Caregivers
Serving Emerging Adults
Version 2.0, 11/28/12
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Welcome
Overview of Training
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Learning Objectives
What we know about Transitional Aged Youth
Legislative Background
ABCs of AB 12
Adolescent Development
Brain Development
Emerging Adulthood
Extended Foster Care
Positive Youth Development
Mark Courtney’s Research
Collaboration and Working Together
Best Practices
Question and Answer
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Learning Objectives
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Gain understanding of working with youth
and young adults in the context of
extended foster care
Gain knowledge about the AB12 legislation
Gain knowledge of adolescent
development, brain development and the
tasks of emerging adults
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Introductory Activity
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What We
Know About
Transition Age
Youth…
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An estimated
29,500 youth
exited foster care
in FY 2008 (U.S.
DHHS, 2009).
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Education
Approximately 1.2
million youth drop
out of high school
each year, more than
half of whom come
from minority groups
(Editorial Projects in
Education Research
Center, 2008).
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Homelessness…
 On
any single day, 53,000103,000 of the homeless
population are between 18
and 24. (Burt, Aaron, &
Lee, 2001).
 One in five youth who age
out of foster care will
experience homelessness
(Fernandes, 2008).
 Three in ten homeless
adults have had
experience in the foster
care system (Gardner,
2008).
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Legislative Background
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The Foster Care Independence Act of
1999, helps foster youth who are aging
out of care to achieve self-sufficiency.
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Legislative Background
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The Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 is the most
recent piece of major federal legislation
addressing the foster care system. This bill
extended various benefits and funding for
foster children between the age of 18 and 21
and for Indian children in tribal areas.
California passed AB12 October of 2010; it
went into effect on January 1, 2012
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From Adolescence to
Adulthood
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ABCs of AB12:
Extended Foster Care
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Signed in to law September 30, 2010
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Begins January 1, 2012
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Extends foster care
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to age 19 in 2012
and then age 20 in 2013
and then hopefully to age 21 in 2014
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Why extend foster care?
18 is too young for some
emerging adults to be selfsufficient.
Extending foster care gives youth
who want it some additional
support.
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How will extended foster care
benefit youth
More time to find a permanent
connection to an adult figure
 More time to prepare them for
adulthood
 More time to help with school,
work and a stable place to live
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What does the young
person need to do?
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Decide whether or not they want
to stay in foster care
If they leave foster care, they
may decide to come back into
foster care (we will talk later
about who is able to)
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If they decide to stay, they
must:
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Sign a mutual agreement
Work with the social worker or
probation officer to meet the
goals of their case plan and the
Transitional Independent Living
Case Plan (TILP)
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Be doing one or more of the
following:
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Be in high school or a similar
program
Attend college, community college or
a vocational education program
Work at least 80 hours a month
Participate in a program to remove
barriers to employment
Be unable to do one of the above
because of a medical condition
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Where can they live?
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With a relative or non-related
extended family member, foster
family home, or home of their legal
guardian
Group home placement (until age 19)
THP – Plus Foster Care
THPP (if they are in THPP at age 18,
they can stay until age 19)
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Or…
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Supervised Independent Living Setting
Such as:
 An
apartment
 Room and board arrangements
 College dorms
 Shared roommate
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Will they still go to Court?
YES!
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They will be assigned an attorney and will
go to court or have an administrative
review every 6 months
They can attend court by phone if they are
far away
The social worker/probation officer will
write a report about the young person’s
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progress toward their goals
Ineligible Youth include…
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Youth who aged out of foster care in 2011*
Youth in a non-related legal guardianship
through the probate court
Married youth
Youth in the military
* Exceptions exist for youth who turned 18 in 2011 but
remained in foster care on January 1, 2012
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How will the young person
meet their goals?
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They will create a Transitional Independent Living
Plan (TILP) with their social worker or probation
officer
They may participate in developing a ‘shared
responsibility’ plan with caregiver, depending on
circumstances
They will talk about how they can meet their
goals
ILSP/ILP will help with classes and workshops!
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Why wouldn’t a foster youth
want to stay in care?
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They might not want:
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to be a dependant or ward of the court
to stay in a foster placement that has to
be approved by the social worker or
probation officer
to have a social worker or probation
officer or anyone else in their business!!
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Why would they want to stay in
foster care?
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Youth ages 18-21 need, deserve and are
entitled to the extra support that extended
foster care can provide
Everybody needs a safety net!
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Understanding the Adolescent
 Physical
Development
 Cognitive Development
 Psychosocial Development
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Physical Development
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Rapid gains in height and
weight.
Development of secondary sex
characteristics.
Continued brain development.
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How this affects them…
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Teens frequently sleep longer
Teens may be more clumsy because of growth
spurts.
Teenage girls may become overly sensitive
about their weight.
Teens may be concerned because they are not
physically developing at the same rate as their
peers.
Teens may feel awkward about demonstrating
affection to the opposite sex parent.
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Cognitive Development
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Advanced reasoning skills.
Developing abstract thinking skills.
Developing the ability to think about
thinking in a process known as "meta-
cognition." Meta-cognition allows
individuals to think about how they feel
and what they are thinking.
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How this affects them…
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Teens demonstrate a heightened level of selfconsciousness.
Teens tend to believe that no one else has
ever experienced similar feelings and
emotions.
Teens tend to exhibit the "it can't happen to
me" syndrome also known as a "personal
fable."
Teens tend to exhibit a "justice" orientation.
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Psychosocial Development
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Establishing an identity
Establishing autonomy
Establishing intimacy
Becoming comfortable with one's
sexuality
Achievement
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How this affects them…
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Teens may have more questions about sexuality.
Teens may begin to keep a journal.
When they are in their rooms, teens may begin to lock
their bedroom doors.
Teens may become involved in multiple hobbies or clubs.
Teens may become elusive about where they are going
or with whom.
Teens may become more argumentative.
Teens may not want to be seen with parents in public.
Teens may begin to interact with parents as people.
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Adolescent Brain
Development
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Recent research by scientists at the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has
found that the teen brain is not a finished
product, but is a work in progress .
This may help to explain certain teenage
behavior that adults can find mystifying,
such as poor decision-making, recklessness,
and emotional outbursts.
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Brain Regions and Functions
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Frontal lobe—self-control, judgment, emotional
regulation; restructured in teen years
Corpus callosum—intelligence, consciousness
and self-awareness; reaches full maturity in 20’s
Parietal lobes—integrate auditory, visual, and
tactile signals; immature until age 16
Temporal lobes—emotional maturity; still
developing after age 16
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Pathways
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Youth who “exercise”
their brains by
learning to order their
thoughts, understand
abstract concepts, and
control their impulses
are laying the neural
foundations that will
serve them for the
rest of their lives.
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Adolescents are more likely
to:
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Act on impulse
Misread or misinterpret social cues and
emotions
Get into accidents of all kinds
Get involved in fights
Engage in dangerous or risky behavior
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Adolescents
are less likely to:
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Think before they act
Pause to consider the potential
consequences of their actions
Modify their dangerous or inappropriate
behaviors
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Brain Development as a Result
of a History of Chronic Trauma
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They may have even more difficulty with
problem-solving, understanding
consequences, planning and organizing
tasks.
They may have a compromised ability to
reflect on and understand their emotions
and experiences and/or the emotions and
experiences of others.
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Brain Development as a Result of
a History of Chronic Trauma, cont.
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They may have even greater difficulty
than “typical” teens in delaying
gratification.
They may have a heightened response to
stress, often overreacting, becoming
aggressive and/or defiant.
They may be behind in accomplishing
developmental tasks in some/all domains
(cognitive, physical, emotional, social). 38
Impact of
Chronic Trauma History
Adolescents with a history of chronic trauma
may have:
 compromised attachment history, making it
difficult for them to move into the typical
adolescent individuation
 increased difficulty with decision-making,
planning, organizing time
 compromised conscience/empathy
development
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Emerging adults …
What does the research say
about the process of becoming
an adult?
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“Emerging Adulthood”
Coined in 1995 by psychologist
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, PhD.
Outlines Five Features of
Development
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Emerging Adults:
Five Features of Development
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Age of identity exploration. Young
people are deciding who they are and
what they want out of work, school
and love.
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Age of instability. Repeated residence
changes happen as young people
either go to college or live with friends
or a romantic partner.
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Age of self-focus. Young people try to
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Age of feeling in between. Emerging
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Age of possibilities. Emerging adults
decide what they want to do, where
they want to go and who they want
to be with.
adults say they are taking
responsibility for themselves, but still
do not completely feel like an adult.
believe they have good chances of
living "better than their parents did."
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Activity
What do you know?
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Some Struggle;
Some Prosper
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Need right balance of the adolescent
pushing for independence and the society
giving the correct amount of support
Not pushing too hard or holding back too
much
Under W&IC section 11403(i): regulations
for “young adults who can exercise
incremental responsibility concurrently
with their growth and development” will be
encouraged.
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Ethnic Minorities
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During emerging adulthood, ethnic
minorities have to deal with the larger
culture and figure out their own identity
in the context of the larger society.
For children of immigrants, that can be
especially challenging.
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Foster Youth Transitioning
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Extended foster care allows foster youth
age 18, who meet the federal participation
criteria, to remain in care as follows:
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Beginning 1/1/12, up to age 19
Beginning 1/1/13, up to age 20
Beginning 1/1/14, up to age 21
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Preparing for
Extended Foster Care
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The conversation about EFC and its
benefits should begin with all foster youth
as they become eligible for ILSP/ILP
services and when they begin to work on
the TILP.
Youth are more likely to take advantage of
the program if they hear about it a lot,
from various sources.
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Four Principles of
Youth Development
1.Youth Development
A
process which prepares young people to
meet the challenges of adolescence and
adulthood through a coordinated, progressive
series of activities and experiences which help
them to become socially, morally, emotionally,
physically, and cognitively competent.
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2. Collaboration
The process by
which several
agencies or
organizations make
a formal, sustained
commitment to
work together to
accomplish a
common mission.
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3. Cultural Competence
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Culture is difference in race, ethnicity,
nationality, religion/spirituality, gender,
sexual orientation, socioeconomic status,
physical ability, language, beliefs, values,
behavior patterns, or customs among
various groups within a community,
organization, or nation.
Culturally competent individuals have a
mixture of beliefs and attitudes, knowledge,
and skills that help them establish trust and
communicate with others. (Advocates for
Youth)
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4. Permanent Connections
Positive relationships that are intended to last
a life-time. They may be either formal (e.g.
adoption or reunification with family) or
informal in nature (e.g., mentors or peer
support groups).
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Youth who have strong
self-esteem and who
feel empowered are
often better equipped
to deal with the
barriers, as well as the
opportunities, that
arise during and after
out-of-home care.
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Key Elements of the Youth
Development Approach
 Adolescents
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are:
involved in activities that enhance their
competence, connections, character,
confidence and contribution to society;
provided an opportunity to experiment in a
safe environment and to develop positive
social values and norms; and
engaged in activities that promote selfunderstanding, self-worth, and a sense of
belonging and resiliency.
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Key Elements of the Youth
Development Approach, cont.
 Youth
are seen as a valued and respected asset to
society;
 Policies
and programs focus on the evolving
developmental needs and tasks of adolescents,
and involve youth as partners rather than clients;
 Families,
schools and communities are engaged in
developing environments that support youth;
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What can you do?
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Learn and use the youth development principles;
Have genuine respect for youth and adult-youth
relationships;
Possess the skills to empower young people to
be involved in the decision-making process;
Have self-awareness and understanding of
program goals, strategies and outcomes; and
Possess the conviction and belief that youth are
capable and can contribute.
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Research Supporting
Extending Foster Care
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Midwest Study
Surveyed 732 youth who exited foster
care from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin at
ages 18, 19, 21, and 24
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Outcomes @ age 24
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2.5 times more likely to get BA
61% pay differential for BA (nearly doubles
lifetime earnings)
Sub-baccalaureate pay boost too (12-17% for
associate degree equaling $400k work-life
earnings; $300k for at least some college)
38% reduction in risk of becoming pregnant
Better personal and family health, etc…
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Collaborating
Who are some of the community
partners that we will need to work
with to serve these emerging adults?
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Best Practices
Group Discussion: Serving Emerging Adults
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Questions?
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My Action Plan
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