log on to the website for the latest news. it's aljazeera.com. thanks for watching. you are in the stream. it's designed to help, but many say foster care needs an overhaul. the real lives of foster parents, foster children and the system that may be failing. could you take in a child and offer care at one of the most vulnerable points in their lives? >> well, we got interested in foster care kind of by accident way back in probably 15 years ago. there was a girl, a local girl stay.

>> we just knew that we had a loving family and a fun household and that we knew we could help. >> we just sat down and said we are going to do this or not and yeah. especially after seeing her, for crying out loud. there was no way in heck that was going to happen. >> on any given day, roughly 400,000 kids are in foster care. the general age for a foster child is nine, and they spend on average about two years in the system because their parents can't care for them. studies show foster children often suffer from croonic health issues, developmental delays and are almost twice as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? >> people just came to my house and just took me. it was like at night when they took me to this house, and i got really scared because these were strangers i was living with. i had no idea what was going on.

>> switched homes like more than eight homes just about, and i was getting in a lot of trouble because i was confused and stuff like that. >> like nobody wanted me. like people would give up, like if i do one little thing wrong, they would just send me away to somebody else. >> the system is in distress across the board. there is a shortrage of foster parents to help care for children when they are young and there is a shortage of support for them when they get older. dreams are lost along the way. seventy % of foster kids say they want to go to college. only two % actually obtain a bachelor's degree. nep become homeless, face unemployment, struggle well poverty or end up in prison. it is a system that many agree is produced. our did i know al producer is looking back for your live feedback. we ask if the system can be fixed but doing that takes an understanding of what people are up against. all day our communicatety has been behind this idea of getting behind the scenes.

>> the online community, of course, shapes the show with all of their contributions, using the hash tag ajam stream. >> it deserves funding families and children need support to be successful in order to thrive. however, here is a personal stroer, pretty depress depress from tiger, my great and uncle fausterred for so long we called them cousins but they were considered too old to adopt. the entire family suffered, and those two kids were never adopted, and, in fact, fairly are older minority kids ever system. it's something we will talk about. beginning to. >> i am surprised that there is a lot of inconsistency. >> it's fascinating.

>> joining us to help address this topic is rick burnthal. he and his wife were foster children. they are still in touch with some of them today. >> on skype is chris beam, a foster parent and author of 2 life of american foster care and in our google quest hang out, we are joined by a foster chile who is an advocate. welcome to the stream. >> rick, you and your wife stepped into the lives of 25 kids over a course of 10 years that was arguablythe most vulnerable time in their life. set this up so people understand it is almost never a rainbo and unicorn situation? >> there is a story about why kids enter foster care. they are all bad. denominator. it's some terrible thing that's

happened that's caused society, typically in the form of local police to walk into some home, and pluck little kids away from a parent. that doesn't happen lightly or easily, but it happens, and it happens because there is drug abuse, neglect, a crime scene. something terrible, a kid has been injured badly. so these kids get taken away. they are in the back of a police car and then they have to go somewhere, and unless there is a foster home where the kids can go, they go to a state facility. what else can they do? and so it becomes vital that there. be a foster home that provides not only a safe haven. it's likeblying comfort is fine. that. a situation,

kids have where the end result is where the kids get picked up off of the street. they are terrified and they get separated from their siblings so they are in some strange home all alone, and that's how this starts. >> chris, how are foster parents prepared to handle the kids that they receive? it's such a time of crises? >> i would like to comment on a few things that he just -- he just said which are that i am getting a lot of feedback. i am wondering if we can fix that. >> first of all, the kids are not always in a traumatic situation when they are removed. this trauma -- it is traumatizing to be removed. imagine being a child taken away and put in a stranger's home. your guest is absolutely right. the siblings are very often separated. but, one of the things that happens is that kids are removed

very often for reasons that are not always understood. when kids -- when families are called or when the experts are called in and kids are removed, they don't always understand the dynamics going on in the family and kids are removed for reasons that it isn't always necessary to remove them. 70% of the child maltreatment in this case are neglect. many argue that neglect cases are poverty questions. so i question the reason kids are removed. i think we can be removing kids now. >> chris, speaking about, you know, kids in the system. we have two kids and i want to go to you, jill says foster parents need to be patient, kind and understand the specific needs of each child. make the child feel special and wanted. they already feel tossed aside and unloved. and judy says, i am very grateful for my foster family of 17 years. without them and the experiences i had, good and bad, i wouldn't

be the person i am today. you unfortunately did not have the best experience your foster parent was emotionally abusive and racesist. talk to us about dealing with that with a foster parent? >> i believe being a foster parent is a calling, and being in that role, you have an enormous impact on a young person. so for me, i had foster parents were who were abusive and who made me feel worthless and that i shouldn't aspire to anything but i had few people whom en cud me and said you can go to college and be different than the environment that you come from. so it's all being a foster parent is being being impactful in a young person's life. >> rick, it's estimated that about 80% of the kids in foster care have serious emotional problems. psychotherapist. >> yes. >> you know, the two of you have disposal. biological songs. >> yes. >> even with all of that, were you prepared for what you faced and are most people equipped to

deal with the kinds of kids that they end up taking in? >> unfortunately -- unfortunately, the system ends up confronting reality. we had every advantage. we did have the resources and my wife had the expertise and the patience. we had a greater than environment where we could take multiple kids, all siblings at once. it was very trying in certain circumstances. we had kids pull knives on us. we had kids who were really, really dysfunctional and made it very tough to reach them. but i think that the comment that was just made about showing that love and patience, the people will do that. there are people in the system who are committed to it for that reason. i think the ugly reality is that most foster homes, people do it for the money, which was a revelation to me that just shocked me when we were training to become foster parents. but that's a fact. and they are not so patient. and in some cases. so, it's very challenging. that.

>> about 20 seconds. go ahead. >> one of the things i found researching my book is that we know so much about the foster kids in this country, the demographics, backgrounds and so on and we know very little about the foster parents. we don't know where they come from. we don't know their backgrounds. we only have anecdoelthsz stories and they are pretty terrible. there are wonderful foster parents like the guest on the show and many that are quite abusive. >> we will continue that part of the discussion when we come back from the break. think about this. imagine that you know you are about to turn 18 and instead of excitement, you are filled with ? >> you know, it's like get out. you know, i should be prepping for it but it still feels like get out. >> it's call aging out, going from being in the system to being on your own after the break we will tell you about a young woman who is about to age out of foster care. we are going to get on the other

side of the break. determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on

line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites, hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well. >> audiences are intelligent and they know that their needs are not being met by american tv news today. >> entire media culture is driven by something that's very very fast... >> there has been a lack of fact based, in depth, serious journalism, and we fill that void... >> there is a huge opportunity for al jazeera america to change the way people look at news. >> we just don't parachute in on a story...quickly talk to a couple of experts and leave... >> one producer may spend 3 or 4 months, digging into a single story... >> at al jazeera, there are resources to alow us as journalists to go in depth and produce the kind of films...

the people that you don't see anywhere else on television. >> we intend to reach out to the people who aren't being heard. >>we wanna see the people who are actually effected by the news of the day... >> it's digging deeper it's asking that second, that third question, finding that person no one spoken to yet... >> you can't tell the stories of the people if you don't get their voices out there, and al jazeera america is doing just that. >> state versus baldwin. >> what you are looking at there is a clip from a documentary called "from place to place" it tells six annual adults who grew up in foster care. they had no safety net. once they turned 18, they were on their own. joining us now in our google plus hang out is gab agree yell garcia. she entered the system at 14 and has remained in foster care past her 18th birthday because of a program in some states that allows foster kids to stay in the system up to an additional

four years. so, gabby, you turned 21 in a few months. you are going to age out. had you been in a state where you had to age out at region, how do you think your chances of success on your own would have been different? >> they would have been very different. when i was 18, i hadn't finished high school yesterday. ists working on my college applications and i really had no other place to go. i was in my foster home. so had i aged out at 18, i probably would have not made it to college. i probably would have ended up in like a program for like homeless use because there would have been no support for me otherwise. i think those programs are really important because a lot of times, people think that people are ready for adulthood when they are 18. the reality is that most people are supported by their family well into their mid 20s and i think it was very important for me to have that support past 18. >> yeah. you know, teens account for about 33% of the kids in foster care. and officials say that they are often more difficult to place

because of a fear factor. >> and there are, you know, many, many children in the foster care system now, many teenagers who deserve and need a committed family. i think one of the fears that people have about teenagers is that you hear, you know, they issues. what teenager does not have adjustment issues? >> rick, do the teens in foster care have different adjustment issues than your average teen family? >> i think they do, to be honest. i think that they are more intense, the problems are more difficult, more challenging, and there is less of a foundation between the parents, the foster parents, and natural parents who are -- have had their kids their whole lives and grow up with them. so, yeah, i think it is more challenging. >> do you think foster parents are reticent to take teenage kids? if so, why? >> i can tell you we remember actually affirmatively warned not to take teenage kids. we had presented ourselves ready

to go and where we were needed. we were told, whatever you do turn down kids over 12. their chances are, we were told, they are emotionally lost at this point and you are in danger. and you don't need to go through that. turn them down. i mean they actually told us that. so, it's very disconcerting, very upsetting to someone who is entering the system as a foster parents with no experience. you don't know quite what you are getting into. you are eager and earnest and sincere, but that's a scary thing to hear. so i think there is a prejudice all through the system against teenagers ric, community coming in, not all foster kids have dpoechltal delays or mental health problems. i know chris you mentioned before, some are just kids who need a good placement. mica says there is a lack of support systems, lack of loved ones, which is can lead to so many problems, lower educational systems than their peers and they may become depressed or experience other health issues

directly related to their circumstance. you had a rough upbringing when it came to your foster care. om oftentimes they say it's a pipeline toward incarceration and homeletsness. upbringing. >> i entered care at 11 months and by the age of 9, i was adopted by one foster family, but it was a very abusive adoption, and it ended up me by the age of 13, house surfing, not having a stable place to live. but by the age of 15, i was back in foster care. and let me push back it being hard for teens to adjust. i actually believe different. teenagers, we are resilient. we have shown that we can bounce back from many of the horrific and traumatic experiences that we see and now, new brain science is supporting the fact that we have this new and second chance to rewire our brains. so my, the reason i was yes ilient enough was because i had

al docent who was supporting me. >> your foster child was 18 when you first took herein. did you worry that you weren't going to be equipped to handle ? >> hum? >> did you worry -- >> sure, i worried but, you know, i -- >> i'm sorry? >> go ahead. >> no, of course i worried, but i loved what sixto just said, i think teens are creativeand resilient. that's what's excited about taking them in. i think that what kids -- what teenagers really need is someone that they can count on. i mean all of the programs we can offer, all of the independent living skills, all of the resume writing skills. all of these programs that we keep coming up, these are great. but what kids really need is someone that they can go to and call on and liean upon when the going gets rough, after they turn 21. think about you and me and everyone we know. when we struggled when we were

25 and 30, who did we call? we called our families or our chosen families. these kids need that, too. they need someone that they can call upon forever. and teenagers need that. >> you know, i agree with that, and there is one resource that's out there that isn't there all the time but is there sometimes. >> that's the foster parents. some of them are good, and some of them really love their kids. some of them have unique resources and much motivation to bring to bear to these problems, and one of the things that i was very surprised to find is that the system considers a foster parent to be a place, not a person. it's a place to place a kid. you are not told when the kid is coming. you are not told when the kid is leaving. and i think chris had mentioned how little the child understands of what's going on in the legal system. the foster parent is told nothing. in our personal case, of course, it was especially absurd. my wife is a child psychotherapist with 35 years' experience and she had all sorts of things to offer the covered

to help understand some of these kids. of course, she was literally not permitted to testify, and so that resource, the good foster overlooked. >> let me push back for a bit. you know, we have to take into account that foster parents are not the only area of improvement when we are talking about the foster care system. we know what works for the foster care system. when you look at states like tennessee and connecticut, who support their young people, they have better outcomes. youth villages have been able to do a great job with theirtritional living program where the young people who age out of there, 77% of them have no interaction after the law after two years of their services and 8% are connected to education. we know what works. however, we need people to get involved in the political process and get involved in making sure that we are able to build these public/private partnerships and make sure our young people get the services that they need, not only from foster parents but from state policies, from federal policy

and so on. >> well, our community agrees with you, ric and chris. they said all kids needy motional and practical support well beyond 18. amy says it helps when the program allows children to stay until they are 21. dumping kids on their 18th birthday doesn't give them enough time to go to college. at least at the age of 21, they can get through an aa program, or if twelve parents like ric and chris actually a support system, a human being who cares and listenses? >> sixto mentioned a little bit ago, but we want to talk more about what it's going to take to bring change into the foster care system. think about that. tweet us during the break.

our co our foster care system in many ways works beautifully and in some ways, needs, of course to be fixed and repaired and strengthened. >> welcome back. recently the u.s. house of representatives passed legislation of promoting

adoption of children in foster care. a similar in the senate. you are in a sneak response in terms of being a former foster kid and an advocate for foster children. what do you see as the biggiest gar year right now. >> looking at partnerships that are going to work. we are looking: how is it that we take evidence-based practices that are out there that really do have results and apply open statewide. right now n 2008, states have had thet some federal reimbursement to expand services but yet not only half, not even half of the states have extended their foster care system beyond the age of 18 and then we also have to look at is 21 far enough? right now, i am 21 and i am a junior in college. if i was cut off from the scholarship that i have with the state, where would i be? >> ric, is there any effort that you can see by the foster care

system statewide or even federally to recruit good foster families into the system? >> i think that that's a place where improvement really could be made. it's a small step that would be very effective. there is no recruiting effort going on anywhere that i know of. i am not an expert on the whole country. but i was amazed. we live in a very progressive area here, montgomery county outside washington, and there is no efforts to recruit families into foster care. you have to find it on your own. we had originally checked with the district of columbia and we were told don't go there. that system is so screwed up, they will never even train you, let alonegos get you kids. tas mess. there is no outreach. there is no effort by social services or other government agencies to say this is a great thing that you can do with your life. this is meaningful. this is a way can can connect with people, help people. it's a very rewarding experience. it's a fabulous thing. i wouldn't trade our 10 years having done it for anything. but no one encouraged us to do it. >> ric, our community that has gone through it, as jeremy says,

broken. he says, rebuild this from start to finish. it was broken 25 years ago when i was in it and it doesn't seem to have improved then and james, i workedfo for two group homes. the system is in horrible shape. no one person can fix it. here is a potential solution. here is a video comment? >> there is a critical need in this country to focus on older children who are in foster care waiting to be adopted. last year, 23,429 children turned 18 while in foster care and were forced to leave without the adopted family that we promised them. and that is simply unacceptable. we know 3 rigorous research conducted on a model we employ, whether three or years old or 18 can be adopted and that they must be. >> that was rita from dave thomas foundation. gabby, i want to get you back in the conversation. forward? >> i agree. i think the foster care system is broken.

i think the problem is that it's so expansive and i think it's kind of telling of the country because foster care really is like -- affects groups that are already vulnerable to different forms of depression and discrimination. and i think the problem really lies within the system because you can recruit better families, but i think better enforcement of the rules of foster care should have in place could fix some of the problems that are problematic homes. >> chris, you know, we have been talking during this show a lot about kids aging out. the reality is a lot of these kids get out of foster care before they are anywhere near the age of 18. what can be done to help thattrition for kids to go back into their homes to reunite with their families and really give the kids and the families the support and the resources they need to be successful? >> yeah, i think it's about -- it's not just about repairing the kids.

it's about preparing the family for reunification. >> that's one of the things we look at in foster care and what most agencies track is reabuse. it's the family going -- is the family committing the same before? and again, like i mentioned before, since 70 percent of the maltreatment cases are neglect cases, if they are recommitting the same neglect, we need to look at what's causing that. is it a community problem? is it a poverty problem? what's beneaththat? this is really about where we can sort of tackle foster care as a whole. often, it's not a system problem. it's a community problem. it's bigger than that. poverty. foster care, too, child welfare could be improved. it's not just a matter of the moment when a child gets returned. it's a matter of looking bigger and broader. >>

fundamental issues what do parents? >> i think the pinpoint in screening potentialcial foster parents is who is willing to stick. going book to what we can do to correct the system. we have to let kids be in charge of their future, and make sure we have proper oversight. >> that's all of the time we have for this conversation. our sincere thanks to ric bernthal and gabby garcia. thanks to all of you for this terrific discussion. until next time, raj and i will see you online. s

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