SALT LAKE CITY — There are programs, initiatives and funding strategies all intended to help teenagers aging out of foster care make successful transitions into young adulthood.
But what works best for youths is creating positive permanent connections that help them succeed, says Jennifer Larson, director of out of home programs and practice improvement for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
"When we’ve been able to introduce and make those connections, young adults do better," Larson said Monday.
Teens who are not adopted and age out of the foster care system lack networks of support that youths raised by their own families may take for granted. When they age out of care, former foster children are at greater risk for homelessness, pregnancy, dropping out of school, unemployment and committing crimes.
That's where Utah's Transition to Adult Living program comes in.
"Between the ages of 18 and 21, what Utah is really trying to do is have that youth be at a place where they have the permanent connections that are necessary for lifelong success," Larson said.
That means they have an "educational foundation" that helps them succeed in higher education or technical education programs. Scholarships and other educational assistance resources are available such as the Olene S. Walker Transition to Adult Living Scholarship.
"They have to be able to support themselves. That they’re employed, that they have the necessary skill set that employers are looking for, that they are able to have and maintain jobs," Larson said. "Hopefully it’s one that will be able to meet their financial needs instead of being under employed or unemployed."
They also require safe, stable and secure housing and "they have the support network so there is concrete support in times of need as well as social networks with peers that are positive to support their housing."
Youths leaving foster care also need strong daily living skills such as the ability to manage their time, finances and the ability to access medical and mental health care.
Utah is one of more than 20 states that provide programs to help teens in foster care make successful transitions to young adulthood.
Under the Foster Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, a federal law enacted in 2008, states can now extend foster care benefits to youths up to age 21 and receive federal funding for it.
So far, 21 states have expanded benefits with federal support for youths up to age 21, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Indiana has extended foster care up to age 20. Utah, Florida, Wisconsin and Delaware have their own transition programs funded with state dollars.
States have a vested interest in providing care to the approximately 26,000 foster kids who age out of the system each year. Research shows that young adults without a permanent family fare far worse than other youth. More than 1 in 5 end up homeless after age 18, while 1 in 4 become involved in the justice system within two years of leaving foster care. Fifty-eight percent of foster youths will graduate high school by age 19, compared with 87 percent of all 19-year-olds.
Less than 2 percent will graduate college by age 25. Seventy-one percent of young women become pregnant before they turn 21, according to the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a St. Louis-based foundation. Each cohort of young people leaving foster care costs society an additional $8 billion in welfare, Medicaid, lost wages and incarceration costs compared to people of the same age who were not in foster care, according to the Jim Casey initiative.
States still are working on programs, but federal law includes certain requirements for staying in foster care past age 18. Young adults who do so must be completing high school or in GED program; be enrolled part time or full time in a university, or college or vocational school; participating in a job training program; employed at least 80 hours a month or have a documented medical condition that prevents them from working or attending school.
States that receive federal money are required to track the progress of each foster youth receiving services, or pay a penalty.
It’s too soon to measure the success of extended foster care. State efforts are “a work in progress,” according to Amy Dworsky, a research fellow at Chapin Hall, a research and policy center at the University of Chicago that focuses on child welfare issues.
But indications are that investing in extended foster care can have good results.
For nearly 30 years, older youths in Illinois had the option of remaining in foster care, years before other states picked up on the trend, with the state paying for it.
In 2002, Dworsky and other researchers at Chapin Hall began tracking the outcome of kids with extended care in Illinois compared to those who didn’t have it Iowa and Wisconsin. The study, dubbed the “Midwest Study,” found that foster youths who stayed in the system until age 21 had much better outcomes and were twice as likely to pursue post-secondary school education. Dworsky was a co-investigator on the study which was started by Mark Courtney, principal investigator in 2002.
Utah's Division of Child and Family Services 2013 annual report showed Utah youths are making progress in completing high school and entering post-secondary education or vocational training.
By age 19, 87 percent reported they had made a positive connection with an adult who was not their case worker, the report said.
Meanwhile, 46 percent of 19-year-olds said they either had part-time or full-time employment, according to outcomes gleaned from the the results of the National Youth Transition Database survey completed by 142 Utah youth.
"Can we do better? Absolutely. We still have youth that end up homeless. We still have youth who are unemployed or underemployed. We still have youth who become young parents, pregnant young adults out of wedlock. We still have youth that are incarcerated. We still have youth that die because of what's happened," Larson said. "We still have those issues but I think we’ve come a long way the last 10 to 15 years."
Part of the reason is that there is more extensive national research about what happens to youth as they age out of care such as the "Midwest Study," Larson said.
"We understand the need for permanent connections for young people. That is the critical component whether or not a youth is going to be successful."
Contributing:Stateline.org(TNS)
Email: marjorie@deseretnews.com