Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.


Saturday, January 27, 2007

For Former Foster Care Youths, Help to Make It on Own

Thousands of children end up in foster care each year, and it happens for a variety of reasons. Poverty, addiction, and the incarceration of a parent can often end with families being destroyed and children being bounced around from home to home until they are legally of age to leave the system. Without external supports and little sense of self, what happens to them?

Read the NY Times article here

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I aged out of foster care myself, and entered the adult world without a safety net. When I started college, I was 16 years old. I was intellectually ready for college, but emotionally unprepared for the real-world.

I am now married, with two stepchildren. I have a wonderful husband, a graduate degree and a nice house. When I was 17 years old and homeless for two weeks, I did not know that there was hope in my future.

Just this Friday, I attended a youth forum for foster care youth who were preparing to age out of care. It was encouraging that social work professionals were holding the forum -- but discouraging that many of the same issues that I experienced have still not been resolved.

To learn more about the suggestions that young people made during this forum, please see the January 27th entry on my blog: http://sunshinegirlonarainyday.blogspot.com/

Thank you for caring about this issue,
Lisa