Older Youth Highlights

The FC.org Project is a collaboration of nongovernmental partners. The organizations leading efforts on older youth implementation include FosterClub and the Finance Project, "Network Partners" to the FC.org Project. See here for more information about the FC.org partnerships.

On this Highlights page you will find information on implementation of the older youth provisions of the Fostering Connections Act, as well as selected resources to support implementers. For more state-specific examples of older youth implementation, please see the implementation news section here. For additional older youth resources and publications, please see here.

Implementation Approaches

• 16 states have approved IV-E plans to extend care beyond age 18
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • District of Columbia
  • Illinois
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachussetts
  • Minnesota
  • Nebraska
  • New York
  • North Dakota
  • Oregon
  • Tennessee 
  • Texas
  • Washington
• See Implementation News for more state-specific examples of older youth implementation.

Selected Older Youth Resources

• Federal Guidance
  The Children's Bureau provides a very helpful document intended to serve as a reference for stakeholders interested in locating Children's Bureau (CB) policy, guidance and other implementation activities related to the Fostering Connections
• Child Welfare Information Gateway resources for youth
  A list of guidelines, protocols, and resources for service providers and other stakeholders to build partnerships with families and youth to achieve permanency and promote positive outcomes for youth
• Designing Foster Care to 21 - A discussion guide for policymakers, by Barbara Langford, Margaret Flynn-Khan and Katherine Gaughen May 2010
• WEBINAR: Two Years Since Fostering Connections, Older Youth Provisions
  A PowerPoint presentation from the October 7, 2010, webinar by the FosteringConnections.org project together with FosterClub, the National Conference of State Legislatures, The Finance Project, the John Burton Foundation and Fostering Media Connections.
• WEBINAR: Fiscal Impact of Extending Foster Care to 21
  The powerpoint presentation from an April 27, 2010 webinar on The Net Fiscal Impact of Extending Foster Care to 21 hosted by the FosteringConnections.org Project in conjunction with with The Finance Project and the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
• Number of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Continues to Rise, by Marci McCoy-Roth, Madelyn Freundlich and Timothy Ross, January 2010
• Number of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Drops below 28,000 in 2010, by Marci McCoy-Roth, Kerry DeVooght, and Megan Fletcher.  August, 2011.  This brief builds on the analysis from 2010 and continues examining trends and updates.
• Extending Foster Care to Age 21: Weighing the Costs to Government against the Benefits to Youth
  This issue brief by Chapin Hall provides preliminary estimates of what the potential costs to government and the benefits to young people would be if states extend foster care to age 21. The analysis focuses on the increase in post-secondary educational attainment associated with allowing foster youth to remain in care until they are 21 years old and the resulting increase in lifetime earnings associated with postsecondary education.
• The Adolescent Brain
  A brief by Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative covering new research and its implications for young people transitioning from foster care.
• Foster Care to 21: Doing it Right
  This brief by Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative summarizes best practices for extending care to older youth.
• Social Capital: Building Quality Networks for Young People in Foster Care
  A brief by Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative covering the importance of social capital in helping a youth to successfully emancipate from care.

FosterClub's Transition Toolkit

A tool for developing a youth-driven transition plan using a team approach

A transition plan is an investment in the future – your future, if you are a young person leaving foster care or the future of someone you know, if you are a caring adult wanting to help someone with that transition. The FosterClub Transition Toolkit includes an overview of the skills, knowledge and resources needed for young people leaving foster care to prepare for life on their own as young adults. FosterClub’s Transition Plan provides a space to write down and keep track of all the resources that are available. The Toolkit puts young people in the driver’s seat. It is designed BY young adults recently transitioned from foster care FOR young people beginning the journey. Think of the Toolkit as a map to planning adult life on one's own.

The FosterClub Transition Toolkit is built around ten different domains (or topics) which are part of the transition plan. In this Toolkit, the domains are shown as a line on a subway map. The “subway” Transition Map shows everything needed to plan for a successful life on one's own.

Download the FULL TOOLKIT, or click below to download individual worksheets.

WORKSHEETS

• Finances + Money Management
• Job + Career
• Life Skills
• Identity
• Permanence
• Education
• Self Care + Health
• Housing
• Transportation
• Community Culture + Social Life

For more information about transitioning from foster care successfully visit http://www.fosterclub.com.

 

For a full list of Older Youth Resources, see here.