Continuing in Foster Care Beyond Age 18: How Courts Can Help

Summary

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services asked Chapin Hall Center to take a hard look at why some kids stay in foster care after turning 18 and other eligible youth don’t. This issue brief shares the center’s findings and gives public child welfare agencies clear recommendations on raising retention rates in extended care.

Table of Contents

• Why Some Youth Leave Care and Others Do Not
• Perceptions Matter — Awareness and Understanding of the Available Options for Keeping Youth in Care
• Availability of Placements and Other Services
• The Adult Connection: The Importance of Adult Involvement and Engagement
• Grown-Up or Not? Attitudes about Adulthood and Continuing Care
• The Meaning and Importance of Court Advocacy
• The Future of Advocacy
• What Agencies Can Do

Key Takeaway

Chapin Hall’s mission: Identify what influences foster youth to stay in care — or leave it — once they turn 18

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has 4 administrative regions, which vary considerably in terms of the proportion of kids who participate in extended foster care. For example: In the state’s Cook County region, 81% of youth stay in care beyond 18. In its Southern region, retention rates drop to just 37%. The question that Chapin Hall set out to answer is why?