not able to work in your part of the state, call Alaska Community Services, which also matches mentors. You can call Alexandra or Jenny at (907) 375-2207 for rural mentorships.

Donate a laptop

Here’s another easy one. At the suggestion of Julie Robinson, a local dentist and former foster parent — and with the help of my staff and Amanda Metivier when she worked in my office last summer (she’s the coordinator at Facing Foster Care in Alaska) — we launched an effort to get foster youth and recent alumni laptop computers.

Why laptops? Because foster youth often bounce around between homes. Laptops are sadly useful because they are portable, like the lives of too many foster children in Alaska. A laptop lets youth keep family pictures, stay in touch with loved ones and stay on top of their schoolwork. The Carr Family Foundation has generously donated $10,000 for new computers and dozens of you have donated late-model, good condition and Internet-connectable laptops with word processing. We’ve made more than 50 matches so far.

Have a good, late model laptop you want to donate? Call us at (907) 269-0106.

Great need for more foster families

Want harder work that will help transform a child’s life? Alaska is in dire need of foster parents. A good foster parent can do more for a child than all the programs in the world. If you’d like to be a foster parent, call (800) 478-7307. Today’s foster parent shortage keeps us from placing youth in the best homes, and sometimes forces the state to separate siblings — adding damage to a life already under siege.

Foster wear: clothing discounts for youth

Finally, businesses can help. Three years ago we started a volunteer effort by stores to offer discount clothing to foster youth, called Foster Wear. Too often foster youth end up in school in second-hand clothes. Children in trauma don’t need to stand out more than they do already. As in one case, they don’t need to wear military surplus bunny boots in May. REI was the first store to help and proves the program can work. Now we have more than half a dozen stores across the state. We want more. If you’d agree to a 25 percent discount to foster youth, and 10 percent on sale items (we’re negotiable, if need be), call us. Office of Children’s Services has done a good job taking this program over and administering it. It’s been fraud-free, and heavy on positives.

So let’s put aside the partisan fighting in politics and stand together to make Alaska a better place — together.

Rep. Les Gara is Democratic legislator who lives in Anchorage. He can be reached via email at Rep.les.gara@legis.state.ak.us.