Episode 247: No One Ever Ages Out of Needing Care (w/ Jessica Cawthorn)
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 19 August 2024
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when a child ages out of foster care? In addition to processing the grief of what they’ve lost, children in this circumstance have to navigate the world as an adult sometimes completely on their own.
This is the story of my guest today. Jessica Cawthorn and her siblings were cared for by extended family after the death of her parents. But in the 9th Grade, Jessica formally entered foster care and aged out of the foster care system at 18 years old.
Today, Jessica works for the Administration of Children and Families and is a Texas CASA Board Member. She is married to her husband, Jonathan, and they have three children together—two through adoption and one by birth.
In this conversation, you’ll hear some of the circumstances that led to a failed adoption, how Jessica faced aging out on her own, and practical ways we can support children who are about to age out of care.
Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes for this episode: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jessica-cawthorn-247/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sharing the stories of the foster care community. |
| 0:04.0 | This is The Forgotten podcast. |
| 0:08.5 | It's okay to share your story. |
| 0:10.7 | We all need to hear more of the age-doubt youth perspective because I don't think that |
| 0:17.1 | particular perspective is represented as much and that just know that it eventually |
| 0:22.8 | like it will be okay and that not everything is always hard. Hey, it's Jamie Cabe. Welcome back to |
| 0:29.6 | the Forgotten podcast where we are highlighting the stories of the people of foster care. With every |
| 0:35.3 | episode, our goal is to help you better understand the foster care community. |
| 0:39.9 | We want to bring you hope and encouragement in your journey and help you support the agency |
| 0:44.9 | workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children in foster care right where you live. |
| 0:51.1 | If you want to learn more about TFI, catch up on past episodes, read engaging |
| 0:56.0 | articles or partner with us on mission with a gift of any amount, head over to theforgotten |
| 1:02.4 | initiative.org. We are in this together. Thank you for listening and engaging with us. We love |
| 1:09.8 | having you as part of our family. |
| 1:12.1 | Okay, it is time. |
| 1:14.1 | Let's do this. |
| 1:20.1 | Jessica Cawthorne is married to Jonathan and they are parents of three children, two of whom |
| 1:27.2 | have been adopted. After experiencing are parents of three children, two of whom have been adopted. |
| 1:29.3 | After experiencing the death of her parents, Jessica and her siblings were cared for by extended family, |
| 1:35.3 | but after a few years they were placed in a children's home. |
| 1:39.3 | Jessica formally entered foster care in the ninth grade and aged out of the foster care system at 18 years old. |
| 1:45.8 | Today, Jessica works for the administration of children and families and is a Texas CASA board member. |
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