All I Did Was Turn 18
By:
Angel Reach
| Published 10/05/2023
I woke up on my 18th birthday and, like it has more times than I can count, my life got turned upside down. You get use to that in foster care, but this time it was different. I wasn’t getting moved to a new house, I was getting moved out of the house. I turned 18 and suddenly I was completely on my own and I didn’t own anything. I had to find a place to live, a way to eat, and somehow finish school without a job or money or a way to get anywhere. These are huge problems I faced along with 30,000 other kids who turned 18 this year in foster care.
New research confirms we’re less likely to find a job or even find a place to sleep every night. We don’t even consider college. We’re scared, alone and desperately needing guidance and stability. Without support, me and the 400,000 kids in foster care in the United States will become our statistics:
88% of reported sex trafficking runaways come from the foster care system
80% of the US prison population has been in the foster care system
55% end up seriously addicted to something within one year of aging out of the system
56% don’t finish high school
50% end up homeless
27% end up incarcerated
All I did was turn 18.
In Montgomery County, Angel Reach works to change these statistics. After meeting their immediate need of safe housing and food security, Angel Reach guides young people who have aged out of the foster care system to success through counseling, employment coaching, education guidance, drivers education, financial coaching and so much more. There is permanent hope after foster care.
