Special Topics
"Aging Out: What Happens When You've Grown Up in Foster Care and Suddenly You're on Your Own?"

Aging Out Resources

Martha Shirk and Gary Stangler, On Their Own: What Happens to Kids When They Age Out of the Foster Care System. Available August 2004 at one bookstore, or another bookstore.
Kids Count 2004 , special issue devoted to youth in Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Assessing the Effects of Foster Care: Early Results from the Casey National Alumni Study, 2004. Available from Casey Family Programs.
Three-State Study of Foster Care Outcomes. Available from Chapin Hall Center for Children.

fyi3.com stands for youth who are Involved, Informed, and Independent. It's a comprehensive, youth-oriented site with information, advice, and interactive features for young people leaving foster care. The site includes a useful glossary of foster care terms.
Youth Communication is the publisher of Represent, a monthly magazine for youth in care that is written and edited by youth. Each issue covers issues that youth in care deal with all the time, like mental health, money woes, jobs, and navigating the foster care system.
The Mockingbird Society is an independent, non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the safety, quality of life, and future of the children and adolescents living in the foster care/group home system nationwide. They publish The Mockingbird Times, a newspaper written by youth in care.
The National Foster Youth Advisory Council (NFYAC) is a diverse national group of current and former foster youth and adult supporters from several states who have had direct experience with the child welfare systems. The council's purpose is to provide a voice for and make a difference in the lives of youth currently in care and to support their successful transitions into adulthood.