Absolutely! Research tells us that young adults who age out of foster care at age 18 face more obstacles than their peers who have not experienced foster care. Staying in foster care can help them overcome these challenges as they transition to independent adulthood.
Why Stay in Foster Care Past Age 18?
Studies show that, compared to youth who age out at 18, young adults who remain in foster care are much more likely to have a positive housing, employment, and education status. They are also less likely to experience economic hardship, food insecurity, homelessness, psychiatric hospitalization, and criminal justice system involvement.
Findings like these inspired Congress to pass the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351), a law that gave states and tribes the option to provide title IV-E foster care payments to youth up to age 21 if those youth meet certain education, training, or work requirements.
NC’s Foster Care 18 -21 Program
Our state’s extended foster care program is called Foster Care 18-21. No matter what county they live in, if a youth turns 18 while they are in foster care in North Carolina, they have the option to enter this program.
The goals of Foster Care 18-21 are an extension of the outcomes sought by NC LINKS. The program seeks to ensure every enrolled young adult experiences permanence, stable housing, educational success, economic security, pregnancy prevention support and parenting support, normalcy, and health and well-being support.
Foster Care 18-21 program services and ben- efits include Medicaid coverage, educational grants or scholarships for attending a public community college or university in North Carolina, access to LINKS services, and ongoing case work that includes:
• a Transitional Living Plan;
• monthly contacts between the young adult and their worker;
• quarterly assessments of the young adult’s home; and
• assistance with annual credit checks.
The program also provides placement in a home approved by the county child welfare agency. The placement can be a licensed foster home, college or university dormitory, or an approved semi-supervised housing arrangement. Please note that all placements must be approved by the agency director.
Foster Care 18-21 placements are supported by monthly payments at the standard foster care board rate. Payments may be made to a foster parent, placement agency, relative, or host family. They may also go directly to the young adult if it is in their best interest, financial management is a goal on their Transitional Living Plan, and the county works closely with them on budgeting.
Enrolling
If a young person is in foster care on their 18th birthday, they can enroll at that time or at any time before they turn 21. They can even leave the program and re-enroll, as long as they are not yet 21.
Young adults who live in a county other than the one where they were in foster care as a minor can contact either county to request enrollment. The county the young adult contacts must initiate Foster Care 18 to 21 services by entering into a Voluntary Placement Agreement with the young adult.
If an enrolled young adult moves from one North Carolina county to another, their case can be transferred to their new county, if it is in the adult’s interest and the counties involved agree with the transfer. Eligible young adults must never be denied or wait for Foster Care 18-21 program services during collaboration between counties or for other reasons that are not associated with eligibility.
Young adults in Foster Care 18-21 can even live out of state. In these situations, the agency providing Foster Care 18-21 services must follow ICPC regulations and contact their state ICPC consultant to determine if the receiving state will provide supervision and services.
Young adults are eligible for Foster Care 18 to 21 if they meet the following criteria:
- In foster care on their 18th birthday, and
- Age 18 or older but not yet 21, and
- Meets one of the following criteria:
- Completing secondary education or a program leading to an equivalent credential; or
- Enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary or vocational education; or
- Participating in a program or activity designed to promote employment or remove barriers to employment; or
- Employed for at least 80 hours per month; or
- Incapable of completing the educational or employment requirements due to a medical condition or disability.
Eligibility determinations are based solely on the young adult without regard to their parents, legal guardians, or others in the home from which the young adult was removed as a child, or any parent or relatives with whom the young adult currently resides.
