National Association of Social Workers

Support Grows for Youth Who 'Age Out'

Transition From Foster Care to Adulthood Eased

Statistics reveal startling facts about this vulnerable group of young people.

By Paul R. Pace, News Staff

Illustration: John Michael Yanson

Most people understand that foster care is a way to help children whose parents are, for various reasons, incapable of raising them. But not as widely known is that some of these young people eventually "age out" of the foster care system that was set up to help them. For many in this situation, their 18th birthdays signify not an exciting step into adulthood, but a fearful journey into the unknown.

Statistics reveal startling facts about this vulnerable group of young people, who number about 100,000 a year. Two years after being discharged from foster care, up to 45 percent of them will experience homelessness, half will be unemployed, and fewer than half will have a high school diploma. Those who have aged out of foster care are three times more likely than the general population to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Positive changes are taking place, however. In the past several years, some states have passed laws that raise the foster care emancipation age from 18 to 21. Also, there are programs specializing in assisting youth who have aged out.

Elizabeth Brown is a licensed clinical social worker who has spent years working in administration for at-risk youth in South Florida and Los Angeles. While at the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, she supervised the care of more than 100 foster youth.

Brown noted that while she worked in Los Angeles, around 1,000 youth a year aged out of the foster care system. Luckily, there were programs in place to help. But Brown found that was not the case everywhere.

When she moved back to her hometown of Palm Beach County, Fla., she discovered there were 50 to 70 young people there who age out of the foster care system per year with no help in starting life on their own.

"If these kids were growing up in the foster system, on average, they've been staying at from five to 10 different homes — and then they're alone at 18," Brown said. "It disturbed me from a public policy point of view. I wanted to create a program that addressed that."

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From May 2007 NASW News. © 2007 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.