Aging Out Increases
In 2005, more than 24,000 youth left foster care at the age of 18 without a family of their own—a 41% increase since 1998.
This report gives a background of foster care issues in need of reform from the kids’ perspective while outlining what policy reforms make sense. Included is a history of child welfare legislation that makes a case for permanency.
A troubling aspect of today’s child welfare system is that thousands of foster care youth are assigned the goals of “emancipation” or “long-term foster care”, not the goal of actually finding them a permanent family. And yet, a permanent family is what research shows they need to become caring kids and responsible adults.