A permanent adult can be someone who has provided adoption, guardianship, a mentor, or someone that agrees to be a stable, nurturing connection for the foster youth. Studies show that foster youth who have a permanent connection are more likely to be productive members of society. Those who don’t have a family connection, according to the Child Welfare Gateway “Youth who exit care without a permanent family [or a connection] are at risk for a number of negative outcomes.” Because of this, maybe we should be re-allocating AB 12 money and putting it into programs that focus on making sure that foster teenagers have permanent connections before aging out of the system “Foster youth will be able to maintain a safety net of support while experiencing independence in a secure and supervised living environment” ("Extending Foster Care”). There are some programs that currently do this, but there are not nearly enough of these types of
A permanent adult can be someone who has provided adoption, guardianship, a mentor, or someone that agrees to be a stable, nurturing connection for the foster youth. Studies show that foster youth who have a permanent connection are more likely to be productive members of society. Those who don’t have a family connection, according to the Child Welfare Gateway “Youth who exit care without a permanent family [or a connection] are at risk for a number of negative outcomes.” Because of this, maybe we should be re-allocating AB 12 money and putting it into programs that focus on making sure that foster teenagers have permanent connections before aging out of the system “Foster youth will be able to maintain a safety net of support while experiencing independence in a secure and supervised living environment” ("Extending Foster Care”). There are some programs that currently do this, but there are not nearly enough of these types of