Foster Care Reform

Each year, approximately 20,000 youth in foster care nationwide reach the age of majority, “age out” of the child welfare system, and face myriad negative outcomes. Many have little money, no high school diploma, no health insurance, no permanent housing, no full time job, and few if any adults on whom they can consistently rely. Youth too rarely function effectively after they leave foster care, and too rarely have the family support afforded their same age peers in the general population.

On October 7, 2008, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 became law. The legislation was developed based on findings of Congress related to the prevalence and outcomes associated with youth aging out of the foster care system and the previous legislation’s lack of responsiveness to these issues. The new law aims to promote permanency and improved outcomes for children and youth in foster care through policy changes in six key areas, including providing better support for older youth.

Unfortunately, the Fostering Connections Act has not been fully implemented in many states, and North Carolina is no exception. Every year, millions of dollars flows into North Carolina from the Washington, intended to help our foster children, and it is left unspent, simply because we have not forced the State to conform to their already existing legal obligations. NCSJP is working for the full implementation of the existing Federal law as it applies to North Carolina’s approximately 11,000 foster children.