| Coolest
thing ever done: Meeting
President Clinton when the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence
Act of 1999 was being signed and having a long discussion
with First Lady Hillary Clinton about independent living in
1997.
Accomplishment: Pérez
moved from the San Francisco Bay area to Washington, D.C.,
to do an internship at the U. S. Department of Health and
Human Services’ Children’s Bureau to help with the
implementation of the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
on a national level.
THE
NITTY GRITTY
Alfred was placed in foster care with his brother—his
fraternal twin—when they were 2 because their mother
abused them and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. The two
boys remained in foster care until they were returned to live
with their mother at age 7. Alfred’s mother hadn’t
changed, though, and Alfred, at age 12, was placed again in
foster care. Alfred spent the next six years in group homes,
10 in all, and then he spent a little while in a foster home
before graduating from high school.
Alfred’s
father never was around: his parents divorced when he was
in foster care the first time. Alfred’s sister, who was
a year older, remained with her mother throughout her childhood
and teen years.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The story of how Alfred ended up in Washington advocating
for young people goes back to several years ago when he was
making the transition from being a youth in foster care to
being an independent adult.
Alfred
was involved with the California Independent Living Skills
Program and volunteered to help plan a conference that California
Youth Connection (CYC), a youth advocacy organization, was
having in his county. Alfred helped set up the conference
not knowing that his whole life was about to change.
During the conference, CYC members urged Alfred to join their
organization, and he did. Next thing he knew, he was "hooked
on politics."
Alfred
first found himself testifying at the California state capitol
for a group home bill of rights. Then, one day in 1997, Alfred
received a call: would he sit down with a few other young
people and have a chat with First Lady Hillary Clinton? Alfred
agreed to do it. When Clinton came to talk with Alfred and
the six others, her mind was set on talking about the Adoption
and Safe Families Act, but Alfred says, "we all just
ended up talking about independent living the whole time.
I had never paid attention to politics before; I mean, I knew
vaguely about government, but this was amazing. Every since
then I’ve been hooked on politics. It changed my career
path."
Originally
Alfred had wanted to be a traditional social worker, but meeting
with Clinton helped him realize he needed to do research "because
research gets laws passed," he says.
During
this time, Alfred was finishing his bachelor’s degree
at San Jose State University where he was majoring in social
work with a minor in speech communication.
Over
the next few years, a bill called the John H. Chafee Foster
Care Independence Act was introduced in Congress. The legislation
increased federal support to states for independent living
programs.
Alfred
was a featured speaker at the bill signing ceremony for the
Chafee Act. He met President Clinton then also. When Alfred
finished speaking, the commissioner of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau
asked him to come to Washington and intern for them, helping
to implement the Chafee Program nationwide. So, in a bold
move, Alfred packed up and moved to D.C. to do the internship.
During
this time, Alfred was working on a Master’s degree in
social work from the University of Michigan. He graduated
with the degree in 2001.
CURRENT WORK
Alfred now works as a researcher for a company called Westat,
which does research in many areas, including health, social
services, and marketing. Alfred does research for the human
services group and works directly with research concerning
children and families. Much of the research he does affects
public policy because Westat often is awarded government contracts
to do research.
PLANS FOR FUTURE
Alfred is thinking of applying to PhD programs in social work.
No matter what he does, though, he wants to "continue
to live life and be productive."
INSPIRATION
"My inspiration, and this may sound funny, is I remember
when people would leave foster care, and I would see them
a year later and would realize that they weren’t doing
anything…I never wanted to be like that."
Alfred
has also felt inspired by the people in his life who have
helped him. "I’ve
always been fortunate to have really good people in my life,
through school, community connections… people who looked
out for me the way the system should have."
ADVICE TO YOUTH TRANSITIONING INTO
ADULTHOOD
"Make connections with adults before leaving foster care.
Get a mentor. And don’t be ashamed or too proud to ask
for help. If you fall, get up and move ahead. It’s all
a learning process."
FAVORITE BOOKS
The Pact: Three young men make a promise and fulfill a dream.
Drs. Samson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt.
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