The Millennial Difference: Capitol Hill Staffer Chelsea Patterson an Advocate for Foster Kids

"You can make a difference right where you are."

By Liberty McArtor Published on March 6, 2017

In honor of Millennials around the country currently enjoying spring break, The Stream is launching an exclusive new series entitled “The Millennial Difference,” featuring Millennials who are using their passion to make a difference in the world. This is the first installment.

For Chelsea Patterson, the issue of adoption is personal.

The 26-year-old was adopted from Romania as a baby, and five of her siblings were also adopted from Eastern Europe. Now Patterson works in policy on Capitol Hill, where her eyes have been opened to the plight of the 400,000 kids in the U.S. foster care system. 

Patterson spoke with The Stream about her work on foster care and adoptive policy, how Millennials (and others) can make a difference now, and why Millennials shouldn’t worry if they don’t have their life figured out quite yet.

Improving Foster Care Policy, One Little Tweak at a Time

One hundred thousand of the 400,000 kids currently in the U.S. foster care system are eligible for adoption, Patterson said. But “they kind of get forgotten.”

“Everyone talks about sex trafficking — it’s kind of a sexy issue to care about,” she said. “But if you look at sex trafficking in the U.S., 80 percent of kids that have been trafficked have been part of the welfare system.”

There are 400,000 kids in the U.S. foster care system. 100,000 need to be adopted.

Despite the need these numbers indicate, Patterson realized that foster children “don’t have too many people fighting for them.”

Now, advocating for them is her passion — professionally and personally.

While there are many problems with the current U.S. foster care system, it can’t be completely scrubbed all at once, she said. From a government policy standpoint, Patterson said the key is figuring out “little tweaks” and changes that improve conditions for foster kids, including those “aging out” of the system.

For instance, some states have passed amendments that allow individuals to stay in the foster system until age 21 instead of getting kicked out at 18. It gives young adults a little more time to get their feet underneath them before they enter the world — many without a stable family to support them.

How Millennials Can Help Foster Kids

On a personal level, Patterson writes articles to raise awareness about foster care and adoption. This includes educating people about how they can help.

While one obvious way to help is by becoming a foster or adoptive parent, that’s not everyone’s calling. Patterson said there are multiple ways to help foster kids and families.

Her ideas include offering to babysit for a low-income mom in your community, taking meals to a foster family that you know, or seeing if your church has a ministry for foster families you can get involved with. “Start small,” she said.

“We can look at big policies that need changing and whatnot,” Patterson said, “but the real difference is in the local communities where there are really good foster parents loving kids and adopting kids,” and other people like school teachers taking the time to mentor kids in need. “That’s not glamorous. That’s being faithful in the small things.” 

“If you open your heart and home and start small … you can actually make a difference in one kid’s life.”

“No one may ever know your name,” Patterson said, “but if you open your heart and home and start small … you can actually make a difference in one kid’s life.”

Another way Millennials can make a difference is by simply educating themselves and their peers about the issue. She said to start by reading up on facts, such as why a child might be placed in foster care in the first place, and then bring a few friends together to talk about the information. “Passion is contagious,” she said.

In general, Patterson is confident in her generation. 

“I feel like people don’t give Millennials enough credit,” she said. “Most of the Millennials I know are incredibly talented and hardworking,” despite the whiny Millennial caricature often portrayed in the media.

Patterson to Millennials: “You Don’t Have to Have it All Figured Out”

From the outside, it looks like Patterson has her life together pretty well — a career on Capitol Hill working on an important issue that she’s passionate about.

But she didn’t get there right away.

After graduating from Liberty University with a degree in foreign policy, Patterson moved back with her parents, and her plans to become a missionary didn’t pan out. After “two or three job changes,” she ended up where she never thought she’d be — Washington, D.C. 

“You don’t have to have it all figured out. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to maybe change jobs two or three times,” she said.

“The big idea,” she continued, “is that you don’t have to come work on Capitol Hill or New York City to make a difference. You can make a difference right where you are.”

 

To read more about Patterson and her advocacy for vulnerable children, follow her on Twitter and read her blog. Watch for Patterson’s first book to be released in 2018.

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