Story Archives - Healthy Teen Network

Young Parents Stories – Lucero & Carmen

healthyteenreviewer — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 18:36:11 +0000

Lucero and Carmen's Story

Lucero (she/her) and Carmen (she/her) have been there for each other since they were born. Having been in juvenile justice and the foster care system, the twin sisters have non-traditional pathways toward economic security and financial independence. Their contrasting experiences in the group home show how important it is to have supportive, trauma-informed adults at every touchpoint of a young person’s journey toward adulthood. The story is told from the perspective of Lucero and her daughter; it is a call to advocates and policymakers to improve young people’s access to supportive services in health, education, and housing.

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“Time for bed, my love.”

“Mommy, would you tell me a story?”

“We just read a book. Aren’t you tired?”

“I want YOU to tell me a story.”

“Okay. What kind of story?”

“Something about a girl who goes on a journey.”

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Lucy.

She had a magic spark that lit up the world. A smile that could warm the coldest winter day.

Everyone knew Lucy was special.

Lucy had a twin sister Ramona, who was just as special.

They were as close as twins could be.

But they had very different paths.

One day, a mean person brought a darkness that hurt Lucy and Ramona.

The mean person took away their magic and left a big empty hole in each of the sister’s hearts.

People began to treat them differently. Their closest friends started to stay away from them.

They felt alone, like no one wanted them. This made them sad.

The sadness hurt too much. When that happens, sadness can turn into anger.

Without love and support, Lucy and Ramona started getting into trouble.

No one showed them how to heal.

They were doing things that other teens would do, but because of their past, the adults were always monitoring their every move.

In the adults’ eyes, the sisters were always doing something wrong.

They were punished for the smallest mistakes.

The adults told Lucy and Ramona that there was a place that could ‘correct’ their behaviors—so they took the sisters there.

“Wait, like a prison?!”

“Well, sort of. It wasn’t a prison with bars—it was called a group home.

“The sisters knew about group homes. They heard stories about abuse and neglect, and how the young people who lived in them weren’t really listened to.”

Even worse, Lucy and Ramona were separated and taken to two different group homes.

Their experiences were very different.

Ramona’s group home was frantic and under-resourced. There were always fights, and the young people were isolated from the real world.

The adults did not have proper training to care for young people like Ramona. They did their best, but it wasn’t enough.

The lack of love and support made it harder for Ramona to find her magic and go on her journey.

On the other hand, Lucy’s group home was different from most.

The grown-ups in her home helped Lucy. They were trained to care for people who have been through a lot.

They showed Lucy that she was still a special person with a magic spark who could go on to do great things.

Because of that, she could feel something changing.

It was a small feeling. Like a little tickle.

She didn’t know it yet, but…
a little of her magic was starting to come back.

When it was time for Lucy to leave the group home, she didn’t want to leave the relationships she had built.

She felt supported there.

They taught her how to get an education and do great things.

She knew she didn’t need to be afraid anymore.

When Lucy went back to school, she had a new energy.

She took her regular classes and also went to night school.

She worked harder than she had ever worked before.

But even then, the adults in her school told her that her grades were not good enough for college.

They told her that she
hadn’t been good enough.

Lucy felt like
her dreams were fading.

But then she remembered…

There were people who believed in her.

Even more of her magic started to return.

She used it to do amazing things.

She graduated from high school.

She had a beautiful daughter.

And she started going to college.

Even though Lucy could see a bright future ahead, she had new fears, new challenges to face.

For young parents like Lucy, getting good grades was not the only priority.

Where will I live?

Who will take care of my daughter while I study?

How will I afford college?
What about childcare?

Even with all the support she received, the time she spent in the group home didn’t prepare her for the outside world.

As Lucy’s magic grew, she used it to overcome many of her challenges.

In college, there were no childcare resources. They didn’t let her take her daughter to class either, but she stood up for herself and did it anyway.

She worked hard to find programs that could pay for college, and people who would help her find a place to live.

It’s hard to find your way in life as a young person. But it’s even harder when you have to do it without real support and the right resources.

What happens when young people leave foster care without any real guidance to complete their education and gain financial independence?

What happens when young parents are left alone to navigate adulthood and parenthood, while having to build their child’s future at the same time?

What happens to their children?

Young people in the foster care system have a steep climb toward economic security.

If they are going to succeed, they need supportive adults, holistic educational and financial support, access to health care, and a comprehensive system that prioritizes them and their families.

“Lucy helped Ramona find her magic, and together they used it to help other young people who had been hurt.

They wanted to make sure that others could get an education.

A safe place to live.

And even support raising their children.

Now, that is what Lucy does.

She works hard so that more and more young people know they have magic inside them.”

“Mommy, was that you?”

How You Can Help

To learn how you can begin to help other young parents like Lucero and Carmen, visit the Journey to Success campaign website.

Acknowledgment

Thank you, Lucero and Carmen, for graciously lending your time to share your story with us, and allowing us to take a peek at a slice of your life. Your experiences, insights, and suggestions have shaped and redefined the conversations around young parents, and we hope that this story continues to do so.

Thank you to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for funding this project, and to Journey to Success for being a partner.

Thank you to artist Tony Midi and to DALL·E for the creation of our illustrations. Lastly, thank you to those who was involved in the revision of this story and to those who helped make this story possible.

Suggested Citation

Natalie, P., Noyola, L., Noyola, C., Fishbein, J., Garrido, M., Sufrinko, N., LaBonte, K., & Cowsert, M. (2023). Young Parents Stories. Healthy Teen Network. https://www.healthyteennetwork.org/resources/young-parents-stories/lucero-carmen

The post Young Parents Stories – Lucero & Carmen appeared first on Healthy Teen Network.

Young Parents Stories – Bella

healthyteenreviewer — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 16:13:03 +0000

Bella's Story

A story from the Young Parents Stories

I had been a nurse for many years. I’d thought I’d seen all of the struggles people could go through.

Bella’s story was something new.

As a child, Bella had some happy moments.

But those happy moments were overshadowed by a difficult home life.

Bella was struggling as a teen, and their family didn’t give them the emotional support they needed most.

When they asked for help, all they got was verbal abuse.

One day, they heard a loud KNOCK
on the door.

Bella was taken away that night, so they could live “somewhere safer.”

If only things were that simple.

Bella was rotated through various family members, foster homes, and shelters, until they were put in a group home for older youth.

But I wouldn’t call it a “home.”

For no reason other than Bella’s gender identity, the older youth assaulted and attacked them daily.

Their possessions were stolen.

Bella was given clothes that didn’t align with their gender expression.

When they looked to the adults for help, the adults turned their backs.

The staff enabled the abuse.

So Bella left.

Without stable housing or a support network, Bella had nowhere to go.

That night, they slept on
the street.

Then the next night.

And the next.

Bella was alone, unsafe, and losing hope.

Then, Bella fell in love.

Angel was the supporting, loving partner of their dreams.

They both had always
wanted to start a family,
and soon they would.

People doubted the ability for two trans youth to have children.

But Aiko was a miracle.

Bella wanted more than anything to be a loving, caring mother.

Without secure housing, they questioned whether they were a good parent. Even though they are.

With nowhere to go, Bella, Angel, and their new baby were stuck in a revolving door of homelessness.

They moved from one motel to another, one couch to the next, and one parking lot to another.

I can’t imagine trying to raise a child when you don’t have a place to call home.

More than anything, Bella and their family needed a place to live.

Eventually, Bella decided to live with their mother. The landlord gave them a hard time only because Bella was trans.

Their mother would criticize Bella’s parenting, telling them how to parent “the right way.”

After a while, Bella realized that this home wasn’t going to work for their family. They had to look for other solutions.

They tried to get a job.

But, with a flag on their record, no one would hire them.

It was as if the system wanted Bella to fail.

Bella looked to government agencies for support.

But the staff wanted to take their baby away.

It took a pro bono lawyer to keep their family together.

For now, Bella and their family are still on the move, in search of their new home.

What happens to a young family when they are invisible to the system?

What happens when young people leave foster care and have no home to go to, or arms to fall into?

What happens to the next
generation?

Young people in the foster care system have a steep climb, as they move toward independence.

Love, and the right policies, can do a lot to lift up young people like Bella.

If they are going to succeed, they need self-aware adults, a system that is just and equitable, and a reliable way to find stability for their families.

How You Can Help

To learn how you can begin to help other young parents like Bella, visit the Journey to Success campaign website.

Acknowledgment

Thank you, Bella, for graciously lending your time to share your story with us, and allowing us to take a peek at a slice of your life. Your experiences, insights, and suggestions have shaped and redefined the conversations around young parents, and we hope that this story continues to do so.

Thank you to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for funding this project, and to Journey to Success for being a partner.

Suggested Citation

Natalie, P., Arroyo, I., Fishbein, J., Garrido, M., Sufrinko, N., & Cowsert, M. (2023). Young Parents Stories. Healthy Teen Network. https://www.healthyteennetwork.org/resources/young-parents-stories/bella

The post Young Parents Stories – Bella appeared first on Healthy Teen Network.

Young Parents Stories

healthyteen — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 17:35:31 +0000

Featured Project

Young Parents Stories

A storytelling project aimed at portraying the realities of young parents while navigating the foster care system.

Why It Matters

Stories are transformative and have the power to bring about change. Stories provide a practical and sustainable structure for sharing knowledge and revealing connections between seemingly disconnected information. Stories can portray dreams of what the future may hold, allow introspection on what has occurred in the past, and yield insight into lessons learned. Despite all the benefits of stories, there is no repository of stories capturing young parents’ real lived experiences while navigating the foster care system. Stories of young parents matter because they can create an emotional connection to young parents’ experiences, inviting people to engage with their stories and take action as a result.

What It Is

Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Healthy Teen Network developed two mobile-friendly digital stories based on the real lives of young parents in the foster care system. These stories will serve as advocacy materials for policymakers and advocates and will be a component of the Journey to Success campaign – a policy advocacy campaign that seeks to improve outcomes for youth experiencing foster care.

Through interviews with foster care advocates, policy consultants, and childhood and family experts, we learned that the needs of young parents and foster youth are constantly being overlooked in policies. While statistics and infographics document the need, there is a general lack of understanding about the unique needs and non-traditional pathways that young parents have to take to raise families, secure housing, receive education, find financial stability, and receive healthcare services. Through a rigorous human-centered design process, we identified the best format and content areas to develop real, authentic stories of young parents that have the power to evoke empathy and drive policy.

Bella’s Story

Bella (she/they) is a 22-year-old queer mother who gives their all to their family. Their story to find a safe, stable housing especially for their two children, depicts how the broken housing system forces young families to experience homelessness and live in unsafe places. Their experience with the foster care system also shows how the system doesn’t prepare youth to transition into mainstream society, and how discrimination towards trans youth results in an even steeper climb to adulthood and parenthood. The story is told from a perspective of Nora (she/her), a nurse of Nurse-Family Partnership, who helped and supported Bella through some of the toughest times in their journey.

Read Bella’s Story

Lucero and Carmen’s Story

Lucero (she/her) and Carmen (she/her) have been there for each other since they were born. Having been in juvenile justice and the foster care system, the twin sisters have a non-traditional pathways towards economic security and financial independence. Their contrasting experiences in the group home show how important it is to have supportive, trauma-informed adults at every touchpoint of a young person’s journey towards adulthood. The story is told from the perspective of Lucero and her daughter; it is a call to advocates and policymakers to improve young people’s access to supportive services in health, education, and housing.

Read Lucero & Carmen’s Story

What’s Next

To learn how you get started to help other young parents like Bella, Lucero, and Carmen, visit the Journey to Success campaign website.

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The post Young Parents Stories appeared first on Healthy Teen Network.

Storms and blossoms: Foster care system alumni parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mariah Cowsert — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 20:02:35 +0000

ReSHAPING

Storms and blossoms: Foster care system alumni parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic

University of Maryland, College Park, May 2021

Elizabeth Aparicio, Rhoda Smith, Michelle Jasczyński, Amara Channell Doig, Marissa Ventola, Svetlana Shpiegel, Alexander Sanchez, Genevieve Martínez-García

Suggested Citation

Martinez-Garcia, G., Sanchez, A., Shpiegel, S., Ventola, M., Channell Doig, A., Jasczyński, M., Smith, R., & Aparicio, E.M. (2021). Storms and blossoms: Foster care system alumni parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic. University of Maryland, College Park. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/27039

Description
Our team conducted this PhotoVoice project from January to March 2021. Parenting foster youth and foster system alumni aged 18-26 met for three sessions to use photography to explore their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This photobook was designed as a keepsake for PhotoVoice group participants to be able to share their photographs, experiences, captions, and stories with one another as well as with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Names used in the book are pseudonyms.