Aging Out Outcomes
Studies consistently document poor outcomes for young people who age out of foster care without the benefit of a permanent family.
Casey Family Services, the former direct services agency of the Foundation, transformed its foster care practice approach to focus on securing permanent, loving families for these children and youth. This evolved into the Lifelong Families (LF) model. This Implementation Manual is the culmination of seven years of program design, practice model development, service delivery and evaluation. Each of the LF model’s five components is discussed in depth and includes definitions, activities, checklists, case worker competencies and youth case studies.
The first part of the Replication Manual reviews the research and literature that focus on youth permanence, provides the foundations of Casey Family Services’ permanency practice, and introduces the principles and components of the Lifelong Families model. The second part of the manual describes in detail each component of the Lifelong Families practice model and the specific set of activities involved in each, including teaming, case management, permanency preparation, family identification and engagement, and support planning.