The question of children who grow up in the foster or group care system has been a haunting one. The answers are too often discouraging. Long term research continues to tell us that these youth are more likely to end up homeless, poor, mentally ill, involved in the criminal justice system and be parents of children far too early. There are of course, exceptions. Many of us who have worked in or around the child protection system know the exceptions.
I have had former foster and group care youth in my classes at university. I have met some who have managed to create careers in the trades. This is partially because of good planning and caring adults who saw these youths into adulthood.
Increasingly we are seeing that young people from all sorts of family situations are taking longer to transition into adulthood. They stay at home longer, they take longer to establish themselves in careers and they will have a harder time affording their own house. Even those who come from relatively advantaged environments face these challenges. Those who have grown up in care face much greater obstacles as their support systems are often weaker.
Making the point is a video which is making the rounds. Aging out
You Tube has many other such videos.
In an environment where the income gaps between the rich and the rest (the famous 1%), the pressures on the most vulnerable will grow. Those in foster and group care are amongst the most vulnerable. We must challenge the policy makers to recognize this and create programs that do bridge the transition as strongly as possible. Many jurisdictions are trying to tackle the problem with a variety of creative programs. More options are needed. Perhaps one discussion worth having is, that if society as a whole sees more kids staying at home longer into adulthood, why would we not expect that this vulnerable population will not also require such supports which significant extension of foster care would create? It's a tough question in environments where governments are into austerity. But what does it cost us to have these youth unsuccessful and placing demands on our health care and justice systems?
Fortunately, we are seeing fewer children in group or institutional care in Canada as seen in the following charts from the Canadian Incidence Study:
I have had former foster and group care youth in my classes at university. I have met some who have managed to create careers in the trades. This is partially because of good planning and caring adults who saw these youths into adulthood.
Increasingly we are seeing that young people from all sorts of family situations are taking longer to transition into adulthood. They stay at home longer, they take longer to establish themselves in careers and they will have a harder time affording their own house. Even those who come from relatively advantaged environments face these challenges. Those who have grown up in care face much greater obstacles as their support systems are often weaker.
Making the point is a video which is making the rounds. Aging out
You Tube has many other such videos.
In an environment where the income gaps between the rich and the rest (the famous 1%), the pressures on the most vulnerable will grow. Those in foster and group care are amongst the most vulnerable. We must challenge the policy makers to recognize this and create programs that do bridge the transition as strongly as possible. Many jurisdictions are trying to tackle the problem with a variety of creative programs. More options are needed. Perhaps one discussion worth having is, that if society as a whole sees more kids staying at home longer into adulthood, why would we not expect that this vulnerable population will not also require such supports which significant extension of foster care would create? It's a tough question in environments where governments are into austerity. But what does it cost us to have these youth unsuccessful and placing demands on our health care and justice systems?
Fortunately, we are seeing fewer children in group or institutional care in Canada as seen in the following charts from the Canadian Incidence Study:
These help us to realize that policy changes can shift what happens, although the data also tells us that the rate of involvement with child protection in Canada is growing. The growth of kinship care may mean that there are more family members who will be there for the child over the long term.
American data is also quite informative about what happens to kids as they come into care:
Some UK data adds to the debate:
The point, of course, is that we need to have the debate. What we have now is not working that well whether we are talking Canada, the USA or the UK.
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