Young individuals who have been released from foster care generally cope higher – when it comes to work, school and relationships – once they receive ongoing support from adults who care about them during their teenage years.
My research team arrived at these findings by interviewing 21 people who find themselves now of their late 20s and who were released from foster care at age 18, who had hung out in foster care as children, or who grew up in families where there have been energetic child protection cases.
These young adults reported the extent to which they received support from their relatives, friends, foster parents, social employees, mentors, teachers, and coaches. They described that help got here in lots of forms – protected places to remain, someone to hearken to them once they vented, someone to open doors for them, or someone to easily make them feel cared for ultimately.
All of the people we interviewed were relatively successful in life on the age of 18, as that they had neither major mental health problems nor drug problems. We wanted to seek out out what aspects contributed to their success.
“My grandmother was the key to my success to this day,” said one in all the people we interviewed. “I think she gave me routine. … That's what has helped me to this day.”
“I feel like the teachers were really good at being understanding and open-minded towards children from different backgrounds,” explained one other, “for example, children who grew up in rough conditions or were not raised by their parents or did not have certain resources that other children had.”
Why it’s important
Every 12 months, about 600,000 children spend a while in foster care, and about 23,000 of them leave the system because of their age as soon as they reach their 18th birthday.
Young adults who leave foster care undergo two transitions. Like everyone else their age, they develop into adults. But unlike most of their peers, additionally they have to start out standing on their very own two feet.
You experience more often Poverty, unemployment, homelessness And Imprisonment than other Americans their age.
Unlike young adults who’ve stable relationships with their parents or other guardians, young adults who leave foster care often need to attempt to learn basic skills on their very own, reminiscent of opening a checking account, constructing a resume, applying for a job, or working through financial aid forms for faculty. People who leave foster care are also less more likely to graduate from highschool.
What's next
My team desires to learn more about what sorts of services help young people transition out of foster care. For an upcoming study, we surveyed a bigger sample of young adults in addition to staff from programs that serve this community.
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