Foster Care Independence Act - Overview - History

History

Over 20,000 youth age out of foster care each year and many are not prepared to live independently. Many youth are discharged from care with no social supports or assistance, resulting in lack of basic education, high rates of unemployment, homelessness, and dependence on public assistance programs. 12% of all foster youth report being homeless at least once since their discharge from foster care and 41% of homeless young people report having spent time in foster care. One-third of foster youth earn below $6,000 per year, which is well below the national poverty level.

Foster youth are more likely to have substance abuse issues, become parents soon after aging out of care, or end up incarcerated. One study reports that 56% of youth used "street drugs" while in foster care and 33% of youth report experiencing drug or alcohol problems since leaving care. Children who age out of foster care are at a high risk for mental illness; including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and attachment disorders. 15% of foster youth have attempted or contemplated suicide and 1 in 6 youth have a chronic mental illness. In one study concerning foster youth, the rate of PTSD in adults who were in foster care for one year between the ages of 14–18 was found to be higher than that of combat veterans, with 25 percent of those in the study meeting the diagnostic criteria as compared to 12–13 percent of Iraq War veterans and 15 percent of Vietnam War veterans, and a rate of 4% in the general population. More than half the study participants reported clinical levels of mental illness, compared to less than a quarter of the general population.

Policy reform to aid foster youth was initiated in the 1980s by service providers and researchers who realized early on the poor outcomes associated with foster youth. The first policy impacting youth aging out of the foster system was the Federal Independent Living Initiative of 1986. The next landmark legislation came in 1997, when the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was passed. This reduced the time children remained in foster care before being available for adoption. The law requires state child welfare agencies to identify cases where "aggravated circumstances" make permanent separation of child from the birth family the best option for the safety and well-being of the child. One of the main components of ASFA is the imposition of stricter time limits on reunification efforts. Proponents of ASFA claimed that before the law was passed, the lack of such legislation was the reason it was common for children to languish in care for years with no permanent living situation identified. In conjunction with the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the National Foster Care Awareness Project as created. The project is a group created with the shared goal of supporting foster youth, and the Foster Care Independence Act was instituted in part by the National Foster Care Awareness Project.