When most people think of foster care, they think about the need for more foster homes, not about the children who are aging out the system about to strike out on their own.

Nationally, about 250,000 teenagers age out of the foster care system and enter the world as “adults” at age 18. In North Carolina, that number is about 450 teenagers.

But here in Richmond County, the Department of Social Services does all it can to make sure the teens are either in permanent homes with a relative or guardian, or are taken care of if they decide to strike out on their own.

In the last six years or so, Richmond County has only had a handful of teens age out of the foster care program. The most to leave the program at once was four - far less than in other, larger counties in the state, like Mecklenburg County which has about 30-50 teens that age out of the program each year.

“It’s not a huge number here, but one is too many,” said Tammy Schrenker, director of the county DSS.

Robby Hall, DSS program manager, said the reason the county’s numbers are so much smaller is because they offer more options to the teens.

“If they age out we try and find them permanent placement or help them through the Independent Living Program,” Hall said. “Once they’re 13, they’re eligible for funds through the Independent Living Program and they begin to learn skills to survive on their own, so if they leave the system at 18 they’re not totally in the dark.”

Teens in foster care who choose to enter this program, have access to these programs and funds until they’re 21. The Independent Living Program is a federally-funded program which helps teens with costs associated with putting a deposit on a house, car, education, medical care, etc.

“But they have to be willing to participate,” Hall said. “In foster care, at 18 they’re not automatically kicked out. One option is they can sign an agreement that says if they stay in school they can stay with their foster family until they are 21, but in most cases a kid will leave and strike out on their own. We try and keep them as long as we can.”

As long as a child has spent one day in foster care, once they are 18 they can use the funds available through the Independent Living program, whether they stay with their foster family or not, they just have to actively participate in the workshops, etc., to maintain their eligibility for the funding.

And while 13 may be a little young to think about budgeting and cooking for themselves, Hall said a lot of these kids have already had to learn many tough lessons about survival at an early age.

An online assessment test also helps design a program that is age appropriate to help them in areas they may be having difficulty in, like budgeting.

“It’s a neat program,” Hall said. “It’s hard to get them to understand the need to participate. A lot of these kids have suffered so much already they don’t want people still telling them what to do, but we try to remind them that everyone living in the United States has some rules to follow. But once they’re 18, they become adults and make their own decisions.”

Hall said it helps that the county is so small because it allows the social workers to work more closely with the children and their foster families, which is why the county has been so successful at keeping it’s numbers low.

“When they started keeping statistics, foster children used to be considered in short-term placement until the age of 18 and we used to have 126 kids a month here in foster care, but then we turned to relative and guardian placement, and long-term foster care, and now we only have about 30 kids a month in foster care,” Hall said. “A lot of counties haven’t seen this change.”

Cielo Poloche, the Independent Living Coordinator, Adoption worker and Foster home licenser, works closely with the kids in the Independent Living program.

She said she usually has about eight to 12 kids participating at any given time, usually in that 13-21-year-old age bracket, though she said the oldest teen participating now is 17.

Poloche said she meets with the teens as soon as they turn 18 to discuss their options with them and no matter what the teen decides, DSS does everything it can to support their decision.

Those who choose to stay with their foster families until they’re 21 “are held more accountable, they have to be in school full-time, they can’t just sit around the house,” Poloche said.

Poloche said with the federal funding received for the Independent Living Program she’s able to hold a couple of classes every few months to teach kids to cook, budget and other real-world skills.

And something the teens respond really positively to is the “Growing Pains” conference Poloche takes two or three teens to every other year. This year they traveled to Tennessee to the conference that includes speakers and workshops all about independent living, and it gives the teens a chance to meet others going through the exact same thing.

Poloche said once teens reach 18 they have access to $1,500 each fiscal year to help with housing. Then, they also have access to $3,000 a year to help in seven different areas — economic development, a safe stable place to live, academic or vocational programs, personal support, avoidance of risky behavior, postponed parenthood and access to needed health care.

Poloche said most of the money is used to help with living expenses and education because until they are 21 they are also on Medicaid, and unless they need a procedure Medicaid does not cover, they don’t need to use their money for medical expenses.

Poloche said though she’s working with about 8-12 kids, she’s got about 25 others who are eligible, again in that age range of 13-21, who have not chosen to participate yet.

And when she does have a child that ages out of the foster care program, Poloche said she keeps up with their current address and phone number and tries to visit them every few months, as long as they don’t mind her visiting, to see if they need help or advocacy services.

“But again, it’s all their choice,” Poloche said. “Sometimes they’ve had it with DSS and I don’t blame them, but I talk to them to figure out what we can do for them.”

She said they also have some foster children who have aged out, but who stay attached and keep in close contact with their DSS workers.

“And we’re more than willing to help,” Poloche aid.

Staff writer Eren Tataragasi can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or at etataragasi@yourdailyjournal.com.