Shedding light on foster care in the U.S.

Terrell Crumpton thinks more needs to be done about the foster care system to help children and youth adjust to life without their parents.

Crumpton, 20, and Diandre Rodinson, 21, were panelists at a discussion on the child welfare system, homelessness and poverty last night at the Civic House. Organized by Penn Haven — a new activist group that strives to prevent homelessness and poverty — the event was part of Anti-Poverty Action Week, which lasts through Saturday.

An incoming freshman at the Community College of Philadelphia, Crumpton told an audience of more than 20 students how he was in and out of foster homes for five years. He became homeless after “giving into temptations from the wrong crowd,” such as taking drugs and smoking.

He recounted how he and his four siblings were separated to go into foster care after his grandmother passed away. At the time, his mother was a drug addict receiving rehabilitation.

Particularly difficult for him was the discovery that his two sisters were physically abused by their foster parents. Crumpton said he was shocked to find that his sisters’ foster parents were capable of such crimes in spite of the rigorous background checks that social workers conduct. Such checks, which include interviews with social workers and criminal background screenings, can take up to a year.

“Fostering is about taking kids from bad situations and giving them the chance to be put into good ones,” he said. “Instead, the foster system makes it worse.”

Rodinson also called fostering “disruptive.” During his four years in foster care, he changed homes every six months and experienced constant betrayals from his foster parents.

“One set of parents took all the money they were being given to support me to buy a new television for themselves,” he said.

He also lamented that a number of foster parents were “good at putting on a show” when social workers conducted checks. He expressed hope that more will be done to prevent permanent emotional or mental damage to each child.

The panelists attribute their current success to the Achieving Independence Center, where they now serve as peer counselors. Crumpton said the AIC took him to college fairs and encouraged him to break his ties with “bad company.”

College junior Pavithra Jaisankar said she was glad she attended the discussion.

“I always associated homeless people with older folks and not youths my age, so it was enlightening to hear Terrell and Diandre’s life stories,” she said. “It makes you want to help where you can.”

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