I would like to personally address these sisters and tell them how awesome that I think they are. They grew up and aged out of the Missouri, Foster Care System, both had been in completely different placements.
One sister was placed into a foster home where she was loved and accepted and the other was not. They grew up and while Lacy Kendrick did well, April Kendrick fell into the cycle of so many other foster children who the system has failed. April has managed to turn her life around and now both of these former foster children are adovacating and making changes to the Missouri Foster Care System.
I say bravo to both of you for overcoming the obstacles you had to grow up with and using those experiences to change the lives of other foster children in Missouri. You are making a difference and you are proving, especially you April, that how you grew up does not necessarily define the person you become.
Many people believe that all foster children are predestined for failure, but with the changes you are making as well as the example you are setting I believe that assumption will be proven wrong. The best changes come from those who have lived it because they are the only ones who really know what is going wrong and what needs to change. Keep up the good work and know that what you are doing is appreciated.
Sisters Making Changes to Foster System
Reported by: Angie Weidinger
Friday, Jan 30, 2009 @09:00pm CST
http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=114001
Some of Missouri’s foster care policies recently changed, and it’s thanks in part to some former foster children we introduced you to in October, 2007.
You may remember Lacy and April Kendrick, sisters placed in separate foster homes ten years ago. The difference in their care had a direct impact on where they ended up when they aged out of the system.
In this follow-up to an Eye on the Ozarks investigation, we show you how they’re helping to rewrite the rules to make lives better for all future foster kids.
If you take a look at the book sin April Kendrick’s home, you’ll find everything from baby board books to college textbooks.
Not only is the 23-year-old mom taking a full course load at OTC “I’m a manager of Dominoes in Republic,” said April Kendrick.
She’s very busy, but also very happy.
“It makes me feel good,” explained Kendrick.
A few years ago, all that she has now was a fantasy.
“I was mixed up with meth and other drugs,” said April during our interview in 2007.
At that time she was battling alcohol and drug additions, trying to pull her life b ack together after she says the foster system failed her.
“I was so confused,” remembered April “I didn’t understand any of it.”
April felt like all decisions affecting her life were being made by other people, so she rebelled.
“I started acting out,” she explained.
That behavior landed her in six different placements with foster families or group homes.
“I couldn’t ever fit into a place and keep my grades up,” she recalled.
While April was struggling, her sister Lacy was succeeding.
“I’m planning on graduating with a Masters in Psychology and minors in Business and Latin,” Lacy told us in 2007.
Lacy also went through the foster system, but she with one nurturing foster family who involved her in life’s decisions.
“I was the exception,” she told us recently. “I did by chance end up in a great family.”
Since then she’s been working to better the odds for foster kids so they can exit the system like her, not her sister.
“I got to testify for a briefing in Washington D.C.,” she said of her advocacy work.
And people are listening.
“You really can see the difference you’re making,” Lacy explained. “You really can make it better.”
One of the new laws she lobbied for requires all states develop transition plans for each foster kid preparing to age out of the system.
“To work closely with the youth and individualize their plans so services they’re receiving are appropriate for their needs and goals for the future,” said Vonda Wallace, Greene County Circuit Children’s Division Manager.
Independent living classes are also now based on what the foster care youth chooses to learn.
“This is their life, it’s not mine,” said Williams, the manager of Springfield’s older youth transitional program. “Being able to make decisions and voice input I do think they appreciate it.”
“That’s the main thing that the kids have a say in it because I never had a say in it,” said April.
Instead of feeling frustrated, April says she would’ve felt empowered had that program been in place when she was in foster care.
“That would’ve been a lot of help,” said April.
And maybe she could’ve skipped a few painful chapters to get tot his page in her life.
“Yeah, I think I would’ve taken a different turn for sure,” she said.
Lacy is also working on a pilot program that allows older youth to select from a pool of candidates to be their adopted parents. Again, the idea is to empower the youth.
There are currently more than 3500 kids between the ages of 14 and 21 in Missouri’s foster care system. But, the state says there aren’t many families interested in taking in these older youth, and good families willing to help these kids through difficult transitions are very important.
