Study finds that foster kids don't do well after leaving foster care

That's news? Well, according to this article it is, but it shouldn't be, really, if you knew the facts.

Basically what the study says is this:

• Foster children come from home situations that are unstable. Duh! They wouldn't be in foster care if their home life was stable! (gee, ya think?);
• Foster children get moved from foster home to foster home, which creates more instability in their lives. Another duh, but this is true - they do get moved, several times in fact. Part of that is the age restrictions placed on foster homes, i.e; they can care for kids between ages X and Y, but not Z, and another part is that many foster parents aren't too 'stable', themselves, and can't 'deal' with the problems the kids have, and don't even bother to try to either (there are, however, many foster parents who do care, and do the best that they can to provide a stable, loving environment for the kids in their care);
• Foster children have difficulty after leaving foster care. Part of the reason for that is that the children have been moved so often, and another part is that many foster parents are only in it for the money, and really don't give a tinkers da*n about the kids. As a result of those, and other problem situations, foster kids aren't given the chance to learn the basics of living on their own - things such as looking for and applying for a job; getting into college; grocery shopping and cooking; coming up with a household budget, plus other things that many of us take for granted.

How do I know all this stuff? Am I some kind of child psychologist? Am I a foster parent? No to the second two questions. How do I know this stuff then? I used to work for a non-profit organization (that will remain nameless) that dealt with foster children that were 'aging out' of the foster care system in Washington State - foster children have to leave foster care when they turn 18, as they are now legal adults, and not children any longer- and my former co-workers had to deal with all, and more, of the 'educational' shortcomings of the young adults entering the program (my part in the program was unrelated to, but in support of, what my former co-workers were, and are still, doing - and I applaud their efforts!), and I learned from both my former co-workers, and from the program participants themselves, what foster care was about. Not a pretty picture, let me tell you.

Do I have the solution(s) to these problems? No, but I wish I did, so that we could shut down the foster care programs as being unnecessary.