Education for Foster Youth

I am glad to see the pendulum starting to swing back to the idea that foster children need some type of assistance after they reach the age of 18 (editorial, Oct. 25). I was in foster care in L.A. County during the late ‘60s. I graduated high school in 1970. My foster care payments continued until I was 21 because I was enrolled as a full-time college student. Those foster payments made all the difference in my ability to complete college. It wasn’t a free ride; I worked, I took out loans, I had scholarships. The monthly stipends were my “parents.” They reduced my anxiety and worry to the point where I could study rather than worrying about how I was going to get my basic needs met. Ronald Reagan, as governor, put an end to the program a few years after I graduated college. Needless to say I didn’t vote for him for president.

Many times over the years I’ve thanked my stars I went through the “system” when I did. My college education gave me my future. It gave me the ability to pay back the taxpayers by paying significant taxes myself. It has allowed me to raise my daughter without the anxiety I faced. Not all foster kids will go to college, but all should be given the opportunity for college or vocational education, just like children raised in healthy families. It makes all the difference.

NANCY NAZARIO

Ventura