Our final blog post for our National Foster Care Month blog series on teen males is a profile of foster care alumni and Foster Focus Magazine publisher Christopher Chmielewski. Christopher was adopted at an early age and grew up in the “coal region” of Pennsylvania. He entered foster care as a teen and eventually “aged-out” of the system. Once Christopher aged out of foster care, he was expelled from school just a few weeks short of his high school graduation. This did not deter Christopher from continuing his education. He received his equivalency diploma and registered for college the day after achieving this goal. Christopher could have remained in foster care until age 21 but elected to leave because he had begun to feel like a burden on the foster parents who welcomed him into their family.

Rich Korb is an author and educator with 34 years experience working with youth in traditional and alternative schools, residential facilities, and juvenile detention centers. He has also served as an athletic coach. Rich is known as the “Behavior Answer Man”. He shares his wisdom through Pioneer Education Consulting.

As an Educator and Administrator he has supported youth in foster care to breakdown barriers to learning that include special education, school disruptions, and risk of drop out. Rich operates by the motto “creativity is necessary for success”. He says there is no youngster he can’t reach and no situation he won’t take on. This belief system has lead to his success with youth and is the foundation for his six step approach to youth engagement. The six steps are:

1. LISTEN. “Listen to understand a young person’s heart and hurts and the rest is easy”, he said.
2. Create obtainable goals.
3. Hold youth accountable.
4. Celebrate their successes.
5. Process with them when things go wrong.
6. Let them create the solutions.

Our National Foster Care Awareness Month blog series on teen males continues with George Fraser.  George Fraser is a successful business man, renowned speaker, and author of three books.  He is the founder of the annual PowerNetworking Conference, the largest gathering of Black professionals, business owners and community leaders.

George Fraser was born in Brooklyn New York into a family of 11 children. George and his siblings were placed in foster care after his mother became mentally ill.  George was four years old at the time.  His father was a cab driver and unable to care for the children alone.

George believes that most foster parents are good people who really want to help kids.  He grew up in a foster home with a mother and a father that instilled basic foundational values including family and education.  The couple loved and cared for him like he was their own.  Today George is a huge proponent of education but admits that he was a mediocre student who was bored by traditional education.  When I asked George what we can do to better support teen males, he responded “be sure they can read, comprehend what they read, and write well.”  He believes that once youth are able to read and write on grade level they are able to think critically, then plan and move forward.

Exavier Pope owns The Pope Law Firm.  He is a Sports & Entertainment Attorney, Media Personality, Fortune 500 Speaker and Peak Performance Strategist, Writer, Economic Developer, and former foster youth.  Exavier shared his amazing  story for our National Foster Care Awareness Month blog series on teen males.

Exavier’s foster mother, Emma Lily Mitchell, declared to him that it was his “God given right and destiny to become someone of great influence to impact change.”  Exavier’s father was a pimp and his mother was a prostitute.  Exavier, his twin sister, and older brother entered Ms. Mitchell’s home when Exavier was six weeks old.  They remained in Ms. Mitchell’s care until Exavier was seven years old.  Between the ages of seven and nine years old, they lived in an abusive home with their biological mother.  At nine years old the children requested to return to Ms. Mitchell’s home and their request was granted.

Today we continue our National Foster Care Awareness Month blog series on teen males with the interview of another foster father with KidsPeace.  Bob O’Connor and his wife Coco have been foster parents for 23 years.   They have had short-term placements, long-term placements, and provided therapeutic foster care and respite care.   They have been foster parents to about 10 males.  Currently there are 2 teen males and 3 children under the age of 4 living in the home.  Mikey has been with the family for 10 years.  Mikey will turn 21 and age out of the system at the end of the month.  Mikey’s biological sister aged out of care last year but is still with the O’Connor family.  Both earned IEP diplomas.  Nick is 18 years old and has been with the family for four years.  He is interested in mechanics and will earn an IEP diploma.  Bob knows that life can be tough for youth who age out of the system without support.  He says he has never put anyone out and believes that there is great benefit in New York allowing youth in therapeutic foster care to remain in the system until age 21.

Our fifth blog post in our National Foster Care Awareness Month blog series dedicated to teen males in foster care focuses on fatherhood.  Dyral Brown is the single, foster father of two teen males ages 14 and 16.  As a young professional, Dyral realized that he could connect with and have a positive influence on young men.  He became a foster father in 2009 in his home state of North Carolina.  He has fostered five teen males and on occasion has provided respite care for girls.

Dyral is a positive role model with a successful career in criminal justice and mental health.  In many instances, youth are labeled and grouped in the same category.    He describes part of his responsibility to “tear labels off”.  He doesn’t believe that any youth should be written off.  He stresses to his foster sons that they should not look down on themselves and they should use foster as a stepping stone to a brighter future.

Today we continue our National Foster Care Awareness Month blog series on teen males in foster care by addressing mental health. Toni Hoy and her family have endured separation, loss of parental rights, and criminalization by the system put in place to protect children.  Toni’s son, Daniel, has been placed in the Illinois foster care system twice.  The first placement was as a result of severe neglect as an infant.  At age 13, the Hoy family lost custody of Daniel and he was once again placed in foster care but this time in a residential facility.