Aging Out: Children Who Leave Care With No Permanent Home
Children who leave foster care without permanent family connections often experience difficulties in adulthood, such as higher rates of mental health disorders, homelessness and unemployment than their peers in the general population.
Younger foster care alumni
[i]
are less likely to have a high school diploma or pursue a higher education and more likely to experience economic hardships, have a child out of wedlock, and become involved in the criminal justice system than the general population.
Studies suggest that a focus on permanent homes for children in foster care can help states avoid the negative outcomes associated with leaving care without a family.
[i]
Courtney, M. E., Dworsky, A., Cusik, G.R., Havlicek, J., Perez, A., and Keller, T. Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 21 (Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago: December 2007).