- Study finds more woes following foster care, By Erik Eckholm, April 6, 2010, New York Times: “Only half the youths who had turned 18 and ‘aged out’ of foster care were employed by their mid-20s. Six in 10 men had been convicted of a crime, and three in four women, many of them with children of their own, were receiving some form of public assistance. Only six in 100 had completed even a community college degree. The dismal outlook for youths who are thrust into a shaky adulthood from the foster care system – now numbering some 30,000 annually – has been documented with new precision by a long-term study released Wednesday, the largest to follow such children over many years…”
- Report: Foster kids face tough times after age 18, By Pam Fessler, April 7, 2010, National Public Radio: “It’s hard turning 18 – moving out, finding a job, going to college. But many foster children have to do it by themselves, without the lifeline to parents and home that helps many teens ease into independence. A major report out Wednesday says that many former foster kids have a tough time out on their own. When they age out of the system, they’re more likely than their peers to end up in jail, homeless or pregnant. They’re also less likely to have a job or go to college. Life can be a struggle for these young people, even with help from the government and nonprofit agencies…”
- Crime, unemployment, homelessness dog ex-foster care youths, By Amanda Paulson, April 7, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The vast majority of young people who age out of the foster-care system struggle to find housing and jobs and to complete their education, according to a new study released Wednesday, which tracked hundreds of foster-care youths from age 17 and 18 through age 23 or 24…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty