It’s inevitable, it’s ridiculous, it’s incapacitating, its unexplainable, unjustified
and it has a cold water to the face effect to a young person’s confidence, and
it is of course, aging out.
Aging out is the process by which an 18 year old foster child is thrust into the
world to fend for his or herself having exceeded the legal age for foster care.
So it’s out into the cold for you, when you are no longer the state or government’s
responsibility. The number is staggering; 30,000 kids age out of foster care each
year, and because of that fact foster care alums account for 50% of the homeless
population. FIFTY PERCENT!
How you’ve come into care is of little consequence. You are definitely leaving
care because of your age. There’s no way around it, granted, there may be
circumstances that could extend your time in care, but inevitably you will be
sent away due to age. So what happens when you’re booted from care?
A nice college scholarship or money to get you into an apartment? Probably not.
A mentor or a guide to help you navigate through credit, check writing, or
understanding a lease? Not unless you were adopted. Well how about help with
a car or job, surely there’s some kind of program or something that can help with at least that? Nope. In most cases it’s you against the world, it becomes your responsibility to figure out and
do all the things that are expected of an adult. But the care rules in most states prohibit a foster child from having a car and in some scenarios even a job. So in what world can you just
land, and be handed a ready-made life? The streets, that’s where. No need for a job or credit or even a car to live on the street, you don’t really need anything, it’s the (semi) easy way out.
The path of least resistance.
That plays a huge role in the reason for foster care’s huge homeless numbers. The bulk of the kids in care are sensitive or emotionally stunted and now they are asked to build a life for
themselves. That is no small task even for someone who grew up with advantages. And therein lies the problem; advantages. Or the lack there of.
So what do you get when you throw an untrained, uninformed and in most cases an individual who is much more sensitive and less likely to control their feelings? An increase in the crime
rate, these kids find themselves with no resources, the natural human response to this problem is to go on the offensive and provide for you. Without the proper tools to cope, an ousted foster
youth begs, borrows and in the worst cases, steals to fend for themselves.
The numbers tell the tale of misinformed and misguided kids who stand a 60% more likelihood of committing a crime than the average 18-21 year old. When stealing or violent crime isn’t
in the youth’s personality most will turn to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism.
Kids who age out of care are at a much higher risk for dependency to drugs and alcohol. Escaping the situation is ideal and most teens turn to illegal substances as a means of breaking
away from reality, and a break from the situation, eight of ten times this will lead to an addiction and with that, a reason to commit crimes. Feeding the addiction in conjunction with
trying to eat and find a safe place to stay sends the bulk of these kids into a panic and they feel forced to steal and rob to make ends meet and get the drugs they need.
All these crimes lead to the second problem that the aging out process has caused throughout the years, increased incarceration rate. The nation’s jails and prison are swollen with the
products of a broken foster care system. Even if the crime is insignificant and does not require an extensive jail term it is more than likely that it will not be the last brush with the law, over
48% of foster care kids have spent at least one night in jail. Former foster youth account for anywhere from 20-45% of the nation’s prison population, a number which is very hard to
pinpoint as many states do not take this information into account when releasing inmate population information. Needless to say these numbers are absurdly lower for the average 18 year
old.
Pregnancy has found its place into the list of troubles stemming from the aging out crisis. Lost and vulnerable young adult females seeking help and guidance often find themselves being
manipulated and exploited by ill-minded men.
This naivety results in thousands of cases involving physical and sexual abuse as well as many unwanted pregnancies. Over 60% of all females leaving the system become pregnant within the
first two years of departure. An unwanted or unable to be cared for infant has but one place to go; foster care. The recurring cycle of teens going out and babies coming in is the real crux
of the problem of aging out. Generations of the same DNA strand funneling through a worn out system. When you dismiss one problem and then within that same year take in another
problem, YOU STILL HAVE A PROBLEM.
Owner/Editor - Chris Chmielewski