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Julia Jue

Writing 39C

Professor Broadbent

24 May 2018

Advocacy Project: Aging out of the Foster Care System

Background:

Thousands of kids are having to leave behind the life they knew and having to live on

their own without assistance. By having financial incentives to promote adoption, it would

decrease the amount of children aging out of the foster care system. Once foster kids turn 18

they have to leave the foster care system; as they age out of the foster care system, they lack

the skills that kids their age should know in order to be successful in life. Since people “haven’t

been prepared for the aging out process, suddenly that security blanket is gone” (Getz). Aging

out of the foster care system is a problem that needs to be addressed because the government

doesn’t help these kids when they age out so they have to make their own decisions of what

they think is best for them. They have to use the skills that they learned from the foster care

system to provide for themselves financially and physically.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are

“approximately 29,500 youth, ages 18 and older, [who] transition out of foster care with limited

independent living skills and without a permanent family—all critical factors to a successful

transition into adulthood” (Torrico). Living without a family or even a person to help guide them

throughout this transition is difficult because they only have themselves to rely on. The causes

of aging out of the foster care system is the result of legislation of 18 being the age where kids

have to leave the foster care system to live on their own. Another cause of this problem is that

the foster care system may not prioritize the need of preparing the older kids for the transition
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into adulthood; when these foster kids have to leave, they may not know what to do with their

life once they’re living on their own.

Financial reasons could be barriers from solving this problem because it may be too

expensive to provide for a foster kid. Another obstacle that arises from this problem is the

societal stigma that may be associated with foster kids and the background that they’re from;

the societal stigma could influence them from getting a job or from having relationships that

could help them in their transition to adulthood. Relating these two obstacles, those who are

aging out of the foster care system need to provide financially for themselves but it may be

difficult for them to do this because certain jobs or companies may prefer their candidates to

have certain skills but these kids may not be equipped with those skills.

Solutions:

The Chafee Act has made an impact on the problem of aging out and has made “a

pivotal step on behalf of youth living in poverty” (Atkinson). Their goals are to provide funds for

housing, education and Medicaid until they’re 21 for those who are transitioning to foster care to

independent living (McFarlane). This act has prepared foster care children with the abilities they

need as they take high school or college classes. Gravitating toward those who are aging out,

this act provides personal and emotional support to help them make a smooth transition into

adulthood.

The McKinney-Vento Act provides transportation for homeless kids to school and

“allow[s] youths to have continuous education in spite of instability in their living situations”; by

providing this opportunity, it gives those who aged out of the foster care system a chance to

learn skills that they need to know to survive. Another important act is the Foster Care

Continuing Opportunities Act which provides foster care support up to 21, depending on the

“When youth in foster care are able to form close and trusting
relationships with caring adults . . . who act as gatekeepers for their
futures, they can be effectively buffered from the stresses and
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disorder of their own families and the disruption of shifting foster care
arrangements.”

state (Smith). By extending the age to 21, it will be able to provide them more time to equip for

the transition to adulthood.

Throughout this stage in their life, social support is crucial in making a smooth transition

into adulthood; whether it’s social workers, therapists or foster parents, social support allows

foster kids to talk openly to someone who can help get them through their problems and ask for

guidance. Getz’s “research shows that the most important predictor of success...is

relationships”; the lack of social support is a factor that could leave foster kids “psychologically

homeless” because they may encounter a problem in their journey and they would not have

anyone to go to nor would they know what to do in that moment (4).

One of the most influential federal incentives was the Fostering Connections to Success

and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. This organization “creates opportunities for states to

support the permanency and well-being of older youth in foster care through new support and

services” (Torrico). One of the many accomplishments that this organization has achieved is

extending the adoption incentive payment program to “increase incentive payments for… older

child adoptions” (1). A program that has risen from this organization is extending the

Independent Living Program (ILP) which extends the eligibility for educational resources for

foster kids to learn life skills by providing $5,000 a year per youth to pursue secondary

education.

Subsidies provide assistance to families to help lower the cost as they adopt a child who

has been in foster care. Hansen uses data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and

Reporting System to discover how subsidies affect adoption rates. Many studies show that

subsidies for adoption is an influential factor for those thinking about adopting a foster child;

according to a survey of prospective adoptive parents, “81 percent reported that the availability
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of subsidy was important to their decision to adopt, and 58 percent said they could not adopt

without a subsidy” (Smith).

Solution:

Adoption is a way for individuals

to start a family; not only would it benefit

those wanting to expand their family but it

could help those who are in the foster

care system that are seeking for a family.

By providing incentives to promote

adoption, it would help solve the problem of aging out of childhood; adoption is also associated

with having better education and better psychological outcomes for children in comparison to

those who stay in foster care long term (Hansen). According to Hansen, “⅓ of US adults have

considered adoption but it hasn’t met more than 40% of the need” of those who are aging out of

the foster care system without a family”. The Adoption Incentive Program is decreasing the

number of children waiting in foster care because it has allowed more than 440,000 adoptions

from foster care throughout the United States; with this program, state financial bonuses are

provided with more than $211 million in adoption incentive funds (Smith).

Another resource is state adoption assistance which provides medical assistance for

those that don’t have a ‘medical home’; this assistance covers the cost if one has medical needs

that isn't covered by a family’s health insurance; these services include therapy or rehabilitation

services they may need to get better (CHILD WELFARE INFO, Getz). Lastly, another influential

federal program was the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) which provides

funding for post adoption and allows states to earn bonuses for the increase of adoptions from

foster care (Hansen).

A benefit from providing subsidies is that it’d encourage more families to adopt children

from foster care, which would reduce the amount of children aging out of the foster care system.

The children who are adopted get a chance to

become a part of a family; “being part of a family

means ‘you have support and help in everything

that you do. Having a family means that someone

is there to care about you no matter what

happens, and that is truly one of the best things’”

(Smith). Having parents that are empathetic and

understanding their children creates a bond of trust; parents that exemplify these traits make a

difference in the lives of foster children because they set examples of how kids should be loved

and be reminded that they are important. “Many of those children’s lives may be forever

affected..as a by-product of [parent’s] intervention” (Stone). In addition to having a family, they

would be able to live a house that they could call home. In the foster care system, when children

moved from house to house, they may have felt a like they are “expected to conform to adult

value systems, accentuat[ing] the distress of being separated from their known world. It’s one

more way to feel you don’t belong” (Stone). The role of social workers provides a home that

they seem fit for the child and they specifically place the child where they know that they’ll be

well taken care of (Hansen). “A child’s first placement is often whichever home has an empty

bed, which may not be the best placement for the child because it was chosen for availability

rather than the child’s unique needs” (Stone).

The Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008

ensures educational stability of a child when they’re in foster care (2). By having a stable house,

they’ll be able to have an education where they wouldn’t have to keep switching schools;

according to Torrico, as students change school, “students can lose four to six months of

academic programs” (Torrico). With the help of the ___, kids “who have attained the minimum
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age for mandatory school attendance under state law” would be able to have a community

where there are people their own age and they’ll be able to learn more from the education

system (1).

The other solutions addressed the problem of education, homelessness, social support

and having more time to grow as a person. Although these

solutions are important, I think that having financial incentives to

promote adoption is the most impactful solution because it

encompasses all of these solutions in one. For example, the

Chafee Act prepares foster kids for high school and college

classes but if a foster child got adopted, then they’d be able to

go to a school where they could go to and not Dhave to worry

about switching schools. Also, the solution of having social

support and the McKinney Vento Act is a helpful solution but if a

foster kid was to get adopted then they would be able to live in

a house surrounded by a family that cares for them. Lastly, changing the law to 21 would give

more time for foster kids to prepare for aging out, but if they were adopted, then they would be

able to have a healthy life and would be able to spend the life they have to grow as a person

with a loving community beside them.

A weakness that could arise from this problem is where this money would come from.

Again, the issue of money is a barrier that inhibits people from overcoming their problems. By

providing subsidies and funding those who adopt children from foster care may bring about the

problem of not being able to afford paying for a foster child but there are many legislations that

support the adoption of foster kids. In comparison to other solutions, the legislation of aging out

by the age of 21 wouldn’t cost a lot but it may not be as big of an incentive to adopt these foster

children since they’d be older. Providing financial incentives would convince more families to

adopt from the foster care system because they would be getting assistance from the
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government and they’ll know that they are making a difference in the life of a child who could

have had a completely different life if they weren’t adopted.

Conclusion:

The problem of aging out of the foster care system is a problem that needs to be

addressed and by providing subsidies to encourage adoption, I think that it’ll decrease the

amount of kids who are aging out. By having a family and a sense of belonging, it would change

how these foster kids view their life and it could change their mentality that there are people in

this world that could make a difference in someone’s life with just one action; by learning from

their guardian’s actions, they could display that love to other foster kids when they’re older.

There are many legislations that support financial incentives and how it could benefit those in

the foster care system; even though providing subsidies may bring about financial problems, it

will still be able to benefit the community and to those who have aged out.