Resources for Young People in Foster Care

There is no one-size-fits-all for­mu­la for nav­i­gat­ing fos­ter care and adult­hood, but the right infor­ma­tion and expert advice can help.

Below are six online resources, rec­om­mend­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Fam­i­ly Well-Being Strat­e­gy Group, aimed at help­ing fos­ter youth bet­ter under­stand their cir­cum­stances and bet­ter pre­pare for life after care.

Check out…

Every Kid Needs a Fam­i­ly: Advice to My Younger Self
A short video clip fea­tur­ing men and women shar­ing what they learned from their expe­ri­ences in fos­ter care.

The Keys to Your Finan­cial Future
A com­pre­hen­sive — and free — course from the Foun­da­tion’s Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Ini­tia­tive designed to help youth make smarter finan­cial deci­sions post-fos­ter care.

Fos­ter­Club
A nation­al youth net­work that pro­vides tools, train­ing and direct sup­port to young peo­ple in fos­ter care so that they can build a brighter future for them­selves and the fos­ter care sys­tem. See their Hel­pHub with infor­ma­tion on hous­ing, grants, jobs, health­care and more.

Rep­re­sent: The Voice of Youth in Fos­ter Care
A mag­a­zine packed with inspir­ing and infor­ma­tion­al sto­ries penned by youth in fos­ter care.

Safe­lines

• Nation­al Run­away Safe­line (1–800-RUNAWAY): Avail­able 24 hours a day, trained staff or vol­un­teers can lis­ten, help explore options and sup­port youth in stay­ing safe. Youth can get refer­rals to local shel­ters, men­tal health ser­vices, food pantries, free trans­porta­tion and more. The web­site also offers live chat, text, email and a Youth Resource Data­base.
• LGBT Nation­al Youth Talk­line: 800−246−7743: Trained vol­un­teers are avail­able Monday–Saturday (see hours) to lis­ten and pro­vide free, con­fi­den­tial sup­port, infor­ma­tion and local resources through­out the Unit­ed States. Peer sup­port chat options are also available.

CareerOn­eStop 
Offers a range of resources for young peo­ple tran­si­tion­ing out of fos­ter care (and young adults in gen­er­al) on explor­ing careers and obtain­ing job, edu­ca­tion, hous­ing and oth­er support. 

Fos­ter Care Alum­ni of Amer­i­ca
A nation­al non­prof­it asso­ci­a­tion found­ed and led by alum­ni of the fos­ter care sys­tem. It pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for alum­ni to get to know and sup­port one anoth­er, share infor­ma­tion and become an extend­ed fam­i­ly for each oth­er. The asso­ci­a­tion also works to pro­mote pos­i­tive sys­tems change.