Samantha McCartney,
Jessie Neel,
and Carson Pennypacker

Today, youth who age out of the nation’s foster
care system are at high risk of having difficulty
managing the transition from dependent
adolescence to independent adulthood.
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They experience high rates of educational failure,
unemployment, poverty, out-of-wedlock parenting,
mental illness, housing instability, and victimization.
The government takes children away from their
parents under the presumption that the
government can provide for them better.
The government tries to reunite the youth with
their families, but when that isn’t possible they
try to find them another permanent home
through adoption.
 At the end of the day it is the government,
acting as parents, that decides when foster
youth are ready to be on their own.

According to estimates from the federal
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting
System (AFCARS), 542,000 children lived in outof-home care on September 30, 2001.
 Of these children,
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55% were black and/or Hispanic
52% were male
48% lived with nonrelative foster parents
24% lived in relative foster care
18% lived in group homes
4% in a pre-adoptive home
3% were living at home during a trial home visit
2% had run away from care
Child welfare agencies are required to make
“reasonable efforts” to prevent placement of
children in out-of-home care, usually in the form
of social services for their families.
 If the children and youth cannot return to the
care of their families, the child welfare agency
and the court attempt to find another
permanent home for the child through adoptive
or legal guardianship.
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Wulczyn and Brunner Hislop analyzed placement
histories and discharge outcomes of all youth in
twelve states.
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Few youth who age out of care actually grow up in the
foster care system.
This should not be surprising given that the median age
of children entering foster care is less than nine years,
and about half of all children leave care within one year
of entry.
47% of these youth were returned to their
families at discharge from the child welfare
system.
 What
responsibility should the child welfare
system bear for preparing foster youth for
independent living?
Former foster youth must face the transition to
independence with significant deficits in
educational attainment, and they do not appear
to make up for these deficits during the
transition.
 These deficits put them at a significant
disadvantage in the labor market and are likely
to contribute to some of the other negative
outcomes they experience.
 Researchers found that:
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66% of the eighteen-year-olds
discharged from care in had
not graduated from high school
Former foster youth suffer from more mental
health problems than the general population.
 They face sexual and physical victimization.
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25% of the males and 15% of the females reported
experiencing physical victimization
Former foster youth experience mental health
problems during the transition to adulthood,
which raises concerns about their ability to
maintain healthy relationships and employment.
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Not much research has been conducted on
substance use among former foster youth,
because youth who have serious substance abuse
problems may end up moving from the child
welfare system into the juvenile corrections
system due to behavior associated with their
substance abuse before they age out of foster
care.
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6% of alcoholics reported lived in out-of-home care
39% of those were not clinically
diagnosed
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Former foster youth have a higher rate of
involvement with the criminal justice system
than the general population.
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28% of males and 6% of females from a New Orleans
study had been convicted of crime.
A criminal record can limit the future
employment and housing prospects
of these youth.
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Former foster children tend to have higher rates
of marital separation and divorce, lower rates of
marital satisfaction, are more likely to remain
single, and have higher rates of premarital births
than their peers.
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31% of former foster children surveyed were single
mothers
46% of former foster youth reported having
children with higher rates of health, education,
and behavior problems than their peers.
 Many of these former foster youth make for
unfavorable marriage partners because of these
mental health, education, and behavior
problems.
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Research implies former foster children are less
financially independent, depending more on
public assistance than their peers.
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30% reported having public assistance after leaving care
53% reported having serious money problems after
leaving care
1/3 reported doing something illegal to earn money
Former foster youth tend to have higher rates of
unemployment and lower wages, which
eventually results in poverty.
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Research indicates former foster children have
higher rates of mobility, housing instability, and
homelessness.
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32% surveyed lived in six or more places after being out
of foster care for two and a half to four years
25% were homeless for at least one
night after leaving care
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Most research notes former foster youth have
higher rates of social isolation and lower rates of
civic engagement than their peers.
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Only 30% of former foster children surveyed indicated
belonging to any organization.
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Do you think former foster care children should
keep in touch with their biological parents after
they leave foster care?
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Research suggests former foster youth do keep in
touch with their mothers and to their fathers,
but to a lesser degree.
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Research indicates 1/3 – 1/2 of former foster youth keep
in touch with their mothers monthly.
88% reported visiting with their siblings at least once
after leaving care.
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Contact with their biological and foster families
suggests a source of natural support for former
foster youth during their transition into
adulthood.
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54% of former foster youth reported living with a
relative after leaving care.
Even though former foster youth may stay in
touch with their families, some still report not
having a “psychological parent” they can turn to
for advice.
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Children enter foster care because their safety is
at risk in their own homes.
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1/5 of former foster children suffer from maltreatment,
which results in physical and mental health problems,
difficulties in forming interpersonal relationships,
impaired cognitive development, reduced educational
attainment, and increased rates of delinquency.
Therefore, children age out of foster care and
suffer from pasts of trauma and neglect.
The foster care system should protect children
from maltreatment and help them from the
maltreatment already experienced to improve
their transition to adulthood.
 Research suggests foster care does not have
positive or negative effects on children removed
from their homes.
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Because foster care removes children from
unsafe homes, it is believed to save children, but
when three certain characteristics of foster care
are present, foster care can actually have
negative effects on children.
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These three characteristics include placement
instability, poor attention to educational needs, and
inadequate medical care.
 Children’s
placement numbers predict their
readiness to live independently once they are
older adolescents.
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Fewer placements for foster care children are associated
with higher rates of life satisfaction, better physical
functioning, higher educational attainment, and lower
levels of criminal activity.
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Foster care children enter care behind in
educational achievement and never “catch up”
while in care.
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1/3 of elementary-age foster children and 2/3 of high
school-age foster children repeated at least one grade.
Because of their frequent placements, special
needs in the classroom are unnoticed by
teachers, caseworkers,
and foster care parents.
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Foster care children don’t receive adequate
medical care, contributing to health problems
which continue into emerging adulthood.
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78% of foster children are at risk for HIV, but only 9% are
tested
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Since 1961, the federal government has
reimbursed the states for the cost of foster care
provided to poor children taken from their home
by court order
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1980s: child welfare advocates started to push
for funding to help foster care youth prepare for
adulthood
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1985: The Independent Living Initiative provided
funds to the states to help adolescents develop
skills to live on their own
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Services available to youth ages 16-21
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Reauthorized in 1993: Independent Living Program
Outreach programs
Training in daily living skills
Education and employment assistance
Counseling
Case management
ILP can NOT be used for room and board
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After the creation of the ILP (Independent Living
Program) the government did not require a lot of
reporting from the states
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The ILP had “no established method to review the
states’ progress in helping youths in the transition from
foster care.”
1998: Only about 60% of all eligible youth
received some type of independent living service
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1999: The FCIA amended Title IV-E to give states
more funding and flexibility to help support
teens who are transitioning into independent
living
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Doubled independent living services funding up to $140
million per year
Allowed states to use up to 30% of these funds for room
and board
Enabled states to assist 18-21 year olds who have left
foster care
Permits states to extend Medicaid eligibility
An amendment to this law allowed congress to
appropriate $60 million per year for education
and training vouchers of up to $5000 per year for
youth up to 23 years old
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Under the FCIA, state performance is a much
higher priority
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The department of HHS (Health and Human Services) is
required to assess state performance in managing
independent living programs, and states are required to
collect data on the outcomes
1.5% of funding is set aside for rigorous evaluations of
promising independent living programs
The program created under the FCIA is called the
Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
referred to as the Chafee Program
 Named after John Chafee, a senator who was a
legislative advocate for foster youth
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Independent Living Services
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No way to categorize all services provided by
Independent Living Services
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Describes a wide range of approaches to meeting the
needs of youth who are expected to age out of foster
care or who already have
By categorizing the services it can give a false
impression that programs specialize in only certain areas
Public and Private agencies provide multiple
services, serve broad populations, and focus on
multiple outcomes
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Life skills training, mentoring programs, transitional
housing, health and behavioral services, educational
services, and employment services
What are some independent living services that
you think would help foster care teens transition
into adulthood and independence?
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Life Skills
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Mentoring Services
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Probably the most common element of independent
living programs
Practice skills they will have to master to survive on
their own
Establish connections between youth and caring adults,
and some peer mentorship programs also exist
Housing
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One of the most important areas because youth are
responsible for obtaining their own housing
The FCIA helped by extending funding for room and
board through 21 years old, but the funding isn’t usually
enough
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Educational Services
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Increase literacy
Help teens to start a career path
Connect them with educational/vocational programs
These services are NOT available to all foster
youth
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2/5 of eligible foster youth do NOT
receive independent living services
For those who do receive services, it is
unlikely that they receive all available
to them
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Doubled federal funding for independent living
services
Allowed states to spend some new funds on housing
for youth of 18 to 21 years old
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Federal Reimbursement for costs of Medicaid for
former foster youth 18 to 21 years old
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Advocates for foster youth believe housing is essential for
helping youth achieve independence
Before FCIA, former youth could only receive Medicaid if
they were eligible for other reasons (ex: poor young women
with children)
New Focus on outcomes and program evaluation
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FCIA is the first federal child welfare legislation that
specifies measure of well-being for the state to monitor
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$140 million increase is significant, but is only a
small amount compared to the population size
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The FCIA allows states to use the Chafee Program Funds to
provide services to those under 16
In September 2001, there were 100,056 youth 16+
in foster care = $1,400 available per year per
eligible youth
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This does not include those who have aged out of care or
left foster care
There are about 60,000 eligible youth for housing
assistance. If the the state spends the maximum
30% of the Chafee Funds on housing, there would
be $700 per person to spend.
 The success of the FCIA in achieving it goals will
require more funding that what is provided
currently
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Only a few states have chosen to extend
Medicaid eligibility for former foster youth
 Poor knowledge base supporting independent
living services
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Finding answers to what works in helping foster youth
successfully transition to adulthood is hard to find
Most important limitation: Target Population
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Few youth actually age out of foster care
 Include all foster youth who spent time in foster care
after 16 years old
 ILS rarely reach out to those who leave foster and are
discharged to family members
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Children who run away from foster care are the
most at risk of poor adult outcomes
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This group of teens may be the most help
in finding out what is missing from current
efforts to help foster teens prepare for
independence
The lack of the Independent Living
Programs to try and reengage runaway
youth and of policies to target their
needs shows a reluctance to serve
the most needy foster youth
 The
adolescent population in the child
welfare system is the most needy group on
their transition to adulthood
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These teens are the victims of their own kin
The current policy for foster youth is not ideal,
and the resources available to these youth are
still inadequate
 There is hope that the current support will lead
some states or jurisdictions to set an example
for others to follow
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These examples would hopefully lead to needed changes
in our federal policy
Want these youth to be treated as “our” children
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p
hp?storyId=125594259