Foster teens forced into service jobs

With little prospect of graduating from high school, adolescents in foster homes are flocking to dead-end service sector jobs as homes, filled to capacity, kick them out at age 15 to cycle in younger homeless children, the Chinese Children's Home and Shelter Association said yesterday.

Speaking to the Taipei Times yesterday, association director Wu Hsiao-ping (吳小萍) said that only 48 percent of children in foster homes go on to high school while the national average for middle school students who advance to high school stands at 95 percent.

"These kids come from broken homes and difficult circumstances," she said, adding, "Their studies suffer as a result, leaving them with few opportunities, if any, to move up in their studies."

By law, Wu said, foster homes are obligated to send their children packing once they reach 15 years of age, unless the adolescents test into public high schools. If the children aren't engaged in studies after they turn 15, they must move out, she said.

"There are some foster homes that allow their children to stay until 18 or even 20 years of age, but they must be studying in order to stay that long," Wu said.

The problem, she added, is that children in foster homes rarely excel in school for lack of social, familial and financial resources, and they're at a "rebellious stage" in their lives just as they come to the crossroads where they're expected to shift into adulthood.

In the results of a survey conducted by the association of 25 foster homes nationwide, nearly 70 percent of 15-year-old children in foster care fail to graduate from high school; they simply drop out and find minimum-wage jobs after leaving their foster homes, she added.

There are 43 registered foster homes countrywide, according to association researcher Lee Wei-chen (李偉楨).

Wu claimed that all of them are saturated with children amid a sharp rise in the number of homeless children in recent years.

Statistics compiled by the Children's Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior show that 1,944 children were placed in homes last year; already that figure has risen to 1,997 children this year.

The majority of children placed in homes this year, or nearly 60 percent, come from families that lack the resources to raise them.

Wu yesterday attributed the rise to increased joblessness and a declining economy.

"It's now getting to the point where there isn't any more room in the homes for homeless children," she said.

The association yesterday announced that it is holding a fundraiser for foster children who need extra assistance to pursue their studies.

The charity is teaming up with Heme, a local cosmetics maker, and convenience stores to raise cash for adolescents in foster homes.

The make-up company plans to donate NT$5 for every NT$500 "travel bag" purchased, and those interested can also donate their spare change in convenience stores or visit www.childrenhome.org.tw to pledge assistance online.