“You don’t just magically become mature and able to take care of yourself just because you turn 18,” Faver said. “My education counselor at the group home drove me up from Evansville, said, ‘Here you go,’ and that was it.”
Luckily, Faver was a part of IU’s Groups Scholars Program. The program is specifically designed for students who are the first in their family to attend college, come from low-income families or are physically challenged.
“They really try to look out for you that first year that you come to school,” Faver said. “That’s really a big part of how I managed to stay grounded, because it’s a really fantastic program, and they looked out for us.”
Many of the other nine girls who Faver lived with in the group home were not so lucky. A lot of them did not finish school and have already had children.
“That’s really one of the biggest motivators that I have to try and push for more stability for kids after they age out,” she said. “It’s really hard to see. They’re doing all right, but none of them have finished college or are working full time. They’re doing the best they can, but a lot of them had more struggles than I did.”
They are not alone. Only 4 percent of people who age out of foster care are able to earn a four-year college degree before their 26th birthday, according to research done by the University of Chicago in 2013. High percentages of these youth end up homeless, unemployed or struggling with addiction.
Faver was able to beat those odds. She graduated with a U.S. history degree and was accepted into the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. She is currently pursuing her Juris Doctor and serving as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Once she is finished with law school, she will become a judge advocate for the the Marine Corps, but she’s not waiting until graduation to start making a difference.
In college, Faver began ?working with national advocacy groups. She was an intern for Indiana’s Department of Child Services and eventually became the president of Indiana’s Youth Advisory Board. She currently serves as a founding member of the National Foster Youth and Alumni Policy Council.
“We use our stories with the Department of Health and Human Services to go out in D.C. and work on different changes that we would like to see,” Faver said. “It’s great to be able to use what we’ve been through to create that change.”
Two of Faver’s main legislative focuses have been trying to ease the transition from the foster system to the real world and making the system more open and accepting to children who have ?committed crimes.
“We need to stop ?criminializing a 13-year-old who shoplifts food because he’s homeless and his parents aren’t taking care of him,” she said. “It’s important to realize that foster kids aren’t just bad kids. There’s a heavy stigma that needs to be changed.”
This week, along with 11 other foster care alumni, Faver was recognized by the White House as a Foster Care Youth Champion of Change. She said it was the most rewarding experience she has ever had.
“What was really cool for me was when Secretary [Arne] Duncan, the Secretary of the Department of Education, came in and spoke to us and also touched a little bit on his own story and his own struggle as a kid,” she said. “It was really awesome to see someone at such a successful level not only come out and recognize us, but also show where we can go. You can come from a darker place and still be successful.”
