Emancipation to Independent Living

Mike was in seven foster homes before being emancipated. Like all foster children, he had been taught the required skills for independent living: how to find a job, rent an apartment, and balance his checkbook, cook, and so on. He was happy to say goodbye to his final foster home the day after his 18th birthday, but he left with no place to go. Mike lived in the park for two weeks, and then went to live with his aunt. She helped him find a job. He left again when she was arrested. He lost his job and went back to live in the park. By coincidence, he met up with his second foster family and they took him in. They helped him find another job and a new apartment. Unable to pay the rent on his minimum wage job, he was evicted. Then he lost his job due to erratic attendance. Once again he was adrift and alone in the world.

Mike had a high school diploma with no real job history, with no place to live, and with no family. He tried to get himself arrested at one point so he could get a good meal. By the time he was 24; he had spent all but 18 months dumpster-diving and living in the park and in shelters when there was an empty bed. (Groves et al, 2009)

AFCARS reported that 287,000 US children exited foster care in 2005. Of these children, over 25,000 (9 percent) were “aged out” or emancipated without a permanent home. Youth emancipated to independent living from foster care have suffered through the trauma of transience only to be turned loose and alone in an unforgiving world. Their problems are compounded by the lack of a supportive family. Emancipation to independent living is a fancy phrase to cover up failure in the foster care system.

“For many, leaving foster care is like going over a cliff. The general population does not give it a thought, but emancipated foster children need everything that a parent would give a child of the same age.” (California League of Women Voters, 1998)

Westat reported in 1991 on the outcomes for foster children from 2 ½ to four years after their discharge from foster care at age 18:

  • 54 percent of the population studied had completed high school.
  • 49 percent were employed.
  • 18 percent maintained a job for at least one year.
  • 40 percent were a cost to the community in some way.
  • 60 percent of the young women were already mothers.
  • 25 percent had been homeless for a time, and their median weekly salary was $205.
  • Only 17 percent were completely self-supporting.

Nightline reported in 2002 on foster care graduates, labeled the statistics as “staggering.” They noted; “Of the 20,000 who age out of the foster care system each year, 40 percent fail to graduate from high school and 40 percent end up on welfare. Within two years, a third have children (mostly out of wedlock). As sobering as those numbers are, it’s not until you spend time with kids just emancipated from the foster care system that you really begin to appreciate that world.”

POVERTY: According to Rohter in 1992, adults with a history of foster care are significantly more likely to be below the poverty level. Adult poverty is correlated to “children living in legal limbo,” that is a background in foster care. In 1994 Aldgate found that out-of-home public care is a major precursor of adult poverty.

Emancipated foster youth were found to earn an average of $6000 per year, well below the national poverty level. Emancipated females were four times more likely than their age-mates to receive public assistance. (www.heysf.org and www.childrensrights.org).

UNEMPLOYMENT: Foster care alumni experience problematic employment and financial situations. Less than half of former foster children are employed 2 ½ to 5 years after leaving foster care. Only 18 percent have maintained employment for at least one year. (www.heysf.org)

PREGNANCY: Females emancipated from foster care are four times more likely than their counterparts to become single parents prematurely. According to a midwest study, nearly half of the emancipated foster women had been pregnant at least once by the age of 19, compared to only 20 percent of their peers. (Casey, 2005).

EDUCATION: Casey in 2007 quotes national statistics in reporting that youth in foster care are less likely to graduate from high school. (www.heysf.org).

  • Only 46% of former foster youth complete high school as compared to the 84% of the general population.
  • Two-thirds of foster children had been suspended at least once compared to 28 percent of the general population.
  • Seventeen percent had been expelled compared to five percent of the general population. (Courtney et al, 2004, p.42)
  • Of the youth who have aged out of foster care and are over the age of 25, less than three percent have earned a college degree compared with 28 percent of the general population. (Casey, 2007).

“Aging out” without a permanent home increases the likelihood of a negative outcome. The problems are severe enough for a child who has been left to drift in temporary care and shifted from home to home. They are made considerably worse after age 18 when there is no fallback home or family. Not only does the child lack a forever mentor or family but the child has understandable problems in forming relationships. Facing the world with no family and lacking personal skills to fashion a new one, no wonder the young adult will become the problem for society that he is for himself.

Few of us are able to live alone for long, especially not beginners. Statistics will show that adult living skills are far from enough. Classes in independent living may provide the tools. Without the necessary basic structure however, this becomes frills without grounding, or the busywork of living without a permanent home.