Foster Care Challenges

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Moving into adulthood comes with its challenges for any teen. Of the 300,000 youth in foster care, the 25,000 currently facing transition experience even more challenges. Most youth leaving the foster care system do not receive enough support to succeed while living independently. Youth that have been placed in the foster care system are more likely to be imprisoned, unemployed, and uneducated. Together, those three things often lead to homelessness. These kids are thrown into a system that they do not understand, leaving them unprepared for the challenges that adult life includes. The issue is whether or not the foster care system provides a sufficient transitional living program for youths that are beginning to age out of the system (Courtney). …show more content…

It is very difficult, if not impossible, for these young teens to locate and maintain a home for themselves. Landlords often see a risk when assessing youth to be renters. Additionally, most landlords require large deposits that the emancipated youth cannot afford because of a lack of funds; this population will not be able to meet the requirements of the of the contract. A study in 2003 stated that over 40% of the emancipated foster care children said that they were homeless at some point after leaving the foster care system. Furthermore, this statistic does not include those who were staying with friends and family until they were asked to move on. Although homelessness is not the only issue for teens emancipated from the system, it is a good place to start. Providing a safe and secure environment for the teens would be beneficial because many came from unsafe and and unstable homes …show more content…

Many kids that are in the system are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, attachment issues, and several other mental health issues due to genetic or situational realities. Once the youth is emancipated, it is difficult to keep up with the medicine that the teens were taking and require. This problem can be caused by teens not wanting to take their prescribed medicine because the teens were forced to take it or a lack of understanding of how to navigate the health care system to receive the needed medication to stay healthy

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