Adoption Under One Roof

If you can’t afford residential treatment for your troubled teenager you are not alone. Most of us cannot and it seems impossible in most states to get either private insurance or adoption subsidy to pay for it. Nobody seems to care that your home and family members may be in danger. That is why I am so excited to tell you about this FREE program that I just learned about, even though they have already had 17,000 graduates. Apparently it is one of the best kept secrets in the country. They lack funding, so they cannot advertise, therefore you can only find out by word of mouth, or a lucky web search. Not every state is lucky enough to have a National Guard Youth Challenge Academy. In fact, ours in Michigan almost got cut in December with budget cuts. Instead, they received half funding, so they can take 115 students instead of 250. The Michigan Youth Challenge Academy has a 70-percent success rate for students graduating and then going on to work jobs and pay taxes. If that doesn’t sound awesome to you, take another look at what it takes to qualify for acceptance to the program.

You have to be either a high school dropout or at risk for dropping out or not graduating. Being in foster care or adopted through foster care gives you extra acceptance points. Nearly 300 students applied for the July 11 through December 11, 2010 term and only 115 can be accepted. These students have been in trouble with the law, they belong to gangs, they use drugs, alcohol, struggle with self-esteem, peer relations, lying, stealing, you name it, they were there.

Hopeful parents, I among them, sat through the six hour open house, and three hour orientation just hoping that our child would be one of those accepted. The cost to the state and federal government is about $14,000 per student, the cost to the parent, $150 deposit for possible necessities during the 5-month stay. The government has calculated that with a 70-percent job placement rate, they will receive back millions of U.S. Federal Tax Dollars. Why would the government consider cutting the funding for such a program? Why would people fight against such a program? They use military training, ranks, and discipline for their students. Admission is voluntary, you cannot force your child to go.

Photo Credit: The Library of Congress