Macro Perspectives on Youths Aging Out of Foster Care

Macro Perspectives on Youths Aging Out of Foster Care PDF Author: Mary Elizabeth Collins
Publisher: N A S W Press
ISBN: 9780871014887
Category : Child welfare
Languages : en
Pages :

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Macro Perspectives on Youths Aging Out of Foster Care

Macro Perspectives on Youths Aging Out of Foster Care PDF Author: Mary Elizabeth Collins
Publisher: N A S W Press
ISBN: 9780871014887
Category : Child welfare
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Handbook of Foster Youth

Handbook of Foster Youth PDF Author: Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351168231
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 533

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Book Description
Currently, there are over 400,000 youth living in foster care in the United States, with over 20,000 aging out of the child welfare system each year. Foster youth are more prone to experience short- and long-term adverse developmental outcomes including diminished academic achievement and career opportunities, poor mental and overall health, financial struggles, homelessness, early sexual intercourse, and substance abuse, many of these outcomes are risk factors for involvement in the juvenile justice system. Despite their challenges, foster youth have numerous strengths and positive assets that carry them through their journeys, helping them to overcome obstacles and build resilience. The Handbook of Foster Youth brings together a prominent group of multidisciplinary experts to provide nuanced insights on the complex dynamics of the foster care system, its impact on youth’s lives, and the roles of institutions and policies in the foster system. It discusses current gaps and future directions as well as recommendations to advance the field. This book provides an opportunity to reflect on the many challenges and strengths of foster youth and the child welfare system, and the combined efforts of caregivers, community volunteers, policy makers, and the professionals and researchers who work with them.

Aging Out of the Foster System

Aging Out of the Foster System PDF Author: Miranda Mosier-Puentes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781032264769
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Aging Out of the Foster System: Youth's Perspectives provides a crucial and important narrative of the lived experiences of young people leaving foster care.

Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care

Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care PDF Author: Philip Mendes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137556390
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 458

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Book Description
This book challenges and revises existing ways of thinking about leaving care policy, practice and research at regional, national and international levels. Bringing together contributors from fifteen countries, it covers a range of topical policy and practice issues within national, international or comparative contexts. These include youth justice, disability, access to higher education, the role of advocacy groups, ethical challenges and cultural factors. In doing so it demonstrates that, whilst young people are universally a vulnerable group, there are vast differences in their experiences of out-of-home care and transitions from care, and their shorter and longer-term outcomes. Equally, there are significant variations between jurisdictions in terms of the legislative, policy and practice supports and opportunities made available to them. This significant edited collection is essential reading for all those who work with young people from care, including social workers, counsellors, and youth and community practitioners, as well as for students and scholars of child welfare.

Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood

Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood PDF Author: Varda R. Mann-Feder
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190672005
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The transition to adulthood is a longer and more complex process than it was just a few decades ago, and a growing number of youth and young adults experience significant challenges in the establishment of an autonomous and independent lifestyle when compared to previous generations. Successful high school graduation followed by employment is no longer the inevitable trajectory for young people, especially in the current socio-economic context where jobs are less accessible and more demanding in terms of specialized skills and higher academic qualifications. Unable to rely on family for emotional and financial support, vulnerable youth, who grow up in substitute care, are especially effected by the lengthening of this transition to adulthood. The dismal outcomes for youth growing up in care are by now well-documented, and more recently, a range of models have been proposed to help advance our understanding of these outcomes and how to forestall them. However, the literature on leaving care has long suffered from the absence of theory that could guide meaningful intervention. In response to this gap, Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood offers a comprehensive overview of the newest contributions to this area in relation to theory, in addition to the Theory of Emerging Adulthood, while also featuring cutting-edge research and best practices that support adjustment across a range of domains for this population. International in scope, this book focuses on bringing together major advances that span the literature on transitioning to adulthood within the care system, offering a unique and important contribution to the field.

Aged Out: How We're Failing Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care

Aged Out: How We're Failing Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care PDF Author: Sixto Cancel
Publisher: Think of Us
ISBN: 0578288001
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Across the country, far too many young people age out of foster care into appalling circumstances. “Aging out” occurs when youth under the state’s custody are still in the foster care system when they reach either the age of majority or the end of extended foster care. Aging out refers to the moment in time when child welfare is no longer legally responsible for the youth, and the system abruptly stops providing services–usually when the youth turns either 18 or 21. Each year, thousands of youth age out of foster care, essentially legal orphans with no legal connection to family or a supportive network. Unfortunately, foster youth who go through the experience of aging out of foster care have statistically poor life prospects. Longitudinal studies across the country show very high rates of homelessness, incarceration, unemployment, and lack of access to health care among youth who aged out of foster care. These outcomes are disproportionately worse for Black, Native, and Brown youth, as well as queer and trans youth. This study is designed to understand the experiences of transition-age youth in their transition out of foster care and investigate: Why do poor outcomes for youth who age out of care persist? What are the current lived experiences of youth who age out of care? In what ways does child welfare continue to fall short for youth who age out of care?

On Their Own

On Their Own PDF Author: Martha Shirk
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786722029
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Each year, as many as 25,000 teenagers "age out" of foster care, usually when they turn eighteen. For years, a government agency had made every important decision for them. Suddenly, they are on their own, with no one to count on. What does it mean to be eighteen and on your own, without the family support and personal connections that most young people rely on? For many youth raised in foster care, it means largely unhappy endings, including sudden homelessness, unemployment, dead-end jobs, loneliness, and despair. On Their Own tells the compelling stories of ten young people whose lives are full of promise, but who face economic and social barriers stemming from the disruptions of foster care. This book calls for action to provide youth in foster care the same opportunities on the road to adulthood that most of our youth take for granted-access to higher education, vocational training, medical care, housing, and relationships within their communities. On Their Own is meant to serve as a clarion call not only to policymakers, but to all Americans who care about the futures of our young people.

"I Took a Break," But Now I Am Back

Author: Rolanda L. Ward
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
Abstract: In part due to extensive research documenting poor outcomes of youth who age out of foster care at age 18, recent policy changes have been implemented that allow public child welfare agencies to extend services to this post-18 population. However, little is known about the experiences of youth who leave and later return for services. Scholarly knowledge is emerging regarding youth who return to their families for support in young adulthood; however, no study to date has documented the experiences of youth who return to child welfare agencies after age 18 for additional assistance. In order to inform this new policy development, this study used 16 qualitative interviews from the Leaving Care in Massachusetts Youth Transition Study to examine the transition experiences of youth who left and later returned to care. The dissertation study utilized grounded theory methods to identify youths' leaving and returning processes, the circumstances and choices that brought youth back to care, and youths' understanding of these circumstances and choices. Three categories of pathways emerged from this study, displaying variability in when and how they left. In addition to these three pathways for leaving care, the study found that relationships, resources, and youths' time orientation impacted their ability to formulate goals. Study findings expand current theories of the life course and emerging adulthood. In addition, this study has implications for redefining chronological age policies, creating resource-rich connections between youth and adults, and emphasizing earlier preparation for youth who will most likely age out of foster care.

Some Type of Way

Some Type of Way PDF Author: Lisa Schelbe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197568718
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
"At age 17, Plato disclosed that he had been certain his whole life that he would die-most likely by being shot on the street like other Black young men he knew-by the age of 18. As his 18th birthday approached, Plato planned to spend his birthday alone, reflecting on the reality that he might have a future. As he approached adulthood and the transition out of foster care, the many possibilities seemed miraculous to him"--

African American Youths Who Age Out of the Foster Care System: Constructing Factors Contributing to Their Enrollment and Progress in Postsecondary Institutions

African American Youths Who Age Out of the Foster Care System: Constructing Factors Contributing to Their Enrollment and Progress in Postsecondary Institutions PDF Author: Tiffany Yvette Lane
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Although the literature has examined the postsecondary educational status and experiences of youths who age out of foster care, there has been minimal exploration of the status and experiences of those who are African American. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African Americans who aged out of the foster care system, and to describe the factors contributing to their decision to attend school and the strategies they used towards progression in school. The goal of the study was to gain an understanding of African American youths who aged out of care from a cultural viewpoint. Data were collected through in-depth interviews of 10 participants. The findings showed that participants wanted to attend a postsecondary institution to achieve academic success with the certainty that it would lead to broader successes in life. The desire to be successful was motivated by their past misfortunes before and during their time in foster care; experiencing these misfortunes influenced their desire to improve their circumstances through further education. The participants were also inspired by social and community supports that assisted them in matriculating in school. The strategies they employed were inspired by the lack of constant supports and the availability of resources upon aging out of care. The implications of these findings are important to social work practice on the micro and macro levels. On the micro level, they support an informative strengths-based practice with an empowerment emphasis, which involves culturally sensitive practices that are vital for providing services to African Americans aging out of foster care. Forming supportive networks among these African American youths is also essential for their success. On the macro level, consideration of culturally sensitive programs and practices defined in child welfare polices related to youths aging out of foster care is imperative for effective practice and successful outcomes. Social workers need to advocate with consideration of the unique societal challenges facing African Americans aging out of foster care. -- Abstract.