Vol. 12, No. 1• November 2007
Report Finds Increase in Teens "Aging Out" of Foster Care without a Permanent Family
A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative reveals that although the total number of children in foster care nationally has been decreasing, the number of youth who leave foster care because of their age has been increasing. In 2005, more than 24,000 youth left foster care at the age of 18 without a family of their own. This is a 41% increase since 1998.
On average, those who age out of foster care will have spent nearly five years in the system at the time they “emancipate” without ever having been placed with a safe, permanent family of their own. In total, more than 165,000 youth aged out of the system between 1998 and 2005.
The report, Time for Reform: Aging Out and On Their Own, includes information from all 50 states. According to the report, 7.5% of the children who left foster care in North Carolina in 2004 did so by aging out.
Some youth aging out of foster care face a grim future. Researchers have found that:
- One in four will be incarcerated within the first two years after they leave the system.
- Over one-fifth will become homeless at some time after age 18.
- Approximately 58% had a high school degree at age 19, compared to 87% of a national comparison group of non-foster youth.
- Of youth who aged out of foster care and are over the age of 25, less than 3% earned their college degrees, compared with 28% of the general population.
To read Time for Reform, go to <http://www.jimcaseyyouth.org/docs/ageout_report.pdf>
Copyright � 2007 Jordan Institute for Families
