ST. LUCIE COUNTY - On the day of their l8th birthday, young adults who grew up in foster care "age out" of the system and are no longer eligible for most state assistance.

Alone and afraid, they often have nowhere to go and lack the coping skills necessary to live independently. Children's Home Society of Florida Treasure Coast Division gives these youth a "helping hand" in many ways, one of which is providing a workshop each month that offers them practical life skills.

This past week, the youth from CHS's Transitional Living Program visited the Harvest Food and Outreach Center in Fort Pierce. They received a tour of services and were informed about available options, such as how to obtain Medicaid, by Lois Hunt, Outreach Director of the Harvest Food Bank. Children's Home Society of Florida is the only organization on the Treasure Coast that provides day-to-day case management and hands-on help with the challenges of daily living to youth, ages l8 to 23, who age out of foster care. CHS serves children and young adults from Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.

Currently, through its Transitional Living Program, CHS facilitates training programs to youth ages l8 to 23 to help them develop independent living skills necessary to live on their own. The goal is to teach self-sufficiency through employment, education and good decision-making. Staff help the teens define and reach school, career or vocational goals; develop interpersonal skills and problem-solving abilities; and, in the cases of teens who are expecting or parenting young children, training also includes positive parenting skills, nutrition and child development. Additional monthly workshops for the youth include topics such as job training, budget management, daily living skills, menu planning, and self-support.

Young adults with no family support are at significant risk. To give these youth the best possible chance to succeed in life Children's Home Society of Florida is launching a $5 million capital campaign to build a Youth Transition Center.

The center is designed to help these youth make a positive transition into adulthood and will be a natural extension to all the services CHS provides. The residential facility will be built in Vero Beach on the site of CHS's Baines Hall, a residential program for young girls in the foster care system ages 13 to their 18th birthday, who have been removed from their family due to abuse, neglect or abandonment.

The Youth Transition Center will assist youth in earning higher education, finding jobs, obtaining stable housing and financial support, as well as other life necessities. A full-time case manager will live on site. Life skills will be improved, and these youth will have a better chance of becoming self-sufficient adults.

Foster children need continuous care and consistent direction. Statistics prove that although they stay out of trouble while in foster care, desperate survival requirements create a different environment after they turn 18.

In fact, according to the Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council, youth ages 18 to 23 are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population in Florida. Studies suggest that after leaving foster care, youth with mentors and active, consistent adults in their lives do better in school, stay out of trouble with the law, and are more likely to gain and sustain employment.

For more information about Children's Home Society, to donate or volunteer to be a Life Coach or Mentor to the youth who have aged out of the system, please call Amanda McGee, Director of Development, at (772) 489-5601.

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer: Lois Hunt, outreach director for the Harvest Food & Outreach Center in Fort Pierce, escorts Shenikia Jenkins, Jenesia King, Sansia Jeantilie and other members of the Children's Home Society through the store while explaining how to prioritize needs while shopping on a budget. The teenagers will be leaving the nest of Children's Home Society as they age out when they become 18.