Aging out
Aging out is American popular culture vernacular used to describe any time a youth leaves a formal system of care designed to provide services below a certain age level.
There are a variety of applications of the phrase throughout the
Usage
Often used to highlight the problems traditional foster care approaches face, aging out affects foster youth in a variety of ways. An estimated 30,000 adolescents age out of the foster care system each year in the United States.[4]
Former foster youth in education
Children who grow up in foster care have lower rates of high school and post-secondary education completion. Using the PRISMA methodology (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), Gypen et al. (2017) systematically gathered published research articles from electronic databases such as PsycINFO, Springer, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. Their comprehensive review included articles under the terms "Foster care" or "Foster alumni" or "foster children" and "long-term perspectives" or "long-term results".[5] The studies included participants aged 17 years and older (no age cap) gathering data from family service systems and child protective systems.
Dworsky and Courtney (2009) found that in child protective systems, only 64% had completed high school by the age of 19
When it comes to higher education, research shows that the number of students completing a two year, four year, or masters program to be even lower than high school completion rates.[5] They also found that during the first year of college, children who age out of foster care were two times more likely to drop out,[9] although there are indications that women have better outcomes than men (Naccarato et al. 2010).[10] Pecora, Williams et al. (2006) found that 42.7% started education after high school but by the age of 25, only 9.6% were still enrolled.[7] For those in the family service system, only 7.2% completed their bachelor’s and by the age of 23, only 1% had a Master's degree.[5]
Naccarato et al. (2010) suggested a buddy system to help foster students through their educational journey, just like families provide similar support systems for those students not in foster care.[10]
Statistics
The
Responses
In 1970,
The
In 1999,
Now programs and laws, such as the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, are starting to make headway into ways to compensate foster children who have become adults. $140 million is to be funded for this program, including states matching 20%.[14]
See also
Aging out is also used in reference to Drum Corps International's rules, which state that drum corps' members above the age of 18-to-21 are denied the ability to compete in World Class.
References
- ^ Pittman, K. (1996) "Aging Out or Aging In?" Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Youth Today. January 1996. Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ (2006) Trial Home Visits in Relation to "Aging Out of Foster Care" 624-10-01-40-05. State of North Dakota. Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ (nd) [How Do I Prevent My Child From Losing Benefits at Age 21 ("Aging Out")?] United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ Brackett, E. (2005) Aging Out of Foster Care, Newshour television show, PBS. May 19, 2005. Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ ISSN 0190-7409.
- PMID 24148065.
- ^ ISSN 1356-7500.
- ISSN 0190-7409.
- ISSN 0190-7409.
- ^ ISSN 0190-7409.
- ^ a b (nd) Programs and Resources for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Archived April 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Child Welfare League of America. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
- ^ (2005) Foster care – hope emerges. Reform efforts gain momentum. San Francisco Chronicle. 12/22/05. Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ Rhodes, L. (2006) "Young writers finding a powerful voice. Archived 2007-05-02 at the Wayback Machine" Retrieved 5/8/07.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- IMDB Page for Aging Out Documentary
- [1] "The Original Foster Care Survival Guide" website, written by an attorney that was in foster care.