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Kids who become adults in foster care know more about the system than anyone, so their former caretaker, the Department of Children and Families is hiring some former charges. As Whitney Ray tell us, DCF hopes the new employees can help improve how kids in the states care are treated.

Hear it Here: Fostering Hope from Former Foster Kids

The state took Derrick Riggs from his parents when he was 13 years old.

“My dad put a knife to my stomach and threatened to kill me and I called the police and they came out and were like, I can’t stay here,” said Riggs.

Now Derrick works for the Department of Children and Families helping people get food stamps. Derrick hopes his work at DCF will help foster kids.

“You plant the seed today, and tomorrow you have a beautiful flower,” said Riggs.

Kennisha Scadlock also grew up in foster care

“It was rough,” Scadlock said.

Despite her struggles Kennisha has returned to the DCF as an employee. Kennisha and Derrick are two of the lucky one. Many people who become adults in the system have a hard time finding work.

Kids who grow up in foster care are more likely to end up homeless when they are adults, than other kids. DCF hired 100 former foster kids to work in offices across the state. The department hopes the private sector will follow their lead.

“We are going to make a major initiative of trying to get employers to really begin to look at foster kids, former foster kids as a work force,” said George Sheldon, the Assistant Secretary of Operations at DCF.

DCF’s new employees can offer wisdom and advice to their bosses and the people they’ve been hired to help.

“It makes me feel a lot better knowing that something that I’ve done can help someone else not have to go through the things I went through in the system,” said Scadlock.

DCF has certainly planted seeds. They hope their new hires can help the department blossom. Not only has DCF hired a hundred former foster kids. They also found jobs for about 50 others who came through the system.