Nikki has lived with a foster family since she was 5 1/2 years old. The courts felt that her alcoholic mother would recover better if Nikki and her brother were put into foster care.
At the age of 16, Lisa entered foster care when her abusive mother threw her out of the house after an argument.
(Both girls used pseudonyms for this story.)
Nikki and Lisa, both now 18, are no longer legally wards of the state of Indiana. They are expected to go out into the world and begin their lives.
Both girls entered the Independent Living Program seeking help and advice for their futures. The Independent Living Program is a state program that works with youths from 16 to 21 who are in foster care. It helps them to get out on their own.
Susan Glasburn, manager of the Independent Living Program, a program of the Visiting Nurses Services of Indiana, said, "We work with education and money and parenting and budgeting and how to fill out college applications, how to fill out job applications and it's just a variety of things. Anything you need to know to get out on your own."
Nikki, who entered the Independent Living Program when she was 16, says what she fears most about being on her own is being alone. The Independent Living Program helps her with her fears.
"They consult you and they help you work through what it'll be like, and through the program they are already starting you to be on your own and you can get more dependent on yourself to do things, so that's one step of the fear," Nikki said.
The program, which is about 4 years old, employs four full-time workers. It also uses volunteers and students in social work schools. The program is funded by grant money, with the state paying for services.
Foster children are referred to the program by their caseworkers or Guidance Home counselors.
"Basically what I've seen is that a lot of the teen-agers that participate in our program become more independent. I think that what we help them with the most is learning how to ask questions (and) what to ask. . . . A lot of our people have apartments and are living on their own and they're on their own and they're supporting themselves and taking care of that real well," says Denise Jones, a worker at the Independent Living Program.
Glasburn said the Independent Living Program gives kids in foster care the extra support they need. "I think we do a really good job at preparing kids to get out on their own and face a lot of things that life had to throw at them. Because I think . . . it's a hard time for anybody, for everybody. It's tough, and I think this kind of gives these kids an edge."
The program has helped Nikki and Lisa make plans for their futures. Lisa wants to go into pharmaceuticals distributing, and Nikki wants to be a nurse so that she can help people.
Nikki praises the program for what it has done for her. "I would have made it (without the program), but this is helping me a lot and prepared me in a lot of ways that I probably wouldn't have thought of, and the support is boosting and helps a lot."
For more information about the Independent Living Program, call Susan Glasburn at 236-0445, ext. 200, or leave a message for her at 236-8017 after 5 p.m.