There are approximately 500,000 young Americans in foster care around the country, according to the most recent federal AFCARS data.  While most returned to their birth families, went to live with other family members or were adopted, the 14% who age out or otherwise drop out of foster care may find that the biggest challenge in leaving the system is survival.

“Statistics prove that the physical, emotional and social outcomes for ‘aged-out’ foster kids is often bad—bad for the kids and bad for the community that often has no way of dealing with them,” said Debbie Robinson, President of The Association of Junior Leagues International, which represents 292 individual Junior Leagues in four countries.  “For all of the money, time and effort we devote to keeping kids in foster care, unfortunately they are too often left on their own when they ‘graduate.’”

Foster care has been a key focus area for the Junior League for more than 20 years, with highly effective programs in place across the country, including:

  • Providing 18-year-old foster kids in Monterey, California with transition tools and information on college and vocational schools.
  • Helping 18- to 25-year-old foster kids in Tampa, Florida to reconnect with younger siblings who have been living with different families.
  • Providing 12- to 15-year-old girls in Seattle, Washington with life skills for use after foster care.
  • Supporting relatives in Napa-Sonoma, California who have agreed to keep kids out of custodial foster care.
  • Working with Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, to help vulnerable homeless young people with the emotional, educational and health support to help keep them off the streets.

What Happens When You’re Too Old for Santa Claus… and Foster Care? 

There are approximately 500,000 young Americans in foster care around the country, according to the most recent federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data.  While most returned to their birth families, went to live with other family members or were adopted, the 14% who age out or otherwise drop out of foster care may find that the biggest challenge in leaving the system is survival.

“Statistics prove that the physical, emotional and social outcomes for ‘aged-out’ foster kids is often bad—bad for the kids and bad for the community that often has no way of dealing with them,” said Debbie Robinson, President of The Association of Junior Leagues International, which represents 292 individual Junior Leagues in four countries.  “For all of the money, time and effort we devote to keeping kids in foster care, unfortunately they are too often left on their own when they ‘graduate.’”

Foster care has been a key focus area for the Junior League for more than 20 years, with highly effective programs in place across the country and beyond, including:

  • Providing 18-year-old foster kids in Monterey County, California with transition tools and information on college and vocational schools.
  • Helping 18- to 25-year-old foster kids in Tampa, Florida to reconnect with younger siblings who have been living with different families.
  • Providing 12- to 15-year-old girls in Seattle, Washington with life skills for use after foster care.
  • Supporting relatives in Napa-Sonoma, California who have agreed to keep kids out of custodial foster care.
  • In London working with Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, to help vulnerable homeless young people, many of whom slipped through the cracks of the child welfare system, with the emotional, educational and health support to help keep them off the streets.

The State Public Affairs Committees (SPACs) of individual Junior Leagues have represented the interests of its member leagues and the groups or issue areas addressed by their projects to policy makers at the state and local levels. SPACs have been committed to advocating for programs and policies that promote the physical and emotional well-being of families. Junior League SPACs in Florida and California have lobbied for laws to support youth in foster care, laws intended to change the age-out age from 18 to 21 and for increased educational and residential support upon aging out of the foster care system.

Latest statistics on foster care from federal AFCARS data, 2006

Who are the children waiting in the U.S. foster care system?
510,000 National children in foster care
32% of foster children are between the ages of 0 and 5
28% of foster children are between the ages of 6 and 12
40% of foster children are between the ages of 13 and 21

Average # of birthdays a child spends in foster care: 2 birthdays (28 months)
Average # of placements children experience: 3
17% (88,475) of children live in group care or institutional settings

What are United States’ foster children waiting for?
248,054 (49%) are waiting to be reunified with their birth families
127,000 (25%) are waiting to be adopted
Average time foster care children have been waiting to be adopted: 39.4 months

Where did the United States’ children go after leaving foster care in 2006?
287,691 children exited foster care
152,152 (53%) were returned to their parents
49,741 (17%) were adopted
45,761 (16%) left to live with relatives (some through guardianships)
26,181 (9%) “aged out” or left the system at age of 18 or older
12,086 (4%) left for other reasons (ran away, transferred, died)
2,349 (1%) left for unknown reasons