Some 50 current and former foster youths are scrambling to find a new place to live after they were abruptly told this week by Los Angeles County that they could no longer participate in programs offered by a nonprofit organization.
The youths, most of whom are 18 to 21 years old and still in the foster system, have been receiving housing, basic needs and job placement assistance as they transition into adulthood through David & Margaret Youth and Family Services.
Rich acknowledged drug use and loud music can be an issue with foster youth of this age, and he said one youth in the program committed suicide in September, but that his organization has not been implicated in any wrongdoing.“As far as I’m aware, there are no incidents that haven’t been resolved when it comes to any licensing concerns,” he said.
The county could suspend referrals and remove youth currently in the program and terminate the contracts “for convenience or default,” stated the letter, an electronic copy of which was reviewed by The Times. In such an event, no local agency grievance procedures would occur, the letter said. One social worker put it bluntly: “If they have no families, no friends or ... can’t find placement, they’re probably going to have to go to temporary shelters.”“I started to cry,” said Heidy Lopez-Diaz, 18, who was placed in an apartment in La Verne through David & Margaret in June after moving out of a group home where she had lived for four years.
“I was scared because it’s, like, I finally got comfortable, I was going to school.... It’s not fair,” she said. Beyond these, their only other option is adult shelters, because on paper they are considered adults.
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