Transitional age youth are young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four who are in transition from state custody or foster care and are at-risk. Once they turn 18 they can no longer receive assistance from the systems of care that previously provided for many of their needs. Like most young people, they are struggling to start out with limited resources and experience. Unlike many, though, they do not have the family resources others take for granted. There is no family to provide them with furniture and dishes for their apartment, to co-sign a loan or guarantee their credit for the landlord, to help pay the security deposit, to guide them through the college admissions process, or put in a good word for a new job.
Programs and changes in programs Foster care is and was intended to be a temporary situation for children, however many children entering foster care, 25-30% (Kelly) remain there until the age of 18. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2005, of the approximately 500,000 (was 550,000 in 2000) children in the foster care system in the United States, an estimated 24,000 foster youth age out of care each year and attempt to live independently. (Gardner)
Homelessness for youth aging out could be lessened using the Chafee Independent Living Program of 1999 information. According to this program states are allowed to use up to 30% of their independent living funds on room and board for former foster youth who are at least 18 years old but not yet 21. It also requires states to use at least some portion of their funds to provide follow-up services to foster youth after they age out. (Dworsky) The previous program, Title IV-E Independent Living Program of 1990, did not allow the state to use any of its funding for room and board, independent living subsidies, or transitional housing for youth aging out. (Dworsky)
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 contains several provisions aimed at promoting permanent family connections for youth in foster care. (Dworsky) The following are changes made by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 to improve the connection between foster youth and extended family members: • Notice to Relatives When Children Enter Care. Increases opportunities for relatives to step in when children are removed from their parents and placed in foster care by ensuring they get notice of this removal. • Kinship Navigator Programs. Guarantees funds for Kinship Navigator programs, through new Family Connection grants, to help connect children living with relatives, both in and out of foster care, with the supports and assistance they need. • Subsidized Guardianship Payments for Relatives. Helps children in foster care leave care to live permanently with grandparents and other relative guardians when they cannot be returned home or adopted and offers federal support to states to assist with subsidized guardianship payments to families for these children, generally to age 18. In certain circumstances, children may continue to receive guardianship assistance to age 21. Clarifies that all children who, as of September 30, 2008, were receiving federally supported subsidized guardianship payments or services in states with Child Welfare Demonstration Waivers will be able to continue to receive that assistance and services under the new program. Clarifies that children who leave foster care after age 16 for kinship guardianship are eligible for independent living services and makes them eligible for education and training vouchers. • Licensing Standards for Relatives. Clarifies that states may waive non-safety related licensing standards for relatives on a case-by-case basis and requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to report to Congress on the use of licensing waivers and recommendations for increasing the percentage of relative foster family homes that are licensed. • New Family Connection Grants. Increases resources for Kinship Navigator programs, as described above. Also provides grants for Family Group Decision-making Meetings, Intensive Family Finding activities, and Residential Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment, all of which can help children stay safely with family members and out of foster care or, once in care, return safely to their parents or find permanence with other relatives. • Keeping Siblings Together. Preserves the sibling bond for children by requiring states to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together when they must be removed from their parents’ home, provided it is in the children’s best interests. In the case of siblings not placed together, states must make reasonable efforts to provide for frequent visitation or other ongoing interaction, unless such interaction would be harmful to any of the siblings. (Children's Defense Fund) This Act helps youth who turn 18 in foster care without permanent families to remain in care, at state option, to age 19, 20, or 21 with continued federal support to increase their opportunities for success as they transition to adulthood. (Children's Defense Fund) This Act also assists foster youth with extra support surrounding their education and healthcare needs as the age out.
24,000 youth age out of foster care every year. The majority of them will be dependent on government assistance at some point whether it is for medical care because of the lack of insurance, food assistance because of the lack of income, housing assistance because of the lack of income, or in some cases their children will be in the foster care system perpetuating the foster care cycle. Society as a whole needs to recognize the consequences of foster youth aging out without the education, experience, knowledge, or skills needed to become a successful adult. Changes to the foster care system can be made, but it will take time, patience, endurance, persistence, and ingenuity from not only the workers in the system and the foster youth, but from a society that recognizes the impact foster youth aging out will make on the future.