The Need

Over the past decade, the number of youth aging out of foster care has continued to grow. Since 1999, more than 230,000 young people have aged out of foster care¹.  In federal fiscal year 2008, more than 29,000² teenagers aged out of foster care. Many of these young people have not benefited from typical growing-up experiences that teach self-sufficiency skills, nor do they have family and community networks that help them make successful transitions to adulthood. When most young people are discharged from foster care, they are on their own; in most states, this occurs at age 18. As a result, many have difficulty with tasks such as securing housing, finding and keeping a job, taking care of their health, and undertaking educational and training opportunities, and they often end up experiencing financial and legal trouble. 

Data indicate that young people who are transitioning from foster care experience very poor outcomes at a much higher rate than their peers in the general population. For example, youth transitioning from foster care suffer significantly higher rates of incarceration, homelessness, school drop-out, unemployment, unwanted pregnancy, and lack of access to health care. Studies have demonstrated that among youth making the transition:

• more than one in five will become homeless after age 18³;
• merely 58 percent will graduate high school by age 19 (compared to 87 percent nationally)⁴;
• fewer than 3 percent will earn a college degree by age 25 (compared to 28 percent nationally)⁵; and
• one in four will be incarcerated within two years of leaving the system.⁶

¹Freundlich, M. (2010). Chafee plus ten: A vision of the next decade. St. Louis, MO: Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
²www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report16.htm (January 29, 2010)
³Casey Family Programs. (1998). Northwest foster care alumni study. Seattle, WA. p. 37
⁴Courtney, M.E., and Dworsky, A. (2005). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Outcomes at age 19. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children. p. 22
⁵Pecora, P.J., Kessler, R.C., Williams, J., O’Brien, K., Downs, A.C., English, D., White, J., Hiripi, E., White, C.R., Wiggins, T., and Holmes, K. (2005). Improving family foster care: Findings from the Northwest foster care alumni study. Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs. p. 1
⁶Courtney, M.E., Dworsky, A., Terao, S., Bost, N., Cusick, G.R., Keller, T., and Havlicek, J. (2005). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Outcomes at age 19. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children. p. 61