High school student Akeema Lottman, a 16-year old in foster care, said that constant bouncing from school to school negatively impacts children's education. Lottman suggests that teachers reach out to new students and youth be their own advocates to make sure they succeed in school.

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Addiction is consuming something you can't seem to get enough of even if it harms your life. By that definition I've been addicted to the Internet since 2004. Sometimes I'm online for a whole day without even a chance to see the world outside my windows. more>

I never reported the lack of food, the cold showers or Ms. Tate never being around. I was always afraid of the "what if's." 'What if' I get put into a worse home; 'what if' the other foster mother is meaner; 'what if' the new home is filthy. more>

Do you know what it's like to feel like you have no place to live? I do. I got kicked out of my aunt's house and was homeless several years ago. I ended up in Covenant House, which is an emergency shelter for young adults ages 15-21 in Manhattan. more>

A job report released in July says that the unemployment rate for U.S. teenagers 16-19 is now 26 percent. Before the recession, it was 15 percent. A foster-care teenager speaks up about how youth employment programs can help minority, low-income youngsters have a better chance at a career and save some money. more>

Kids in foster care are diagnosed with mental illness two to five times more often than in the general population; however, a Columbia University report shows that the public health systems in many states are failing poor children, including those in foster care. more>

“Pulling the lever that day made it the best day of my 19 years. My heart was thumping so hard that my stomach was doing somersaults. Knowing that my voice would be heard and that I would be responsible for shaping the future of America for the next four years was breathtaking.” —Te-Li, 19 more>

Stepping on needles and glass in my mom’s old apartment, the cuts on my feet bled like the scars from my heart. I wanted my mother to love me, but her addiction consumed her. It was more powerful than her love for her own kids. more>

“To put it in real terms,” she explained, “on any given day in New York City you have 17,000 children in foster care. If one percent or more of them are being abused, that’s 170 kids,” said Julie Farber, director of policy at Children’s Rights. more>

"When did the youth in foster care in America become symbols of criminality and drug abuse?" more>

Susan Doherty, the referee at Manhattan Family Court (whose job is similar to a judge’s), set up Teen Court Day to hear only cases involving teens. Doherty is one of many advocates and teens who have been working to get judges, lawyers and policymakers nationwide to agree that teens should have more of a voice in their own cases. more>

A Mexican youth’s journey from abandonment by his parents in Zacualpan, life in the streets in Mexico to New York City harsh realities. more>

The young author’s six different foster care placements included a psych ward, a horrible, strict group home, and a home with Mormons who listened to long, boring sermons for six hours every Sunday. But when he met Richard, his boss at a city hospital, Dominick asked that he adopt him. more>

In New York City, the Administration of Children’s Services (ACS) actively recruits GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) people to become foster parents. ACS representatives say, “A GLBTQ kid can have a happy placement with a parent who isn’t gay and a straight kid may be happy in a home with gay parents.” more>

Ever since my mom died when I was 10, I’d been living in group homes and wishing I was with my sister. When I was 17, I finally moved in with her. But times soon got hard and I started selling drugs to help support us. I was living two lives. In the daytime I went to school, passing all my classes. At night I was outside, in the middle of trouble. more>

This year, the City made a big push to relocate teens from group homes to foster homes. But things get complicated, when teens see group homes as a more stable environment than the families who might adopt them. One outspoken young woman tells her story. more>