Aging out of foster care

Abstract

In the United States, as in many other countries, the primary goal for children who enter foster care is a permanent home. Children can achieve permanency through reunification with the family from which they were removed, adoption by a new family, or placement with a legal guardian. Although most children who enter care achieve permanency, some remain in foster care until they “age out,” generally between their eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays, depending on the state in which they live. For young people who age out of care, the transition to adulthood is not an easy one. No longer able to count on the state for continuing support, yet unable to turn to their parents or other family members for financial and/or emotional support, these young people often find themselves having to make the transition to adulthood largely on their own. Federal child welfare policy to address the needs of youth aging out of foster care has evolved since the Title IV-E Independent Living Program was created in 1985 to provide states with funding to prepare youth in foster care for the transition to adulthood. Three major pieces of federal legislation enacted over the past two decades have gradually expanded the supports available to this population. The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 established the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (renamed the Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood), the primary source of federal funding for independent living services. The law mandated the development of the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) to collect data on the provision of independent living services in fourteen domains, the characteristics of youth who receive those services, and the outcomes from youth at ages 17, 19, and 21 beginning in FY 2011. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 granted states the option of extending the age of eligibility for federally funded foster care from 18 to 21. To qualify for extended federal foster care, young people must meet certain eligibility requirements. As of 2020, a majority of states, several tribal nations, and the District of Columbia have extended eligibility for federally funded foster care. Most recently, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 allows states to extend eligibility for Chafee-funded services to age 23. This evolution in federal policy reflects advancements in our understanding of normative development, growing knowledge about the complex challenges young people face during the transition to adulthood, changing attitudes about the state’s responsibilities as corporate parent, and empirical evidence of the benefits of allowing young people to remain in care beyond age 18.