Every year, 20,000 young people exit care with no family, leading to high rates of homelessness, joblessness, and suicide. This crisis reflects a failure of the state to keep children safe and secure their right to a family. Our solutions address a multitude of problems that prevent children from being placed in loving, adoptive homes. We also work to ensure that teens who age out of care have the support and resources they need to succeed.
News & Press
Events & Testimonies
Op-Eds
Cash Accounts Can Help Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Succeed
Tens of thousands of American children age out of foster care each year with little more than the clothes on their backs. These orphaned teens disproportionately end up trafficked, incarcerated, and homeless. Policymakers can help these teens succeed by opening and funding flexible bank accounts, according to a new idea brief released by the Center [...]
Isaac hadn’t had a mom in 13 years. When I tried to adopt him, he was told it was too late
Read more here.
Research & Reports
Resources & Tools
Podcasts & Audio
Television & Video
Model Reforms
Problem Nationally, over 90% of children in foster care leave the child welfare system via reunification with biological parents, guardianship, kinship placements, or adoption.1 The remaining children – approximately 9% of teens and young adults – “age out” of the child welfare system without a permanent family. 5-Permanency Project - final - c
Overview: Nearly 10% of children in our nation’s child welfare system “age out” of the system, leaving foster care without a family, meaningful adult connections, or adequate support. Outcomes for these young adults are dismal, with statistics showing startling rates of homelessness and incarceration by age 21. 4-Reinstatement Larger Write Up - final - c [...]
Frequent and unnecessary delays in the court cases of Arizona’s foster children add years to a child’s time in state care. Each court continuance delays permanency for a child up to four months. Timely hearings are a matter of due process for all parties and delays are costly to families, children, and taxpayers alike. Senate [...]
The adoption process can be slow, sometimes taking longer than a year. This largely administrative activity swallows precious time that foster children, especially older kids, don’t have to waste. Older kids are among the most difficult to place in a permanent home and face terrible odds without a family. Twenty-five percent of children who “age [...]