On Her Own

What happens to teens once they leave foster care? While reporting "Almost 18 -- and feeling old," Patricia Wen of the Boston Globe talked with 17-year-old Maria Medina during a period of six months as she struggled to figure out what to do with her life once she leaves the safety of foster care. The result is a beautifully crafted two-part series that shows us the world through the eyes of a young woman who has already known much pain and must now make difficult decisions. Here is one of the many compelling passages:
"But for foster children like her, there are no parents to fall back on, no spare bedrooms to return to, no second chances. If anything, it is Maria's family that leans on her. She worries that her dreams are sinking as fast as her grades.
'Now I'm almost 18," she sighed as she prepared to return to Chelsea. ''I feel old. And I'm scared. '"