A New Approach to Help Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
Each year, more than 23,000 children age out of foster care when they turn 18 or, for those who live in states that offer extended time in care, as late as 21.1 These children were unable to reunite with their biological parents and were never adopted by another family.
The state has an obligation to help these children find a safe, stable, and loving family. But many of them will leave foster care with little more than a trash bag full of clothes and their name on a housing waiting list. This paper encourages federal and state policymakers to recognize their role as surrogate parents to the teens and young adults in our nation’s foster system and provide them a modest, publicly funded spending account as they age out and are forced to step out
into the world without a family to love, support, and guide them.
Children aging out of foster care enter adulthood with few of the safety nets typical teenagers may take for granted. These young adults often don’t have grandparents to give them a used car or a savvy cousin to help them navigate the college admissions process. Most importantly, children who age out typically do not have parents willing or able to help them financially when the rent is due, the refrigerator is empty, or the cell phone company threatens to shut off service.
More than 23,000 children age out of foster care each year.