As older youth in foster care approach age 18, child welfare agencies must connect them with supportive, permanent adult caregivers and family or prepare them to transition to adult independence. New federal data confirm that extended foster care after age 18 improves young people’s outcomes. Independent living services available before and after exit also can support and sustain a young person’s success. Too few older youth are receiving either type of support. More than half of older youth in foster care are aging out without the anchor of family relationships, resources and opportunities necessary to ensure they thrive.
A new standard of transitional care — one that provides comprehensive, concrete and relational support to every young person who has experienced foster care — is needed. Services such as mentoring, financial literacy, workforce development and educational guidance should not depend on a young person’s pathway out of foster care, placement status or legal designation.
Extended foster care services for young people beyond age 18 should be more consistently and fully integrated or aligned with state and federally funded programs and services that prepare young people for success and self-sufficiency, whether they will later live independently or in adoption, reunification or guardianship relationships.
Foster care data from federal sources enables a comparison of outcomes between 19-year-olds in extended foster care and 19-year-olds who were not in extended care. This comparison indicates that 19-year-olds in extended care were:
Even young people who spent a short time in extended foster care reported stronger outcomes relative to those who spent no time in care after age 18.
These findings point to a clear opportunity: The availability and types of support that boost outcomes for youth in extended foster care and put them on a path to independence could also improve outcomes for eligible young people who are on permanency pathways to adoption, reunification and guardianship.
Greater alignment and consistency in transitional care opportunities is needed so all older youth in foster care can succeed as they transition to adulthood. Also, states must do more to reduce barriers to extended foster care: They can do more to ensure older youth are aware of and receive appropriate extended care and independent living services.
While utilization of extended foster care has increased nationally (44%), participation rates vary widely from state to state. Among the states reporting data, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Dakota have the lowest participation rates at 6% while Maryland and the District of Columbia have the highest participation rates at 87%. Six states — Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming — did not report data on young people remained in extended care at age 18.
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