BRADENTON - Each year, about 50 teenagers in the foster care system on the Suncoast turn 18 years old and have to go out on their own. But now a pilot program is under way in Manatee County that's creating a safety net for these young people.
It's called Next Step, and it's growing.
17-year-old Mercades Kennedy says she's grown up a lot in the last year. "Learned to take care of myself...not everything is guaranteed or promised to you."
She spent a year in foster care, and now she's trying to make it on her own. She'll be 18 in a few months and is getting ready for her orientation at MCC. She wants to become a radiologist. "I want to be better than my mom, you know, because she's not really the greatest person, sometimes. So she kind of motivates me because she had me at a young age, and I am having a child at a young age, and she didn't go to school. So it motivates me to do everything she didn't do."
Mercades is two months pregnant, but she's not alone. She's involved in the Next Step program and has three mentors she can turn to.
Michelle Smith is one of the mentors. She's a family court manager in the 12th judicial circuit, and she's also got a baby on the way. "We're not here to force ourselves upon her. We're here to be a resource if she wants us. We're here to provide her professional and real life advice."
And real life advice is something Next Step creator Susan Maulucci says is hard to come by for teens aging out of the system. "We're all so focused on the kids while they are in the system, but it's so important to make sure they have a smooth transition."
Maulucci is a family law magistrate in the 12th judicial circuit. She created the Next Step program after hearing a panel of teens who were in foster care talk about the problems they faced when turning 18. "These kids were really just out there by themselves, and really in a potential...could potentially create problems for themselves that would last their entire lives, so that's what motivated me to start this."
Statistics show those who have aged out of foster care have a higher rate of homelessness, incarceration and unemployment. In 2008, about 10% of the homeless in Florida were former foster children. Approximately 47 people in Manatee County and 66 people in Sarasota County reported being former foster care children.
Maulucci says many foster teens attend college, but only about 2% graduate, even though their schooling is paid for by the state.
Right now, 8 teenagers are assigned mentors, and Maulucci says she plans on expanding the program, thanks to all of the interest from volunteers. "We've got so many good ideas and there's a lot of collaboration going on in the community and we are very excited about it."
"The speed that it's taken off and what it's become so quickly has just been absolutely exhilarating," says Smith.
The positive feedback from Mercades is also a reason to keep moving forward. "I feel like I have a lot more now than I did before I got into foster care. I never realized how many people actually care for you."
If you would like to become a volunteer or have questions about Next Step, additional information can be downloaded at: http://www.jud12.flcourts.org or call Magistrate Susan Maulucci at 941-749-3648 or email NextStepMentors@gmail.com.
Tax deductible contributions can be made to Next Step through the YMCA. Checks should be made payable to the YMCA Foundation of Sarasota, Inc. Next Step should be listed on the memo line of the check and mailed to the YMCA Foundation of Sarasota, Inc., 1 South School Avenue, Suite 302, Sarasota, Florida 34237.
Coming up Wednesday on ABC 7 News at 6, we'll show you how a group of New College students are stepping up to create another branch of volunteers for the program.
