Life can be hard after leaving Florida foster care. These places offer soft place to land
Samantha Roberts, center, the Miami shelter manager, talks with Bianca, left, and Jada, right, who are staying at Miami Bridge Youth and Family Services, participate in various activities on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Miami, Fla. Miami Bridge is a nonprofit organization in Miami-Dade County that provides emergency shelter, food and counseling for troubled youth and their families. MATIAS J. OCNER [email protected]
Every year, approximately 1,000 children age out of Florida’s foster care system. They go into the world with little to no support — and at significant risk of running into trouble.
Racquell Perry was one of them. When she was just 12, she called police after seeing her mother’s boyfriend hit her. Social services came to their Little Haiti apartment and removed her and three younger siblings.
That night sent Perry on an odyssey through Florida’s child welfare system, including a brief stint with a cousin in Orlando, then a host of foster placements in Miami until one set of foster parents kicked her out when she was 17. She eventually landed with her 21-year-old half sister in Fort Lauderdale.