Youth in Foster Care and Transition to Adulthood
Many youth are dependent on their families, receiving financial and emotional support. A youth experiencing foster care does not have the same support network making transition into adulthood challenging. Adolescents in foster care require more intensive monitoring of their health care needs in all aspects. The foster care system in the United States strives to provide care and protect both children and adolescents from their biological family primarily for reasons of neglect, abuse, and safety concerns. In an article from the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011), child welfare is defined as a group of public and private services that are focused on ensuring all children from birth to 21 …show more content…
The goal of the foster care system is to reunify children to their biological parents or an alternative placement when reunification is not possible such as adoption, replacement with relatives-kinship care, or independent living. The effects and multiple hardships on the health and development of adolescents in foster care are fundamental to understand their transition to adulthood. Foster youth with lack of supportive networks, transitioning to adulthood can be challenging. According to Cook, & Ansell’s (1986) summary article, adolescents that have aged out of the foster care system have a harder time transitioning to independent living. There is an estimate of 26,500 youths every year, age out …show more content…
When the child welfare system is unable to find a permanent home through reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship it is one of the major reason why foster youth becomes homeless. A supportive relationship can have meaningful value to a youth having experienced foster care, whether or not the caring adult is a family member. Many are limited in their ability to connect with their assigned care giver; in addition care givers have some issues forming a stable attachment towards foster child. It is important for foster youth to obtain positive youth development by forming a healthy supportive relationship with at least one caring adult who they can always turn to in time of need. A foster youth may also encounter the challenges of being unable to continue education. Transitioning from foster care to adulthood leads to lower access and succeed in college at much lower rates (Salazar, Roe, Ullrich, & Haggerty, 2016). The absence of support from a caring adult takes down encouragement that triggers youth decision to continuing education. By not supporting youth to pursue higher education can lead to problems such as instability in financial circumstances and housing. Many struggle with alcohol, substance
Many youth are dependent on their families, receiving financial and emotional support. A youth experiencing foster care does not have the same support network making transition into adulthood challenging. Adolescents in foster care require more intensive monitoring of their health care needs in all aspects. The foster care system in the United States strives to provide care and protect both children and adolescents from their biological family primarily for reasons of neglect, abuse, and safety concerns. In an article from the Child Welfare Information Gateway (2011), child welfare is defined as a group of public and private services that are focused on ensuring all children from birth to 21 …show more content…
The goal of the foster care system is to reunify children to their biological parents or an alternative placement when reunification is not possible such as adoption, replacement with relatives-kinship care, or independent living. The effects and multiple hardships on the health and development of adolescents in foster care are fundamental to understand their transition to adulthood. Foster youth with lack of supportive networks, transitioning to adulthood can be challenging. According to Cook, & Ansell’s (1986) summary article, adolescents that have aged out of the foster care system have a harder time transitioning to independent living. There is an estimate of 26,500 youths every year, age out …show more content…
When the child welfare system is unable to find a permanent home through reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship it is one of the major reason why foster youth becomes homeless. A supportive relationship can have meaningful value to a youth having experienced foster care, whether or not the caring adult is a family member. Many are limited in their ability to connect with their assigned care giver; in addition care givers have some issues forming a stable attachment towards foster child. It is important for foster youth to obtain positive youth development by forming a healthy supportive relationship with at least one caring adult who they can always turn to in time of need. A foster youth may also encounter the challenges of being unable to continue education. Transitioning from foster care to adulthood leads to lower access and succeed in college at much lower rates (Salazar, Roe, Ullrich, & Haggerty, 2016). The absence of support from a caring adult takes down encouragement that triggers youth decision to continuing education. By not supporting youth to pursue higher education can lead to problems such as instability in financial circumstances and housing. Many struggle with alcohol, substance