When do we take responsibity for our actions???

I just got off the phone with a sweet child I have known and loved since she was ten years old.   She is now nineteen.  I had been a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters and she was my "Little" as they call the children who need mentoring.  Once the child becomes eighteen they are no longer mentored and sent out into the world to make it on their own. 

My Little is the reason I am not a volunteer for that agency any longer.  I loved her but also feared her.  I didn't fear her for my safety, as I said she was a sweet child.  I feared her because I was unable to reach her, to make her see that she is responsible for her actions as a child and even more so as an adult.

I had lost contact with her for over a year and actually wished I would not hear from her again. 

No, I take that back.  I think of her often and have wanted to see her again, it is just that I fear she will want to move in with me and I am not in a situation where I can financially take care of her. 

Since the last time I heard from her she has moved at least a half dozen times, living in Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois and now Wisconsin always with a different person until they kick her out.  Now here she is at the ripe young age of nineteen living with a friend and pregnant with a man's baby who never wants to set eyes on her or the unborn child. 

When I asked her what happened, why has she gone from place to place her answer is always the same;  they are mean to her.  The first time I heard this was while she was living with her sister and her husband a couple of years ago.  Since then I have heard it many times and I don't know about you but when I hear the same excuse repeatedly I start getting suspicious.

So now the big question, how does she think she is going to raise this child without a job or permanent housing.  Oh, that one was easy for her, her girlfriend is going to take care of the baby and she'll join the army.  Personally I think that is just another lie.  I believe she dropped out of high school two years ago when she started her traveling from state to state, boyfriend to boyfriend and the army is only taking high school graduates.  Of course she vehemently denies that.

Now for the truth as I see it.  The U.S. taxpayers will take care of her and the unborn child's medical expenses, food and housing for the next eighteen or more years.  She will see no problem with this situation.  It is her right as an American citizen.

I don't know what is right and wrong in this scenario.  Some children will never be able to make it on their own.  They become permanent wards of the government.  They may not know how to get and keep a job but they do know all the government agencies that will give them better medical care than the average tax payer can afford.  They actually know their rights better than the average American who diligently goes to work each day so that they may concientiously pay their bills and care for their families.

Who is responsible?  I don't know but I do know this cannot continue.