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Tacoma-Pierce County PACEs Connection (WA)

Many Washington foster kids become homeless. Tennessee may have found a solution.[Seattle Times]

 

More than a third of Washington's foster kids become homeless after leaving care. But in Tennessee, there's a possible solution, and Washington is looking at copying it.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Terrineka Maxwell is only 19, but she’s already had a lot of people come in and out of her life: 20 foster families since she was taken from her mom at 2, and at least seven caseworkers in the past seven years.

But her newest caseworker, Cindy Walker, is supposed to be different. Unlike most previous caseworkers, whose job was to help Maxwell grow up healthy and safe, Walker’s job is to help Maxwell, who’s now a young mom with a 10-month-old, launch into adulthood. 

On a recent morning when Walker picked up Maxwell for a trip to a food bank, Maxwell had left her infant car seat in her brother’s car, and Walker — who’s also a mom — didn’t have hers. If Walker had been one of the other caseworkers, she might have fixed it herself. Instead she looked to Maxwell to figure it out.

As Maxwell went to ask a friend to watch her baby, Walker shrugged.

To read the full article written by Scott Greenstone click HERE

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