By Sue Coyle, MSW
Yearly, greater than 20,000 younger adults age out of the foster care system. They’re between the ages of 18 and 21, some having chosen to voluntarily stay in care after 18. Their transition from the kid welfare system to maturity is usually troublesome as they sort out schooling, employment, housing, relationships and, merely, subsequent steps.
Easing that transition usually falls to social staff and social work organizations. It’s a job these professionals don’t and mustn’t take flippantly. In spite of everything, says Judith Schagrin, LCSW-C, a public coverage analyst in Baltimore, “These are our youngsters.”
Mark E. Courtney, PhD, Samuel Deutsch Professor Emeritus on the College of Chicago, Crown Household College of Social Work, Coverage and Apply and Co-Director of the Transition-Age Youth Analysis and Analysis Hub on the College of California Berkeley, agrees. “As soon as we assume authorized custody and we look after them for some time period—and for lots of those younger folks, most of them have been there for some time, years—we are saying we’re going to do a superb job elevating you, we have now an obligation to observe by on that.”
As necessary as this transition and the younger adults going by it are, there’s nonetheless a lot room for enchancment. Younger adults dealing with a cutoff of providers at 18 or 21, if not a bit older, relying on the service, can lack the instruments and the community wanted to progress ahead independently.
Learn the complete story in NASW Social Work Advocates journal here.
