VIDEO: Life After Foster Care

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Aging Out: Life After Foster Care from Lindsay Armstrong on Vimeo. NEW YORK -- When Cordale Manning came to live with Elaine and Lee Fair at age 17, he was on his fourth foster home in as many years. The Fairs had a simple philosophy: as soon as a child entered their home, he or she became family. After countless family dinners, long conversations and moments of shared laughter, Manning started to believe them. However, a small voice still nagged in his mind. He worried that at 21, the age of independence, the Fairs would let him go and he would be alone.

Struggles and Successes, Voices From the Foster Care System

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NEW YORK -- Every time he combs his hair, Tomas Rios sees the scar. It happened when he was 12 years old, his seventh year in the New York City foster care system. By then, he’d already shuffled through a few different neglectful and violent families. By then, it all felt like routine. “I was living in one of the more abusive homes I’d ever been in,” Rios said.

A Day in Family Court

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NEW YORK -- Daphne Culler whispered the words from the courtroom visitor’s bench, so quietly practically no one could hear.

“Just relax,” she said.

Culler, her face impassive, never broke eye contact with her daughter, who sat across the room at the witness table.

The 15-year-old, who was accused of assaulting a shop owner, mumbled each answer. Twice the judge told her to speak up. Her demeanor alternated between anxiety and annoyance at the repeated questions, a quick smile sometimes flashing across her face until the next question called her to attention.

UPDATE: Ramapo Revisited, School Board Election and the Future of a Community

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Next Tuesday’s election for seats to the East Ramapo Central School District’s board isn’t about politics in the traditional sense, it’s about the divisions between the black and Latino residents who see the public school system as a civic stepladder to a better life, and the Hasidim, a mystical religious sect, that sees it as a threat to its way of life.

The Steel Drum, It’s a Beautiful Thing

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Aphexlee / Flikr

They're usually associated with Bob Marley and the island culture of Trinidad and Tobago, but the calypso sounds emanating from a classroom at The Hamilton-Madison House are made by Asian hands. Hamilton-Madison is nestled within the Gov. Alfred E. Smith Houses in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Manhattan. For more than six years, the House ran a music school offering affordable private violin and piano lessons to the residents of the community. For those years, the Asian community overwhelmingly used the music school. Hoping to reach more black and Latino budding-musicians -- who make up almost 56 percent of the community -- the executive director suggested introducing a steel pan class.

Community Center’s Low-Cost Music Program Breaking Down Cultural Walls

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Christine Streich / Youth Today

NEW YORK -- A shabby community center on the first floor of one of the 12 buildings that make up the vastGov. Alfred E. Smith public houses is where social workers and teachers are hoping music can break down cultural barriers. Melodies drift from the classroom in the tiny Two Bridges neighborhood of lower Manhattan, six days a week. It is in need of fresh paint. Mismatched desks are scattered amidst tables and other pieces of furniture. Remnants of English language lessons line the walls on yellowing easel paper.

Public Kid vs. Private Kid Divide in One New York Community Turns Dangerous

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In Ramapo, New York, a town divided by race, religion, and culture, a demographic split has allowed public money to pour into private religious schools, resulting in huge cuts to the already decimated public school system. Community leaders fear that the cuts, which will essentially eliminate all non state-mandated programs like music, sports and art, will create a school-to-prison pipeline.

In New York, Probation Can Mean More Than Just Punishment

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NEW YORK -- Next to a bookstand furnished with self help books and a shiny new computer station, a young man wearing a plaid button up and khakis shyly stepped up to the podium and took a folded piece of notebook paper from his pocket. He wants to be an architect, but that’s a goal for the future.

After-School Cuts to the Quick

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NEW YORK -- Last year, the after-school program at P.S. 102 in Elmhurst, Queens shut down due to funding cuts. Without the program, 11-year-old Savannah Colon thought she’d have to ride a city bus back and forth for three hours each day with her 6-year-old sister, until her mother finished work. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Savannah’s mother found a city-funded program called Beacon at I.S. 5, just a couple blocks away. “My mom was really frustrated,” Savannah said.