Tiffani Rivera
June 17, 2013
Psychology I
Professor Nicole Brown
Aging Out Documentary Reflection

“Despite the obstacles I could make it.” At a certain age, individuals in the foster care system are forced to exit and are met with struggle. As stated in the aforementioned quote, upon existing the system, Daniella hopes to take control of her life. Aging Out is a documentary that follows the life of Daniella, Risa, and David as time has come to exist the foster care system. As with all documentaries, Aging Out begins with background history of the these three individuals. David is the first to speak on his history in the foster care system. During his time in the system, David stayed with several foster families. David upon his stay within the system he had been to therapists that had diagnosed him with bi-polar disorder, being manic depressant and other mental conditions. Two of his former foster parents seem to genuinely care about him. Throughout the film Davis goes AWOL a couple of times and goes back to their house where they take him in and try their best to help him. Risa talks about her being the only one in her family that graduated high school and that fact that she received scholarships to attend a University in California. The film also depicts Risa's struggle with drugs, her mental breakdown, her life when she returned to her foster mother's house. Daniella begins by mentioning that she is pregnant with her first child and like David had been in several foster care families. She struggles with existing the system, her college career, and the financial burden of raising her child. What stuck out to me while watching the documentary was the fact that all three individuals so desperately wanted to on their own. However, Daniella, David, and Risa were not in touch with the realities of being on their own in the real world. Nor did the have the support and the ability to rely on the system to help them in preparation of existing the system. They had no real training or plan in surviving