How Foster Care Creates Roadblocks While Pursuing Education

Fostered or Forgotten is a Teen Vogue series about the foster care system in the United States, produced in partnership with Juvenile Law Center and published throughout National Foster Care Month. In this op-ed, Johnathan Hamilton, Youth Fostering Change youth advocate, explains the challenges of pursuing education while in the child welfare system.

I entered foster care at age 15. Born and raised in West Philadelphia, my very first placement was in a shelter for children that was connected to a group home in the southwest part of the city. I found myself there after leaving a dangerous and hostile environment. When I went to school, a staff member, who was a mentor of mine, asked me about the bruises on my body. I explained, and they gave me a number and insisted I call.