Treehouse for Kids
Starfire Sports Complex
Tukwila
October 18, 2008

I really do appreciate the chance to speak today at this wonderful celebration of the grand opening of the Learning Center for Foster Youth.

Foster care is one of those “touchstone” issues impacting almost every one of us in the state of Washington.  Every day we read about damaged kids and changed lives and many of us are familiar with personal stories of both kids in need as well as foster parents who have stepped up and really been able to make a difference.

Today we are all about celebrating a success, the completion of this new center.  With a number approaching 20,000 kids now receiving at least one day a week of out-of -home services in Washington, I say just in time. We can’t build enough of these centers for the need just doesn’t slow down.

 We hear every day about missteps within the foster care system and of instances where children should be in the system but did not make it. They reflect that we do live in an imperfect world.  Stories of alleged abuse by a parent or guardian seem to make the news every week.  

Troubled youth, such as the 11-year-old Tacoma boy who has a tendency to wander to other states, like Texas, by hitching rides on airplanes makes good news copy. But for every Samaj Booker who make headlines there are a dozen other troubled teens who enter the foster care system without news or ceremony and it is these youth that are really in need.

I think we all cringed this past week when we read about a 14-year old girl up in Carnation who starved to 48 pounds, allegedly at the hands of her over-strict and abusive stepmother, whom it was reported locked the girl in her room, made her miss school and fed her no more than meager rations of water and toast not for months, but for years. My only wish for this girl is that the foster system fits her with new wings so she can stand a chance to live a normal and productive life. 

It is hard to believe these things can happen in our world, let alone our state, but stories like this also point to the need for the rest of the world to step up and fuel the need for a strong foster care system.

The statistics are heartbreaking when you think that 7 out of 10 foster youth will not graduate from high-school and of those who do graduate only 25 percent will enroll in post-secondary programs. 

We hear mostly about the bad, but there are good things to say about foster care and all that it does to teach our youth critical life skills. A just-released foster care survey from Childrens Administration of youth 15 to 18 years of age interviewed a total of 698 interviews with foster kids.

 The results were somewhat positive. The survey said:

• 88 percent of the youth interviewed said the system had treated them very well or somewhat well in 2007.  About two thirds reported a positive experience with their current foster home.  Most said they knew both their social worker’s name and how to get in touch with him or her.

But yet the survey also pointed to some areas of a system that needs work:

• About a quarter of the survey respondents related that they were somehow dissatisfied with the quality of support provided by their social worker. About a third of the older kids approaching age 18 indicated they had never taken part in a formal meeting to discuss their transition from foster care into adulthood.

Of course the best strategy is to ensure that every child be a part of a strong, nurturing family and get the love and support from home and community. We all know that is not reality, at least not today.  When she was our first lady, Senator Hillary Clinton wrote a book called It Takes a Village and we know that it truly does for our children to be successful.

Shaping and developing young minds is perhaps the greatest investment we can make.  Giving our young children, especially those who are the most at-risk, a healthy start will keep them in school and will ensure that they will have thriving, productive lives ahead.

The Learning Center, which gives foster kids a safe place to congregate and engage in meaningful activities, will provide lasting value to this community and give these foster kids the fighting chance they deserve.  For the kids it serves this can be the town square of their village.

This facility is a reminder that there is so much we can do, and are doing, to help kids in our communities grow and succeed.  But the work never stops, nor can it stop, as there is always so much more we can do.

There is research that tells us what has worked with other children with all of the normal negative factors in their lives.  One such study that I know many of you are familiar with is called the resiliency model.  It shows that there are three common denominators amongst these kids. 

They have had care and support by at least one person.  They have been given high expectations and then help to meet those expectations and finally the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to their social environment, in other words, to do something good.

Our challenge is not only getting these precious children connected to someone who can give them care and support and help.  Our challenge is to inspire these kids to do their best with what they have been given and to learn to contribute rather than take. The Learning Center is a place where the bar can be set high, with the help and support of its partners and the community.

All kids have dreams about what they want to do with their lives. The difference for many kids as to whether they can and will achieve their dreams frequently has to do with the amount of encouragement and mentoring they have from surrounding adults. 

A strong mentor really helps. When a young person says I am interested in fishing or art or drawing or carpentry or building bird houses, a mentor is there to give them encouragement and unconditional support.

One of the most important initiatives of my office as Lt. Governor of Washington State is to help kids grow up healthy in safe communities with opportunity – the slogan for my office.

I believe that we cannot have healthy and safe communities with opportunity without providing our young people with mentors.  This is especially true for our young people, who are facing multiple challenges.

There’s a lot that bothers me about the many influences that our youth are under. Youth are at risk perhaps more so today than at any time in history. Why? Because they are exposed to so much more, though advertising, through movies, video games, television and simply through their peers. 

Kids today simply know more about things that we do not necessarily want to know about much earlier than the kids of a generation ago, and I’m not talking about Santa Claus. They have to sort through a maze of temptations, distractions and misdirection.   

Our children today are bombarded with advertising on all fronts, the Internet, and mixed messages from the media, from adults and from their peers. With so much competition for their attention, all we can do is hope to instill on them the kinds of values that will keep them on track toward successful choices and successful lives.

We need to talk to our kids, whether in foster care or at home, about alcohol abuse, substance abuse and other these issues. The head on approach is the best approach – deal with the issues straight no matter what they are.

I see one of the biggest jobs of community centers as creating an environment that will prevent this kind of behavior in the first place.

It has been shown over and over that putting our resources into building positive programs for kids is far more cost beneficial than incarcerating youth in institutions. So, in my mind, there is much more going on in a center like this than meets the eye. Sure, these are places of learning and growing and fellowship with others but they are also incubators that nurture our youth into adulthood in a good way. 

I know the Learning Center will become a place where such teaching and mentorship from responsible adults will be encouraged. It will bring together foster youth and their caregivers, as well as develops new partnerships with the community. Places like the Learning Center make a huge difference in the quality of life for the foster children in the community of Tukwila and beyond.

This will be a positive place, a place where kids can get help with their homework, get involved in sports, cultural activities such as the arts.

I believe if everyone pitches in and tries to do something just a little extra for our kids, as many of you also take the time to do, then our kids would not be as at risk as they are today.

The collaboration by Treehouse for Kids that is responsible for the Learning Center is a reminder of the incredible things that can happen when government, organizations, foundations and committed individuals combine forces.

We as a community must continue to do all we can to support our young people especially those in foster care and we can do that by doing all we can to support the programs serving them. 

I salute all of those people who have taken the time to take the initiative to help our young children get off to the right start.  Programs like the one at Treehouse for Kids Learning Center for Foster Youth are vital to our success not only as a community, but as a state and a country. 

You may wonder if it is all worth your trouble, particularly if you feel that you cannot give very much time or that the problem of kids in need is so great. I find the answer to your concerns with Mother Teresa. She said, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

Thank you for all that you do for our kids and thank you for creating a place with such incredible potential.