Story summary:
What dreams do we have for our children? What future do we seek to chart for them? What supports do we endeavor to give them as they transition into adulthood? When we address these straightforward questions for our own children, all of the complexities of reforming the nation's beleaguered foster care system disappear. The answers are self-evident. We want our children to have a good education, a stable, loving environment, and the opportunity to grow into healthy young adults. Our nation's foster children deserve no less.
What dreams do we have for our children? What future do we seek to chart for them? What supports do we endeavor to give them as they transition into adulthood?
When we address these straightforward questions for our own children, all of the complexities of reforming the nation's beleaguered foster care system disappear. The answers are self-evident. We want our children to have a good education, a stable, loving environment, and the opportunity to grow into healthy young adults.
Our nation's foster children deserve no less.
While millions of Americans obsess about gas prices, baseball rankings, or the latest celebrity scandal, our most vulnerable children have taken a back seat. Fortunately, there is still time for Congress to take action on pending legislation and make a real difference in the lives of America's foster youth - by extending foster care support to age 21.
Every year, more than 24,000 young Americans "age out" from the foster care system when they turn 18 and are no longer eligible for assistance. Without the anchor of a family, foster youth do not fare well as young adults, disproportionately joining the ranks of the homeless, incarcerated and unemployed.
Supporting foster youth until age 21 isn't just compassionate, it makes sense. A recent study compared outcomes for youth who remained in foster care past age 18 with those who left on their 18th birthday. The results were conclusive; youth who are allowed to remain in foster care beyond age 18 were:
-- Two times more likely to be working toward completion of a high school diploma.
-- Three times more likely to be in college.
-- More likely to be insured and have better mental health.
-- Far less likely to be victims or perpetrators of crime and violence.
Extending foster care support until age 21 also prevents crime and reduces the costs of law enforcement, including the expense of incarceration. A 2007 study from the University of Chicago concluded that former foster youth are 10 times more likely to be arrested than youth of the same age, race and sex.