You Gotta Believe! The Older Child Adoption & Permanency Movement Inc. is a new organization in New York City dedicated to finding permanent homes for older children in foster care.

Since one-half of the homeless population reportedly comes from foster care, You Gotta Believe! (YGB) seeks to prevent homelessness by finding kids families. These can be of different kinds:

some may be seeking to adopt, others are willing to accept children who are not legally freed for adoption but who still need a permanent home. Such "permanency families" can provide lasting relationships for:

(1) teens who are not yet ready to move out on their own but whose discharge goal from foster care is "independent living";

(2) teenage mothers in foster care, with their babies, until they are ready to live on their own;

(3) emotionally needy teens and pre-teens who may be placed directly from residential treatment centers and hospitals; and

(4) teens and pre-teens whose parents have died, or are dying, of AIDS.

"Don't leave till ready to leave" is YGB's motto.

You Gotta Believe! currently runs a parent preparation course to orient prospective parents to being family to older kids. The course runs 7-8 weeks during which participants hear from a panel of parents who have already adopted older kids and a panel of young adults who moved into permanent families at older ages.

There are also sessions on discipline and creative parenting techniques; the support services available after a child moves in; and helping a child get in touch with their history. The focus of the course is the internal and external resources that allow a parent to stay committed despite the problems that arise in raising an older child.

Besides being a "permanency movement" YGB is also an agency on contract with local government to place kids in permanent homes. Once more kids are placed YGB intends to start ongoing support groups for those families who already have kids and want a place to talk about their experiences and the problems that arise.

You Gotta Believe! operates in partnerships with churches and other community organizations in order to recruit potential parents. Its founder and director, Mr. Pat O'Brien, is the former director of a foster care agency in New York City. YGB can be contacted at: 1220 Neptune Avenue, Suite #166, Coney Island, NY 11224. (800) 601-1779.

1. A YGB pamphlet reports the following studies:

(a) The Coalition for the Homeless found that 60% of all the homeless living in New York City municipal shelters had spent their childhood in foster care.

(b) The National Association of Social Workers found that 49% of homeless youth had been in either foster care or a youth shelter in the previous year prior to a national survey they conducted.

(c) A study conducted in New York City found that 50% of homeless youth who came to City shelters had peviously lived in a setting provided by the child welfare system.