Closing the Crossover Gap: Amending Fostering Connections to Provide Independent Living Services for Foster Youth Who Crossover to the Justice System

Abstract

In the last three decades, Congress has enacted a series of amendments to the Social Security Act to address the growing number of youth who “age out” of the foster care system. The most recent and, arguably, the most notable of these programs was The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (“Fostering Connections”). Fostering Connections provides funding for states to extend federally supported foster care services to youth beyond their eighteenth birthdays. The Act also requires state agencies to work with each emancipating youth to write a personalized and comprehensive plan for his or her transition to independent living. While this is a huge achievement for the aging‐out population, the language of legislation excludes many foster youth who are arrested and committed to a detention facility. Current legislation dose not ensure that independent living services and opportunities for support under Fostering Connections are extended to foster youth who crossover to the justice system. This Note proposes that the Fostering Connections to Success Act be amended to require that states provide for continuous and coordinated independent living services when a youth in foster care enters the justice system. These services must include ongoing access to contact with child welfare professionals, family members, and mentors who may help the youth to draft a detailed independent living plan. Key Points for the Family Court Community: Foster youth who commit crimes and transition to the justice system are at risk of losing access to independent living planning opportunities and support services that are available for their peers in foster care. A substantial body of research has demonstrated that there is a very strong connection between child maltreatment and delinquency, yet few jurisdictions have taken the steps to remedy information sharing and communication gaps between child welfare systems and juvenile delinquency systems. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 provides many benefits for foster youth who emancipate from the welfare system, yet older foster youth who crossover to the juvenile justice system may be excluded from the receipt of these benefits. While Fostering Connections funding is available for foster youth who live in a variety of settings, the language of the statute excludes youth placed in facilities operated for juvenile delinquents. This may prohibit many former foster youth from accessing opportunities that are specifically designed to assist them with the difficult transition to adulthood.