Giving Foster Children Their Say in Court

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By: Veronica Lockett "I was placed in the Texas foster care system when I was nine. Growing up, my mother abused drugs and alcohol and wound up in jail. We were so poor that I often had to wear the same clothes to school three days in a row and the other kids would make fun of me. There were times when I was so hungry that my throat burned when I finally found something to eat," says Veronica Lockett, a 25-year-old junior at Texas State University and a former foster child. "In the nine years that I lived in foster care before aging out of the system, I lived with at least six families, in a shelter, and in a residential treatment center," says Lockett in an article for the Texas Lone Star Forum. "I once stayed with a foster parent who only viewed me as a paycheck and made it clear that I was ruining her social life. I lived with her for one long miserable year until I was able to persuade my caseworker and the judge to move me to another home." "I was one of the lucky foster children," she says. "From age 13 on, I was included in my court proceedings. I went in front of the judge, asked questions, and talked candidly about everything from my experiences in foster care to how I was doing in school. I also learned about such opportunities as tuition waivers, which now pay for my education at Texas State University. Because I was given a say about my future, I was able to make a future for myself." "Many of the 22,000 kids in Texas' foster care system are not so lucky," she adds. "Since I aged out of the foster care system, I have participated in many meetings and focus groups with foster care officials, foster youth, and foster care alumni. I have found that far too often, foster youth in Texas and across the nation are excluded from court or are voiceless in their hearings." "These hearings are critical for foster children and their families," Lockett continues. "After all, it's at these proceedings where judges and lawyers answer questions with lifelong implications for foster children. Can the foster child go home or is she safer in foster care? When and how should she leave the system and where should she go? Should she be allowed to visit her parents or siblings? What education and health care should she receive?" "Unfortunately, far too many youth never went to court while they were in foster care," Lockett says. "Others didn't know they were allowed. These children were deprived the choice to weigh in on their own futures." "Of course, it doesn't always make sense for foster children to go to court; some are emotionally unstable and others are too young or immature. Yet, in all other cases, I encourage Texas' child welfare professionals to work to ensure that foster children have a voice," Lockett concludes. "Most children who are able to speak for themselves should be talking to the judge. After all, it's the child's future that is at stake."