Independent Living
for Foster Youth: Executive Summary
February 2002
Of the 581,000 children in foster care, 24,000 emancipate or run away from state custody each year. For these young adults, the instability that accompanies long periods of out-of-home placement during childhood can have significant and long-term detrimental effects. It jeopardizes their school performance, their skill acquisition and their chances for success in adulthood. Two studies that document the discouraging circumstances of former foster youth after leaving care are widely cited: the 1992 Westat study and a 1995 study of Wisconsin's former foster youth. Both reports analyzed data regarding adolescents who had spent considerable time in foster care and eventually emancipated. Both indicated that these youth are at higher risk of experiencing unemployment, poor educational outcomes, poor health, long-term dependency on public assistance, and increased rates of incarceration than are their peers in the general population.
Since 1986 the federal government has provided states with funding to develop independent living programs intended to minimize these negative effects and prepare foster youth for adulthood. Without these services, young adults typically leave the state's care without the skills or support networks necessary to enable them to become self-sufficient. The limited research on this population of youth shows that they need training to acquire basic life skills. Independent living services typically offer assistance with money management, health and safety, locating and maintaining housing, food and nutrition, community resources, career planning, and social skills development. Although it noted that insufficient data were available to fully evaluate independent living programs, the 1992 Westat report found that focused assistance in these areas was related to improved outcomes for youth, as was completion of high school before leaving care and continued contact with extended family.
The most recent effort to strengthen states' capacity to deliver independent living services to foster, independent and former foster youth is federal legislation, the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA). This legislation doubled funding to states from $70 million to $140 million per year and granted states broader flexibility to create and expand their services. The FCIA expands eligibility for independent living services, requires states to offer services to former foster youth until they reach age 21, allows a portion of funds to be used for room and board, improves national data collection efforts, and enables states to extend Medicaid health care coverage to former foster youth.
Since the passage of the FCIA, many states have amended their state plans to better use resources, to assess the needs of foster youth leaving state care, and to expand their programs. Most of these changes have been in three key areas: health care, education and housing.
Health care
Former foster youth report that they find it difficult to secure health care coverage in their first years on their own. This inadequate access to health care has concerned child welfare advocates because it inhibits the ability of these youth to lead stable adult lives. States have taken advantage of various ways to extend coverage to these youth using SCHIP, the Ribicoff option and standard Medicaid categories. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 60 percent of former foster youth qualify for some type of publicly funded health program under these options. The FCIA, however, offers states yet another option: the extension of Medicaid to all former foster youth until they reach the age 21. Since 1999, five states have implemented this option.
Education
Foster youth often are delayed in completing their secondary education because of health conditions, behavioral problems, disruptions in their education, and mental health issues. In fact, studies show that many of them never do complete their education. The Wisconsin study of former foster youth showed that even 12 to 18 months after leaving care, only 63 percent had completed high school or an equivalent degree, compared to an 86 percent high school completion rate for all youth ages 18 to 24. Independent living programs include tutoring and an emphasis on educational achievement to combat these trends.
For those youth who are academically prepared to pursue post-secondary education, high costs often impede their educational path. All states assist youth in applying for admission to post-secondary institutions and for financial aid, including Pell Grants and other private scholarship funds. Ten states have scholarship programs that offer foster youth between $500 and full tuition to pursue post-secondary education. Twelve states have tuition waiver programs that allow former wards of the state to attend public universities or vocational programs without paying tuition. Some state tuition waiver programs also cover room and board charges, books and related fees.
Housing
After leaving care, youth also face challenges in finding stable housing. Many former foster youth return to their biological families after emancipating from care. Several studies now document, however, that anywhere from 10 percent to 25 percent of former foster youth are homeless for at least one night after they leave foster care. Historically, federal constraints on using funding for room and board have hindered the development of housing alternatives for these youth.
With the use of state and private funds, however, some independent living programs have developed practice living settings, transitional living opportunities, scattered site housing, supportive landlord programs, HUD arrangements and stipends to assist emancipating foster youth. Under the FCIA, states now may use a portion of federal funds for room and board for former foster youth. This new source of funding, used in coordination with existing general housing assistance, will likely encourage more extensive use of these arrangements in the near future.
This report examines independent living programs and the youth they serve. It outlines the new opportunities available to states under the FCIA, and it highlights what states are doing to provide assistance to independent and former foster youth in the areas of health care, education and housing. The appendices include compilations of recently passed independent living legislation, as well as state laws and policies regarding educational assistance and medical coverage for independent and former foster youth.
 Appendices To view PDF files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.
Appendix A: The Foster Care Independence Act Legislation (P.L. 106-169)
Appendix B: FY 2001 CFCIP State Allotments
Appendix C: Medical Coverage for Independent and Former Foster Youth: State Laws and Policies
Appendix D: Educational Assistance for Independent and Former Foster Youth: State Laws and Policies
Appendix E: State Foster Care Independent Living Contact People
Appendix F: Recently Enacted State Laws Assisting Independent and Former Foster Youth
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