There wasn’t much in the way of support and guidance when I aged out/became emancipated at the age of 15. Again, I am not the norm, however, here are a few suggestions.

*The links are a great place to start. Building a database of relevant, useful, information is key and will give you a solid base to begin with.

*Connect with as many foster care agencies/organizations that you can find. ALL of them have useful, relevant information, but try and focus on those agencies that specifically focus their time and energy on the aging out process. I would start with @jimmywayne who is a good friend and a solid supporter of youth aging out. You should also talk to @jeffprobst who founded The Serpentine Youth Project. He is another good contact as well as a good friend. Both men can help you with a lot of the resources that you need and a partnership with either one would be beneficial.

*I can see that @CHSLarry, Larry Lowe, has been here. Larry is a great place to start as is @CHSHeather. Both can give you valuable information, useful links and resources that will aid you in building your database.

*You should also log onto the Governments information gateway which has statistics, information, addresses and locations of agencies around the world that focus on foster care and the issues surrounding it. The link to the governments site is http://www.childwelfare.gov/

*Lastly, don’t give up. You have a daunting task ahead of you, but it is SO worth it. If you need any help or assistance feel free to email me or send me a message via twitter. I can be reached @jesicaangelique

Again, thank you for sharing and thank you for all that you have done, and will do for foster youth. As I said on twitter you are ABSOLUTELY an inspiring follow.

Regards
Ms. Jessica Angelique

I work with young adults who have aged out of foster care, and I am constantly frustrated by the lack of resources we have to assist our clients. In particular, we don’t seem to have the resources to prepare our young adults for “work readiness”, you are calling it “self-sufficiency” and I think that’s a better term.

We are told that a young adult without basic work readiness skills will cost society upwards of half a million dollars over the course of his/her lifetime in corrections costs and welfare benefits.

This is all further compounded by our young adults’ prolific child bearing. I see our young adults with a sort of love/hate relationship with their children: they love them, but are also extremely burdened by them. While I feel our clients didn’t get what they needed as children, they are also not able to give their children what they need, and the cycle continues. Abortion is an undesirable option, and the few clients I have seen give their children up for adoption have a hole left in their hearts.

Neuro-psychiatrists tell us that adverse experiences during childhood affect brain development in such a way that abused children often grow into adults with hair-trigger tempers and the inability to conceive of the future and therefore to make and work towards goals. It seems the damage has been done. Many of our clients are 18, 19, 20 years old and still testing below a 7th grade level. About a quarter of our clients have felonies that further restrict their options for gainful employment.

We certainly have superstar young adults. We have a young woman who got a B.S. in political science from Cornell University and who is now pursuing her M.D. She is very much the exception, however, not the rule.

I wish we tracked the young adults’ achievement of self-sufficiency in some meaningful way. I can’t really tell you the percentage of our clients who become self-sufficient. I’m going to guess it’s somewhere around 25% but I don’t know for sure. I suppose no one (i.e., the government) tracks this because it’s difficult to define.

I am very interested in the comments you will receive on this topic. Thanks again for starting the conversation.

The idea for your Aging Out Institute is an outstanding one. It would be a valuable resource for both teens who are aging out of the system and those professionals involved, including foster parents, social workers, lawyers, judges, educators, doctors, therapists, etc., etc.

I was intrigued by your criteria for “success.” I fully agree with you on the idea of self-sufficiency. I would add that higher education would also qualify. I considered myself self-sufficient when I was able to pay my own way through college with scholarships, work service, grants, and loans. Since I had a place to live and plenty of food, this meets your criteria!

The other tenet is making a positive contribution to society. I would be interested to see further clarification/definition of “positive.”

Keep up the good work!