Judge Allows Youth to Return to Foster Care

A month after the state kicked him out of foster care, Julian Tweedy, 18, is back in -- at his own request -- so he can graduate from Oldham County High School and go to college.

At a brief hearing in Jefferson Family Court yesterday, a state official and a lawyer for Tweedy told Judge Dolly Wisman Berry they had reached an agreement to allow the teen to extend his time in foster care, which the law permits for some youths who "age out" of the system at 18.

Berry said she was pleased with the resolution.

"Julian, you have a good year," Berry told him.

Tweedy said after the hearing that he was happy with the outcome. But he said he was disappointed he had to battle with the social workers for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, who wanted to remove him from school before the end of the semester and send him home to Louisville -- even though it would have barred him from graduating on time.

"I still think the whole situation is dumb," said Tweedy, a high school senior whose foster family agreed to keep him while the situation was being resolved. "I had to go through a lot just to stay in care."

Cabinet officials have declined to comment on his case, citing the confidentiality of the foster care system. Family courts normally are closed, but the judge allowed a reporter to sit in on the hearing yesterday at Tweedy's request.

Tweedy's situation became public after The Courier-Journal reported last month that social workers had decided to remove Tweedy from foster care just before his 18th birthday even though it would have disrupted his education.

His lawyer, Pete Schuler, Jefferson County's chief public defender, had objected that it would derail Tweedy's success in foster care -- where he had turned failing grades into As and Bs and taken extra courses in order to graduate on time. Schuler also objected that Tweedy's home -- from which social workers removed him in 2006 -- wasn't stable enough.

But cabinet officials refused and Tweedy said the only explanation he got from a social worker was that "Life's not fair."

The cabinet did agree to a one-month extension of foster care so Tweedy could finish the semester in Oldham County but removed him from the program in mid-January.

The cabinet, however, reversed that decision and offered to let Tweedy return to foster care after The Courier-Journal inquired about his case.

Schuler yesterday told the judge he believes it's the right decision.

"Julian continues to do very well," he said. "This is a real success story for the court and for the cabinet."

Tweedy told Berry that after graduation he plans to attend college -- possibly the University of Louisville or Western Kentucky University -- and study computer science.

Because he remains in foster care, he will be eligible for tuition and other assistance.

Tweedy told a reporter he's glad for that, but was determined to succeed even if the cabinet had refused his request.

"I wasn't worried about it," he said. "I decided I was still going to finish school and go to college."

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Reporter Deborah Yetter can be reached at (502) 582-4228.