M’Lisia Williams

Professor Wolcott

ENC 1102 Section 0018

23 October 2013

Aging Out of Foster Care

According to childrensrights.org there are 400,000 children in out of home care.

This number continues to increase over time and shows no signs of decreasing in future

years. Foster care is typically a place for “delinquent or neglected children”. (Google

Definitions) Once in the system some kids may be adopted, some may go to a relative,

others may spend their whole life a ward of the state. But what happens when children

are to old to be in foster care? They have to jump-start straight into the real world with no

help or guidance. Many worry about health care, housing, food, and other basic

necessities. A large percentage of those who age out of foster care end up homeless,

others struggle every day to survive. There are a select few who do end up successful.

Throughout this bibliography I plan to annotate various research to determine

what happens to children, youth, and or their families once they age out of foster care.

Valid sources in this conversation come primarily from scholarly journals that contain

background research on my field of study. They also contain information or points of

view from people who have lived in the foster care system and therefor validating the

information they chose to share with the world. Other valid sources to consider are those

written by everyday working people who have witnessed or experienced first hand what

it is like to age out of foster care. Such as lawyers, social workers, teens who have aged

out and many more. This bibliography is useful to others in the social work field

performing research on aging out of foster care or finding what the system lacks in doing

for those who have aged out. It can also be beneficial to those getting prepared to

transition from foster care to the real world if they want to know who to run to and or

what’s available to them once they are no longer covered by the state.

Cunningham, Miranda, and Marcelo Diversi. "Aging Out: Youths perspective on foster care and

the transition to independence." Qualitative Social Work 1 (2012): 587-602. Print.

This Journal article is an excerpt from “Qualitative Social Work”. It’s written by

Miranda Cunningham of Portland State University, and Marcelo Diversi of

Washington State University. Cunningham and Diversi evaluate the youth’s

outlook on aging out of foster care. They used ethnography techniques to get

various youth’s opinion. Cunningham and Diversi chose this method because

generally children in the system have a hard time trusting adults, especially

strangers. Observations and informal interviews allowed them to get most of the

information needed to conduct he study. They found youth were generally more

concerned about overall stability. Such as where would they stay, and who would

help them through the process of “aging out”. They were scared about becoming

completely independent. Cunningham and Diversi’s research is relevant to my

project because it gives another viewpoint on my topic, Aging out of Foster Care.

Most journal articles or research are based on statistics and the researchers own

opinion. Which doesn’t allow readers to see multiple viewpoints of a situation and

can also be quite biased.

Day, A, J Riebschleger, A Dworsky,, A Damashek, and K Fogarty. "Maximizing

educational opportunities for youth aging out of foster care by engaging youth

voices in a partnership for social change." Children and Youth Services Review

34.5 (2012): 1007-1014. Print.

The authors of this article come from various social work, clinical psychology,

and interdisciplinary health sciences programs. They work at prestigious

universities such as, Wayne State University, Michigan State, University of

Chicago, and Western Michigan University. This study target youths and the

challenges they may face while transitioning form high school into college.

Researchers analyzed the transcripts, of youth going through the transition, form a

panel where they gave their own testimonies. Eight specific challenges or barriers

were identified. The one that repeated itself the most was lack of supportive

adults. This research is relevant to my topic because it address the voice of youth

in foster care who are determined to make it. College is a big step and is not for

everyone. The youth in this study face challenges of adapting into a new

environment that holds their future as well as health risks and risks of being

homeless.

Dworsky, Amy, and Mark Courtney. "Homelessness and the Transition from Foster Care

to Adulthood.." Child Welfare 88.4 (2009): 23-56. Print.

Amy Dworsky is a senior researcher at Chapin Hall of, the University of Chicago.

Mark Courtney I a professor at the School of social work at the University of

Washington. Homelessness has shown to be great problem amongst youth aging

out of foster care. Courtney and Dworsky conducted a longitudinal study to

determine how, why, and or if there are any indications of homelessness. They

used an ample from 3 midwestern states that held youth who recently aged out of

foster care. They broke their data down into tables. The first contained

characteristics of the youth in the sample. The second set of results was a graph

that contains the probability of youth becoming homeless once they age out of

foster care. Table 2 contained the results of those who were actually homeless

once exiting the foster care system. Table 3 listed the number of places those who

haven’t been homeless have stayed since exiting foster care. Table 4 compared

results of those who were homeless with those who were never homeless. Table 5

shows odd estimated on predicting homelessness. This article shed light on a

specific aspect of aging out that other articles did not include. Homelessness is

something that we see everyday but no one addresses it. Even the ones who had a

place to stay most of them couldn’t say the place was physically theirs. They

stayed with someone else.

Freundlich, Madelyn, and Rosemary Avery. "Transitioning from congregate care:

Preparation and outcomes.." Journal of Child & Family Studies. 15.4 (2006): 503-

514. Print.

Madelyn Freundlich works for Excal Consulting Partners of New York, and

Rosemary Avery is of Cornell University. This journal article focused on the

youth in congregate care in New York City’s foster care system, as well as the

process of aging out in New York, and post transition. The research method was a

qualitative study of youth age 12 and up in congregate care, which are group

homes. Twenty-one other youth were interviewed ranging from 18-25. They

represented those currently aged out. There were 16 female, 7 male, and 1

transgender. Researchers found them through various outreach programs, and

even interviewed some of the people who worked with the children/young adults.

They also talked to judges, social workers, and professional stakeholder groups.

As expected the results varied from person to person. Many were scared, some

eager to leave, and some who believed the system allowed a successful transition.

This article is important because it allows me to dig deeper into the controversy of

whether the system prepared the youth for what was to come. Some believe they

were while others argue the weren’t. There may be underlying factors, such as

maybe some of the ones who weren’t were adopted many times and brought back

or maybe those who were successful had more access to outside information and

used it once old enough.

Jaudes, Paula. "Health Care of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.." Pediatrics 130.6

(2012): 1170-1173. Print.

This article was written by MD Paula Jaudes, and an excerpt from the American

Academy of Pediatrics. Other contributing authors of this article include, James

Pawelski, Cynthia Pellegrini, and Daniel Walter. Here Paula aims to educate her

audience about the health care available to youth aging out of foster care or the

lack thereof. She addresses government programs and policies used to support

those who are transitioning and inform other pediatricians on how they can be of

assistance. Jaudes begins with research on health challenges youth aging out of

foster care may face. Such as developmental delays, mental retardation and many

more. Jaudes continues with how the lack of coverage may negatively affect the

youth but also what policies can help those who have aged out. For example the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 says youth who age out of

foster care can be eligible for Medicaid up until the age of 26. Jaudes encourages

Pediatricians to help these youth by working with the welfare agency of their

specific state to make sure the child’s needs are met. This journal showed me that

there are people out there who have thought about the lives of the youth aging out

of foster care. There are actual programs/policies out there designed for them

specifically you just have to know where to look. Which unfortunately most

people do not know but articles like this one gives hope.

Keller, Thomas , Gretchen Cusick, and Mark Courtney. "Approaching the Transition to

Adulthood: Distinctive Profiles of Adolescents Aging out of the Child Welfare

System." Social Service Review 81.3 (2007): 453-484. Print.

This Journal article was written by Thomas Keller of Portland State University,

Gretchen Cusick, and Mark Courtney of the University of Chicago after a study of

transitioning into adulthood. They investigated “the capacity of adolescents on the

verge of emancipation from the child welfare system” (paragraph 1). The team of

researchers performed an interview style longitudinal study of select youth

preparing to age out of foster care. They excluded youth who after emancipation,

became incarcerated, in an inpatient psychiatric institution, or with a

developmental disability. This is because they are not or cannot make a smooth

transition into independence once out of foster care. They are still under

guidelines or responsibility of a third party. Keller, Cusick, and Courtney

analyzed seven indicators of individual status. Starting with employment and on

to, grade retention, parenthood, problem behavior, placement type, placement

stability, and runaway history. This study is related to my topic because it shows

the percentage of teens that successfully transitioned from well fare living to

adulthood. Although success levels may vary from person to person they create a

stable thesis.

King,, Laura, and Aneer Rukh-Kamaa, . "YOUTH TRANSITIONING OUT OF

FOSTER CARE: AN EVALUATION OF A SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY

INCOME POLICY CHANGE.." Social Security Bulletin 73.3 (2013): 53-57.

Print.

King is a research analyst with the social security administration and Aneer Rukh-

Kamaa is a statistician with the Social security administration. They wrote this

article to address how those who age out may lose their foster care befits. This can

be especially tough for those who may have disabilities. Some youth going

through the aging out process may be eligible for Social Security Income once

foster care stops. The time needed to process eligibility creates a large window of

time where many things can happen. King and Kamaa evaluated a policy change

that allows youth to apply for these benefits 60 days prior to the date that the

previous policy stated. This buys more time for those who are close to aging out

but still need some stability that the foster facility is able to provide

Liebmann, Theo, and Emily Madden. "HEAR MY VOICE—PERSPECTIVES OF

CURRENT AND FORMER FOSTER YOUTH.." Family Court Review 48.2

(2010): 255-261. Print.

This scholarly Journal was written specifically to give youth in foster care a voice

and to allow those who have been in foster care but transitioned a way to speak up

for those still there. Liebmann is the director of the interdisciplinary Hofstra Child

Advocacy clinic, while Madden was a child and family advocacy fellow at

Hofstra until she graduated law school in 2009. This article contained personal

quotes written by the youth, which adds ethos and pathos and allows you to

sympathize with those who are expressing various emotions such as sadness anger

and fear. Results found from this study include various amounts of fear, anger,

and or sadness expressed by the youth involved. They worry about there future

just as some of the youth from other articles mentioned in this bibliography.

Morris, Rita. "Voices of Foster Youths: Problems and Ideas for Change.." Urologic

Nursing 27.5 (2007): 419-427. Print.

Rita Morris of San Diego State University wrote this journal article. Rita was

assisted by Antonia Giaffoglione who collected data for her graduate thesis. The

purpose of this study was to pinpoint the specific characteristics that lead to a not

so smooth transition. Which would be a lack of self-sufficiency and economic

independence. In order to test her theory Morris conducted various interviews

with 16 subjects who had aged out of foster care and currently living

independently. Morris found five major themes in her research such as “From My

Past”, “No Place to call home”, “Broken Promises”, “The system failed Us”, and

“Ideas For Change”. This research is relevant because Morris’ objective was to

find youth who may not have made a successful transition versus the usual

finding those who had. She allows us to see the point of view of someone who

more than likely represents a large percentage of teens who age out of foster care.

Samuels, Gina, and Julia Pryce. "“What doesn't kill you makes you stronger”: Survivalist

self-reliance as resilience and risk among young adults aging out of foster care."

Children and Youth Services Review 30.10 (2008): 1198-1210. Print.

This scholarly Journal is written by Gina Samuels of the University of Chicago,

and Julia Pryce of Loyola University. Samuels and Pryce studies forty-four

Midwestern adults who were currently aging out of foster care. They used audio

taped interviews to record all the data they had found. Each interview was one

and a half hours designed to explore the persons history in foster care, their

understanding of why they were there and how their relationship with their

biological family developed/changed over time. This study address problems head

on by interviewing youth who are currently going through the aging out process.

These youth answered many questions pertaining to their trials, tribulations, and

what they want to overcome.

Scannapieco, Maria, Kelli Connell-Carrick, and Kirstin Painter. "In Their Own Words:

Challenges Facing Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.." Child & Adolescent Social

Work Journal 24.5 (2007): 423-435. Print.

Painter of Texas Woman University, Carrick of University of Houston, and

Scannapieco of University of Texas collaborated to write this journal article. The

research method done was based on program development. They used this to ask

those in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services foster care. The

goal was to determine what the youth saw/see as challenges and what services

could potentially be helpful. Focus groups were created in order to conduct

interviews. They found teens wanted to involved with the decisions that were

going o impact the rest of their lives. Most things were left up to the social worker

to handle. They didn’t want to feel like they owed anybody so the teens expressed

wanting their own. (i.e. Money, jobs, goals, etc.) I found this research relevant

because this is another article that includes what the children had to say. They

represent a greater number of youth out there who haven’t had the opportunity to

express how they really feel .

Scott, Tonia. "Placement Instability and Risky Behaviors of Youth Aging Out of Foster

Care.." Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal. 29.1 (2012): 69-83. Print.

Tonia Scott works for he School of Social Work at Arizona State University.

Scott’s research focuses on the negatives associated with aging out of foster care.

The risk for negative outcomes in adulthood increases once youth age out of

foster care. In order to complete the study a recruitment packet was sent to last

known addresses of youth who turned 18 between July 2004 and June 2008 while

under Child Protective services. They sent out a total of 2045 packets, 214 had no

address, and 601 were returned to sender. Those who desired to participate

received a $10 gift card for returning the packet, and a $45 gift card for

conducting the phone interview. Results found that 25% had used drugs or

alcohol in the past 30 days (of the study), one fifth uses substances frequently, and

two-fifths had been dunk or used drugs in the past 6months. Most of those who

said to be sexually active used some form of contraception and 88.8% all

consented to the various sexual activity. Out of all participant three of them stated

they had not been through any trauma or experiences as the others who

interviewed. This research is relevant to my topic because it shines light on other

negative outcomes. Having a negative transition isn’t limited to unstable housing

or minimum wage jobs, it can also mean unhealthy relationships, or abuse.

Shook, Jeffrey, Sara Goodkind, David Herring, Ryan Pohlig, Karen Kolivoski, and Kevin

Kim. "How different are their experiences and outcomes? Comparing aged out

and other child welfare involved youth.." Children & Youth Services Review 35.1

(2013): 11-18. Print.

The various authors of this article wanted to compare experiences and outcomes

of youth aged out of foster care in comparison with those whose families receive

welfare services but still stay in home. As well as those in some form of out-of-

home placement but have not aged out. This methodology could be useful and or

relevant to my topic because I didn’t think to consider other means of welfare

besides foster care. The children may have similar outcomes and or experiences.

In order to answer their question the researchers needed to create a profile with

the data. The profile told care careers and other system involvement. The resulting

data was broken down into tables. The fist represented demographics, the second,

placement experiences, and comparison of placements/care careers. The third

table represented the percentage of youth who could be categorized in another

group, because they were also involved in other systems at one point.

Wiseman, Eva. "Ready or Not: Youth Aging Out of Care." Youth In Care 21.3 (2008):

15-26. Print.

This source is a journal article written by Eva Nardella Wiseman. Wiseman works

in Toronto as a independent contractor with children youth and families. In this

article Wiseman evaluates other articles or literature about children leaving the

foster care center. She analyzed risk factors, protective factors, and youth’s

perspective. As well as positive outcomes, negative outcomes, after care services,

and connections in the filed of youth care & foster care. Wiseman used various

databases like, ProQuest, Academic Search Premier, etc. and searched key words

pertaining to youth in foster care. All journals or articles selected were based on

youth leaving foster care specifically because they had “aged out”. Wiseman

discovered that youth leaving foster care have a tougher time than others that are

the same age but do not come from a “welfare background”. (Pg. 24) A handful of

those who have aged out show that they are on their way to leading a successful

life. All the literature she acquired talked about the state extending the care age of

18 or 21 (depending on where you currently reside).

Yates, Tuppett, and Izabela Grey. "Adapting to aging out: Profiles of risk and resilience among

emancipated foster youth.." Development & Psychopathology 24.2 (2012): 475-492.

Print.

In this scholarly journal Tuppet Yates and Izabela Grey of the University of California

studied how youth adapt to aging out of foster care. Yates and Grey used the profile

analysis to find patterns among 164 youth who had aged out of foster care. Those still in

foster car were allowed to participate if they were going to be leaving within a two-year

period of their current age. Phone interviews were conducted first as a screening process

in order to weed out candidates who could not help the study. Next phone interviews

were conducted. Researchers measures educational competence, occupational

competence, civic engagement, relational competence, self-esteem, child welfare history,

and much more. Yates and Grey found that on average most of the participants entered

the system around 8 years of age. Also most of them endured some type of abuse whether

it is physical, emotional, or mental abuse. Not to mention neglect and domestic violence.

They showed higher rates of homelessness, unemployment, and parenthood. This study

done by Yates and Grey is important to my research because they tested youth who were

already emancipated from the system. Their results show what happened to the people

who were now completely on their own. Although the study was not an accurate

depiction of all youth aged out of foster care it was a high enough percentage to shed

light on the subject.