UCP AffNet Entrance
Parenting & Families
Isabelle’s Kids
Youth Aging Out/Transitioning Out of Foster Care
Click on the links below to find publications and organizations regarding addressing the needs of children with disabilities as they transition or age out of the foster care system.
PUBLICATIONS
18 and out: Life after foster care in MassachusettsMassachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 2005
This paper focuses on the many issues faced by youth who age out of the foster care system, and makes specific recommendations regarding strategies to best assist this population that focus on permanency, custody, health, education, employment, housing, and data sharing.
Aging out of the foster care system: Challenges and opportunities for the state of MichiganGary R. Anderson, 2003
This report includes information about the outcomes of youth who transition out of foster care, a review of the literature on foster care transition, a state-by-state comparison of programs for this population, the perspectives of foster care alumni, an overview of the federal legislation, and recommendations for improving services for this population.
A special report on foster teens in transition: Fostered or forgotten?Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2001
This series of articles focus on the issues facing youth as they age out of the foster care system, and reviews programs designed to improve the independent living skills of these youth. This series includes stories of individual youth who have aged out of the foster care system and recommendations to ensure more successful outcomes for this population.
Can they make it on their own? Aging out of the foster care system: A report on New York City’s Independent Living ProgramCitizens’ Committee for Children of New York, 2000
This report offers an assessment of New York City foster care agencies’ interpretation of state and city independent living regulations, and makes recommendations for change, focusing on the expansion of independent living programs and skills; securing permanent housing, employment, and health insurance coverage; graduating from high school; and the importance of permanency in the lives of children who age out of the system.
Connected by 25: A plan for investing in successful futures for foster youthMichael Wald and Tia Martinez, 2000
This report discusses ways to improve the outcomes of youth who transition out of the foster care system. It identifies those groups of youth that are at greatest risk of long-term disconnection, and makes policy recommendations to target each of those groups.
Dependent youth aging out of foster care: A guide for judgesJennifer Pokempner and Lourdes Rosado, Juvenile Law Center, 2003
This manual is designed to assist judges and other professionals in Pennsylvania ensure that youth entrusted to state care have the support they need to age out of care as self-sufficient, healthy, and productive adults. It provides an overview of the Federal Foster Care Independence Act, important questions that judges should ask when planning for these youth, and a checklist for youth at permanency hearings.
Dependent youth aging out of foster care in Pennsylvania: A judicial guide, Supplement to A guide to judicial decisions affecting dependent children: A Pennsylvania judicial deskbook, 3rd editionAlisa Field and Nina Chernoff, Juvenile Law Center, 2004
This manual is designed to assist judges and other professionals in Pennsylvania ensure that youth entrusted to state care have the support they need to age out of care as self-sufficient, healthy, and productive adults. It provides the courts, other judicial officers, and those that work within the system with a review of statutory mandates and case law pertinent to the practice of child welfare law in Pennsylvania and guidelines for hearings at various stages of dependency proceedings.
Foster Care: Challenges in helping youths live independentlyUnited States General Accounting Office, 1999
This report discusses the problems faced by foster youth once they leave care, what is currently known about the extent of services provided by Independent Living Programs, and what is known about the effectiveness of different Independent Living Programs.
Fostering Futures Project: Are we ignoring foster youth with disabilities?Fostering Future Project, 2003
This report discusses some of the issues that youth who age out of the foster care system face, such as lack of success in school, social isolation, lack of educational advocacy, and inadequate transition planning, that contribute to negative outcomes later in life.
Fostering Futures Project: Transition planning for foster youth with disabilities: Are we falling short?Fostering Futures Project, 2004
This report offers strategies for professionals as they work on transition planning to ensure that youth with disabilities in the foster care system receive proper services and supports. It discusses the reasons why many current efforts to provide adequate transition planning are falling short, and makes recommendations to address these problems.
Frequently Asked Questions II: About the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence ProgramSusan Badeau, National Foster Care Awareness Project, 2000
This document answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, and provides a specific section on services and supports available for young people with special needs.
Handbook for youth in foster careBy the New York State Office of Children and Family Services
This handbook was written for youth entering foster care for the first time as well as youth already in foster care; it describes their rights and responsibilities while in foster care and what happens as they leave foster care.
It’s my life: A framework for youth transitioning from foster care to successful adulthoodCasey Family Programs, 2001
This guide is designed for child welfare professionals and others responsible for guiding and supporting teens as they prepare for adulthood. It provides an overview of seven key elements that determine a young person’s ability to succeed, and offers ways for young people to be actively involved in their care; social work practice guidelines; ways for youth, caregivers, communities, and agencies to work together; information about policy decisions that affect the lives of young people leaving foster care; and ways to measure outcomes of transition practice.
It’s my life: EmploymentCasey Family Programs, 2004
This guide provides information to help professionals and caregivers support employment prospects for youth transitioning from foster care through the implementation of the following recommendations: start early to develop employability; cultivate interests and skills, and relate them to future employment; promote activities that help young people explore careers; build job-readiness skills; help young people get and keep jobs; and promote work-related education and training after high school.
It’s my life: HousingCasey Family Programs, 2005
This guide provides links to online resources, practical strategies to help young people find, get, and keep housing, and developmentally appropriate strategies for adolescents and young adults to help them start early to build a strong foundation of life skills. It explores housing options and finances and provides information on developing housing connections in the community as they transition from foster care.
It's my life: Postsecondary education and trainingCasey Family Programs, 2006
This guide recommends practical strategies and resources to give youth in foster care the secondary education, academic guidance, and support they need to complete postsecondary education or training.
Options after high school for youth with disabilitiesNational Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities, 1994
This paper provides information for youth and parents on specific disability-related information and resources regarding options after high school.
Policy options for assisting child SSI recipients in transitionDavid Wittenburg and Pamela Loprest, 2003
This paper provides a general overview of the programs and policies that might influence the economic decisions of child SSI recipients including SSI, Medicaid, rehabilitation programs, and education programs, and makes policy suggestions to assist child SSI recipients during times of transition.
Preparing foster adolescents for independent living: A comparison of disabled and non-disabled youthEdmund Mech and Carrie Che-Man Fung, Children and Family Research Center, 1998
This report compares youth with and without disabilities with respect to their preparedness for independent living. It focuses on several indicators, including permanency goals, placement restrictiveness, educational progress, placement changes, and potential for economic independence, and makes recommendations for reform in these areas.
Promising practices: How foster parents can support the successful transition of youth from foster care to self-sufficiencyMarty Zanghi, Amy Detgen, Penelope Jordon, Dorothy Ansell and Michelle Kessler, 2003
This paper identifies best practices to support the efforts of foster parents and agencies that serve adolescents through independent living programs. It includes information about attributes that foster parents possess that allow them to be successful in defining boundaries, advocating for youth, and seeking necessary services.
Promising practices: School to career and postsecondary education for foster care youthWorkforce Strategy Center, 2002
This report identifies current best practices and programs in preparing youth in foster care for career opportunities and economic self-sufficiency. It focuses on program models that can provide the necessary orientation, skills development, and social support to connect foster care youth to postsecondary education and career employment.
Promising Practices: Supporting transition of youth served by the foster care systemYouth Transition Funders Group, 2002
This paper provides policy and practice recommendations in the following areas that impact youth transitioning out of foster care: services and programming, evaluation, data collection and reporting. This paper includes listings of nationwide resources and programs to assist transitioning youth.
On your own without a net: The transition to adulthood for vulnerable populationsD.W. Osgood, E.M. Foster, C. Flanagan and G.R. Ruth, published by the University of Chicago Press, 2005
This book highlights the repercussions of the termination of support for several vulnerable populations of youth, including those transitioning out of foster care, and makes recommendations regarding the issues that must be addressed to improve these young people’s chances of becoming successful adults.
The future for teens in foster care: The impact of foster care on teens and a new philosophy for preparing teens for participating citizenshipYouth Advocacy Center, 2001
This paper discusses the importance of preparing teens in foster care for their future, both academically and educationally, and provides a model for doing so. It makes recommendations for policy and practice to focus greater attention on youth’s future goals and provide them with a means to achieve their long-term goals.
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program: Aftercare servicesNational Resource Center for Youth Services, 2003
This report compiles information from Aftercare programs across the nation that provide effective services to youth transitioning from foster care. It describes the qualities that make these programs effective, and provides suggestions on promising practices based on these programs. It describes the strengths of effective programs as well as the barriers and problems to providing effective services.
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program: Tribal approaches to transitionNational Resource Center for Youth Services, 2004
This report provides information for practitioners who work with tribal youth and is intended to help agencies meet the federal requirements regarding providing services to Indian youth. Examples of programs across the nation that are effectively incorporating the four core principles of youth development, cultural competence, collaboration, and permanent relationships into their programs and practice behaviors are highlighted.
The road to independence: A summary of life skills activitiesCasey Family Services, 2003
This document provides basic principles of life skills that are useful for youth who are transitioning to independence from the foster care system. It lists some of the specific programs and activities across the country that have been developed to increase and enhance the life skills of youth in foster care.
Title IV-E Independent Living Programs: A decade in reviewAdministration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services, 1999
This report describes the array of Independent Living Program services available to youth and highlights trends and service approaches in the areas of educational and vocational training, employment, budgeting, housing, mental health, health care and youth involvement.
Transition for youth with disabilities: A look at state programs, progress, and promising practicesCenter for Workers with Disabilities Task Force on Youth in Transition, 2006
This report highlights innovative and unique state programs regarding the transition to adulthood of youth with disabilities. The report reviews a broad range of practices, from conferences and summits focused on successful transition planning for youth with disabilities, to successful coordination and collaboration models, innovative waiver and demonstration programs, and education and outreach materials. This report includes a discussion about the importance of transition programs and planning in the context of current disability culture and policy.
Transition: A frame of referenceMabrey Whetstone and Philip Browning, 2002
This paper provides information to increase awareness and understanding of the concept and practice of transition as it applies to youth and young adults with disabilities. It examines the definitions of transition services for this population as well as innovative program models that have provided the framework for the implementation of transition services and activities.
Transition and post-secondary outcomes for youth with disabilities: Closing the gaps to post-secondary education and employmentNational Council on Disability, 2000
This report presents an analysis of research on the status of transition, employment, and post-secondary educational outcomes for 14-22 year-old youth and young adults with disabilities over the past 25 years. It identifies successful programs and practices, and presents recommendations for national, state, and local community action.
Uncertain futures: Foster youth in transition to adulthoodE.V. Mech, published by CWLA Press, 2003
This book discusses the challenges facing youth who age out of the foster care system, and provides practical solutions for teaching youth to support themselves before they transition out of care.
Web of failure: The relationship between foster care and homelessnessNan P. Roman and Phyllis Wolfe, National Alliance to End Homelessness, 1995
This report examines the connection between foster care and homelessness and discusses the over-representation of individuals with a foster care history in the homeless population. It discusses some of the characteristics that might cause youth in foster care to be at a higher risk for homelessness, and makes recommendations to decrease those risks.
Youth with disabilities aging out of foster care: Issues and support strategiesKatharine Hill and Pam Stenhjem, 2005
This article addresses the unique needs of foster youth with disabilities and describes best practice approaches in the transition planning process.
Youth who “age out” of foster care: Troubled lives, troubling prospectsRichard Wertheimer, Child Trends, 2002
This report discusses the challenges faced by youth who age out of the foster system, and identifies some of the characteristics of children in foster care that might contribute to their higher likelihood of negative life outcomes after aging out. It makes recommendations for improvements that focus on reducing the number of young adults that age out of foster care each year, and helping young adults who are aging out overcome the difficulties they may face through enhanced supports and services.
ORGANIZATIONS/WEBSITES
Jim Casey Youth Opportunities InitiativeSt. Louis, MO
(314) 863-7003
Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative is a national organization whose mission is to help youth in foster care make successful transitions into adulthood. The Initiative brings together people and resources needed to help youth make the connections they need to education, employment, health care, housing, and supportive personal and community relationships. The website offers useful links to national organizations/agencies and youth-run organizations.
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth DevelopmentTulsa, OK
(918) 660-3700
The University of Oklahoma’s National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development (NCWRCYD) increases the capacity and resources of States and Tribes to effectively help youth in care establish permanent connections and achieve successful transitions to adulthood. The website offers a variety of trainings regarding youth development on a wide range of topics (positive youth development, skill development, youth/adult partnership building, etc.)
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