Sec. 3. Findings
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/bill/116/hr/7591/ih/section-3·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Nearly 25,000 foster youth become too old to receive foster care assistance and benefits—or age out —every year. Youth aging out of foster care and transitioning to independent living require considerable support from local, State, and Federal Government to ensure a smooth transition into healthy, independent adulthood. Foster youth are more likely to have been exposed to childhood and adolescent trauma, subjected to multiple chronic health challenges, and diagnosed with poorer mental and physical health outcomes than their peers.
Additionally, foster youth are more vulnerable to suffer from persistent anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other severe challenges to their health. As a result, youth aging out of foster care experience tremendous difficulty in completing education, obtaining gainful employment, accessing and receiving basic health care, maintaining stable housing, and avoiding the criminal justice system. Studies indicate that more than 80 percent of foster youth transitioning into adulthood are unable to support themselves financially.
Only 4 percent of youth aging out of foster care earn a college degree by age 26, as compared to 36 percent of individuals who never experience foster care. On average, youth aging out of foster care earn approximately half the income of their similarly educated peers and are employed at significantly lower rates. Accordingly, individuals transitioning out of foster care are often linked with homelessness and housing instability. One national study estimated that approximately 66 percent of former foster youth experience a homeless episode within 6 months after transitioning out of care.
Moreover, youth aging out of foster care are less likely to seek health and mental care services that are often desperately needed. Nearly 60 percent of young men who have aged out of foster care and of emancipated young men have been convicted of a crime.