Program helps former foster kids pay rent

Krista James of Hempstead, once a foster care child in Nassau, found herself late last year at 40 Main St. in Hempstead Village, seeking help from the Nassau County Office of Housing and Homeless Services.

James had left the foster care system at age 14. But after graduating from high school and bouncing around between low-paying jobs, she was homeless -- living with friends, in rooms-for-rent and in shelters.

Now, James is a full-time student at the New York College of Health Professions in Syosset and works as a home health aide. "I am going to make it. God is on my side," said James, 26.

A federally funded pilot program, which began in December, pays rent for as long as 18 months for those 18 to 24 who have aged out of foster care but are employed or in school. Youngsters may leave foster care at 18 but must do so at 21.

In James' case, the Foster Care Pilot Program pays her $1,124-a-month rent. It "also helps with job training, job placement and financial aid applications," said Karen Garber, spokeswoman for the county Department of Social Services.

James is in the project as a former foster child who was "clearly motivated to succeed," said Connie Lassandro, who had run the program. Lassandro lost her job recently during a series of social services cuts by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, but the foster-care project continues.

Suffolk County operates a federal homelessness prevention program but has no project for those once in foster care. Officials there said they know of no ex-foster child ending up homeless. Neither the counties nor the state keep records of how many former foster care kids end up homeless.

A recent report by the University of Washington and the University of Chicago, citing 2009 figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said: "One of the major challenges facing the approximately 29,500 young people who age out of foster care each year is finding a safe and affordable place to live."

While New York State does not keep statistics on foster children who age out of the system, 1,422 people between 18 and 21 left foster care in 2009 to be on their own "without another permanent resource such as adoption [or] release to [a] relative . . . ," said Pat Cantiello of the Office of Children and Family Services. There were 21 such discharges in Nassau and three in Suffolk, Cantiello said.

Nassau has about 400 children in foster care each year, with an average of one a month aging out, said county officials. Nassau's Department of Social Services has sent eight participants and four hopefuls to the program so far.

Brittny Bodden, 22, of Hempstead has been in the Nassau program since January. She said her parents abused drugs, and she ended up in foster care from age 12 until she had to leave foster care at 21. Shortly after -- in May 2010 -- Bodden had to leave SUNY Old Westbury when DSS stopped paying her room and board.

"Loans and a federal program had been paying my tuition, but that also stopped when I had to stop school," she said. "I found work but with little pay. I was pretty much homeless for the next eight months."

She said her former caseworker told her about the pilot project, through which she receives $1,116 a month for rent. The psychology major has been back at Old Westbury since January. "What didn't kill me, made me stronger," Bodden said.