Aging out : preparing youth for life after foster care in Massachusetts

Abstract

Each year, twenty thousand youth are emancipated from our nation's foster care system with insufficient preparation for the responsibilities and realities that await them, and little or no support from family or government. Youth aging out of foster care at 18 experience significantly higher rates of homelessness, incarceration, incomplete education, unemployment, and substance abuse. Outcomes are bleak both in Massachusetts and nationally. This thesis studies the foster care system and the resources, programs and policies surrounding the transition from care in light of their implications for aging out. It posits that these elements surrounding the transition from care do not adequately address the needs of most youth in foster care. The incentive system and allocation of resources is geared to meet the needs of the youth who are in the best position to take advantage of these resources rather than those most in need of them. It is argued that the foster care system's singular pursuit of permanency through reunification and subsequently through adoption or independent living can come at the cost of providing the stability required for successful youth development. Additionally, the educational requirements tied to accessing transition services work to the disadvantage of many of the system's neediest youth. Further, the system does not demonstrate the value of education to foster youth until they are ready old enough to leave. At that point, it becomes a requirement for youth to stay in the system.