18 and Unadopted--NBC 6 Special Report
By: Alese Underwood
Updated: March 4, 2013
Through the eyes of a teenager in foster care, a playground is a lonely place. They're old enough to know it's where parents teach children lessons of love and development, they're also old enough to realize it will never be them.
Many times the streets become the new playground. By their 18th birthdays they know they were never wanted. Not by their birth parents, by foster parents, and they feel not by society.
The state of Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. For 25% of children aging out of foster care, a prison cell will replace the playground. 20% will be homeless.
Only 58% will have a high school diploma, compared to 87% of other children.
"I got placed in foster care at the age of 16 coming from a home of abusive parents. It's a lot of sad and anger when you have other kids come up to you and ask what;'s your home life like? They don't really understand it and it's a lot of frustration because you wonder why your parents did this to you or didn't take care of you like they should have," Brittany Roth said.
Brittany Roth is a success story thanks to Highland Haven, a place where young adult girls can find refuge when they age out of foster care.
After the program, she understands money management and has a better picture of how the world works. She lives with a roommate from Church and is studying at a local community college to be a teacher.
If you are interesting in adopting a child:
Open Arms Adoption Agency
7330 Fern Ave Ste 204 Shreveport, LA 71105
(318) 798-7664
If you know someone or have aged out of foster care:
Highland Haven 202 Boulevard St.
Shreveport, LA 71104-2420
(318) 698-0039
Many times the streets become the new playground. By their 18th birthdays they know they were never wanted. Not by their birth parents, by foster parents, and they feel not by society.
The state of Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. For 25% of children aging out of foster care, a prison cell will replace the playground. 20% will be homeless.
Only 58% will have a high school diploma, compared to 87% of other children.
"I got placed in foster care at the age of 16 coming from a home of abusive parents. It's a lot of sad and anger when you have other kids come up to you and ask what;'s your home life like? They don't really understand it and it's a lot of frustration because you wonder why your parents did this to you or didn't take care of you like they should have," Brittany Roth said.
Brittany Roth is a success story thanks to Highland Haven, a place where young adult girls can find refuge when they age out of foster care.
After the program, she understands money management and has a better picture of how the world works. She lives with a roommate from Church and is studying at a local community college to be a teacher.
If you are interesting in adopting a child:
Open Arms Adoption Agency
7330 Fern Ave Ste 204 Shreveport, LA 71105
If you know someone or have aged out of foster care:
Highland Haven 202 Boulevard St.
Shreveport, LA 71104-2420
(318) 698-0039
