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Hillsborough County has about 400 to 600 high school-aged students who are in foster care. Baumann will work with Connected by 25 of Hillsborough County, an initiative funded by the Eckerd Family Foundation, to identify teens close to aging out. In a sense, Baumann will use the authority of the court to make sure both the teens and various agencies work together to achieve the best outcomes for the young adults. "As teenagers, they want input into their futures," Baumann said. "We want to get the cooperation of the kids and the agencies in planning their futures. We want to help them focus on achieving their future goals." That might mean coordinating support, lining up mentors and part-time jobs and making sure they are engaged in school or a voc-tech track.
The local guardian ad litem office also recently launched a pilot project assigning three attorneys to work exclusively with these teens. "When these children come in, we say this is an attorney to represent you and to empower you in the planning stage," Baumann said.
Baumann says his goal to pull foster children entering high school into his courtroom to help them stay in high school. "We are trying to focus on this group, especially on kids who have potential," he said. "We should have more resources devoted to those children. We are trying to give these teens the same options anyone else’s teens would have."
The judge has power most people don’t have, but he also says he’s fortunate to have the Eckerd Family Foundation as an ally. "The great thing about having Eckerd is that when we go to do something, we can rely on the Eckerd Foundation to help examine the situation and consider providing support," he said.