Family and other trusted adults offer critical guidance to help young people navigate important decisions about education, careers, housing, and relationships as they emerge into independence over time. But for youth exiting foster care without having achieved permanency through family reunification, adoption, or guardianship, this transition is abrupt and demanding. Most children exit the foster care system to a permanent family, but about 8% age out and are expected to quickly assume adult responsibilities — too often with little preparation and few, if any, supports.¹

As a result, many face challenges accessing education, employment, and housing. Ensuring that youth who age out of foster care experience success is not only morally just, it is estimated that society would save $4.1 billion (in costs related to homelessness, incarceration, early parenthood, and not completing high school) for every group of youth aging out of foster care if their outcomes were on par with those of their peers.²

This brief highlights perspectives from former youth in foster care, including those who transitioned into adulthood without permanency.³ Drawing on their insights, it identifies what matters most as youth prepare to exit foster care, and offers ideas and solutions for child welfare professionals. The child welfare system should embrace a holistic view of young people’s well-being to ensure that policies, practices, and partnerships are in place to meet the needs of youth during this critical transition period.

Understand and utilize federal opportunities

Federal policies increasingly acknowledge that many older youth⁴ in foster care need additional time and support to develop the skills and stability — and access the resources — needed to transition successfully.

• The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, which created the John H. Chafee Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, funds services that help older youth in foster care prepare for independence, including the Education and Training Voucher Program.
• The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 allows states to extend foster care eligibility to age 21, giving young people additional time to access housing, education, employment, and other critical transitional supports while remaining in foster care.
• The Family First Prevention Services Act expanded access to education and training vouchers by allowing eligible young adults to receive support until age 26. In addition, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ensures that young adults who aged out of foster care remain eligible for Medicaid health coverage until age 26.

State spending of allocated Chafee funds and implementation of transition programs vary widely. Among youth still in foster care upon turning age 18, those still in the system one year later ranged dramatically from 6% to 87%, depending on the state.⁵

Address trauma

Healing from trauma is essential for youth in foster care to achieve stability and long-term well-being. Addressing trauma early strengthens emotional, mental, physical, and relational health, better positioning youth to pursue and achieve life goals in areas such as education, employment, and healthy relationships.

At the federal level, healing from trauma is not an explicit goal for transition-age youth. The National Youth in Transition Database, for example, tracks outcomes related to education, employment, housing, parenting, and criminal involvement, but does not track mental health.⁶ When emotional well-being is measured, it generally is assessed through outputs (such as whether a youth received therapy or is on medication) rather than outcomes (a determination on whether the youth is emotionally healthy). A report from Think of Us notes that too many youth age out of foster care unhealed. “The system fails to properly acknowledge the heartbreak that comes with aging out,” it says.

Gabriel Foley, a former youth in foster care says providing mental and emotional support early in adolescence is vital: “A little support goes a long way in making you feel comfortable when you’re in an emotional state. My assistant hockey coach would sit next to me on the bus and ask, ‘How’ve you been, Gabe?’ And my foster dad found ways to talk with me when I was frustrated.”

Prioritize building supportive networks

Strong, trusted support for youth as they prepare to leave the foster care system should begin with family and kin, including siblings, who can provide enduring and meaningful connections. Staff of child protection agencies have a responsibility to actively support youth in reconnecting with family members, whenever safe, prior to exiting from foster care, making this a core component of transition planning.

Having high-quality relationships with non-relative adults while in foster care also can help prepare youth during their transition to adulthood.⁷ The child welfare system’s focus on independence rather than interdependence tends to prioritize the development of discrete independent living skills (such as budgeting or resume writing) while neglecting skills essential for developing healthy sustained relationships (such as communication, coping, collaboration, and help-seeking).⁸ Having positive relationships while in foster care — with even just one person — has been shown to have significant impacts post-transition.⁹

Develop and nurture rapport

Supportive networks for older youth in foster care are built through trusted relationships and consistent engagement, not one-time connections or one-off programs. Older youth have expressed the importance of shifting from support that focuses on checklists to a focus on relationships. Agency staff and resource families must invest time in listening to and building rapport with older youth as means of demonstrating they are non-judgmental and available.¹⁰

Child protection agencies can address trauma and build those supportive relationships while partnering with community-based organizations uniquely positioned to support transition-age youth in foster care. Kimberly Ali, commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, noted that her agency can’t do this work alone: “We think carefully about our role and about what services — such as peer support — can be better provided by our partners in the community.”

Create social supports among peers

Peer relationships are another essential part of youth social development, providing opportunities to build skills in mutual trust, supportiveness, and conflict resolution. Due to frequent placement disruptions, older youth in foster care often struggle to maintain consistent peer connections, with LGBTQ+ and Black young adults reporting lower levels of social support after leaving foster care than other groups. Agency staff and resource families can help strengthen informal connections through peer mentoring programs that connect older youth with individuals who have lived experience in the child welfare system, cultivating trust and meaningful support networks through shared experiences. In Allegheny County, Pa., youth support partners work alongside caseworkers, supporting youth ages 14 to 21 in improving communication and increasing youth involvement.

Help youth develop self-advocacy skills

Older youth need opportunities to develop skills that allow them to advocate for themselves into adulthood. These skills can be developed while still in foster care.

Be transparent

Caseworkers should share information with youth about their case at a developmentally appropriate level, as unclear or limited information can cause them to feel confused, isolated, and disempowered. Transparency, on the other hand, helps them feel respected and better able to participate in decisions and make better choices affecting their lives. “Ignorance is not bliss,” says Mars Presswood, a former youth in foster care. “It felt really isolating to know that everyone else knew what was going on, but I had no clue what was happening to me. No one sat down to ask, ‘Do you know what’s going on?’”

Encourage active engagement

Youth need to develop self-advocacy skills to ensure that transition plans build on their assets and include appropriate services.¹¹ They should be encouraged to express their needs and preferences in planning meetings and in court. “I was taught to advocate for myself, so when I got into foster care, I was involved in my case,” said Tiffany Jones, a former youth in foster care. “I would speak directly to the judge. I asked to stay at the same school even though I was moving homes, and the judge said I could.”

The Michigan Court Improvement Program’s Youth Advocacy Project hires child welfare professionals with lived experience in foster care to mentor and teach transition-age youth in foster care to advocate for themselves.

Welcome and incorporate youth perspectives

Agency staff and court professionals play important roles in the self-advocacy of youth. Court hearings and related meetings should be scheduled outside of school hours, and youth should be invited to provide input in ways that are developmentally appropriate.¹² Youth engagement also should be respected and supported outside of court, such as during family group decision making meetings.

Improve transition planning

Youth who have transitioned from foster care describe transition planning as “compliance-driven rather than youth-centered,” illustrating the need to shift away from the current approach. Transition planning requires a flexible, individualized approach that should build on a youth’s strengths and priorities, focusing on what supports are needed for success rather than rigid system requirements. In Hennepin County, Minn., youth participate in a conference where transition planning is guided by their response to a simple question: “What is the most important thing in your life?” The aforementioned Think of Us report notes: “Youth’s most urgent needs are not always the system’s most urgent needs. … We cannot know what is most urgent for youth unless we ask them.”

Begin transition planning earlier

Research, including the perspectives of youth, emphasize the importance of early transition planning.¹³ The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 requires transition plans to be developed 90 days before a youth turns 18 — but planning can and should begin much earlier, in concurrence with the pursuit of permanency. The National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council recommends it begin as early as age 13, allowing youth to take a gradual and more active role in their life trajectory. Foley, the former youth in foster care, says delaying transition planning to age 16 or 17 can cause young people to experience anxiety “because the gradual process of learning to trust yourself as a capable adult doesn’t happen.”

Programs such as E Makua Ana Youth Circle in Hawaii provide youth a supportive space to involve trusted individuals of their choosing in planning next steps for housing, education, employment, and overall well-being, using a strengths-based, youth-centered approach.

Help youth understand their options

Older youth often lack information about the transition process, leaving them unaware of available supports. Many face an unfair tradeoff between achieving legal permanency, which often results in loss of services, and aging out of care to retain access to benefits. The SOUL Family framework in Kansas addresses and eliminates this dichotomy, allowing youth to establish permanent legal connections without losing access to benefits related to health care, independent living, and education, while also maintaining connections to their biological families.

Child protection agency staff should communicate available resources, timelines, and benefit eligibility requirements for transition-age youth. Some youth, for example, may believe “extending foster care to age 21” means they are eligible to receive support until the day before they turn 22, although in actuality it ends the day they turn 21. “Two days before my (21^st) birthday, the (caseworker) was like, ‘You’re going to be done with this soon. Did you know that?’” recalled Presswood, the former youth in foster care. “And I was like, ‘No!’”

Tools such as the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services’ online benefits eligibility finder help youth identify services and eligible benefits based on their age, foster care status, education status and goals, and other circumstances. In Massachusetts, a collaboration of stakeholders from inside and outside the child welfare system — including alumni of foster care — published The Answer Book to provide information to youth about the transition process.

Ensure planning is comprehensive

Youth with experience in foster care suggest that effective transition planning must move beyond documentation and toward stronger implementation, accountability, and relationship-centered practice.¹⁴ Youth leaders note that the scope of transition planning typically does not match the level of need and often fails to address the importance of community networks, resources, and social connections.

An effective transition plan is not just about preparing youth to leave foster care. It’s about ensuring youth have what they need to thrive in adulthood. This includes securing a safe and stable place to live, the means to get to their job or school, access to critical documents (such as birth certificate, Social Security card, and medical and school records), and a wide swath of social connections — including with those who can provide emotional and behavioral support.

Allow youth to experience normalcy

Engaging in basic activities help transition-age youth achieve a sense of normalcy in their lives, build confidence, and strengthen social skills. Experiences such as learning to drive and getting their first job are rites of passage that foster independence and responsibility.¹⁵ Many young adults in foster care found employment, in particular, to be valuable in developing social networks and providing real-world skills, such as balancing responsibilities and money management.¹⁶

In Rhode Island, Foster Forward’s Works Wonders® program provides skills training, one-on-one career coaching, and paid work-based learning opportunities to 14 to 26 year olds who are in — or have previously experienced — foster care.

Creating safe spaces where young people can make mistakes and express a full range of emotions without fear of consequences is a recurring theme connected to normalcy.¹⁷ Many young adults in foster care describe feeling they had little room to openly experience sadness or grief, and were concerned that showing these emotions could lead to negative consequences, such as being prescribed psychotropic medications.¹⁸

Provide ongoing support after case closure

For youth who age out of foster care, the end of formal system involvement should not mean the end of access to guidance, supportive relationships, and resources, including vital services offered across multiple systems, such as health care, education, and housing.

Many states have programs that support former youth in foster care to obtain college degrees, such as the Guardian Scholars program in California and Iowa. Oregon’s Youth Transition Program extends housing support through age 23 for young adults who are working or enrolled in school, allows self-referral to independent living programs, and provides additional financial assistance. Alameda County, Calif., recently piloted a guaranteed income program for young adults who had exited extended foster care. New transition age youth programs in Los Angeles County, which fall under the Department of Mental Health, support young adults up to age 25 with therapeutic services and career, education, and housing resources. The Iowa Aftercare Services Network connects young adults who have exited foster care to adults who help them develop independent living skills, set goals, and find health care, employment, education, and housing.

Additional resources

These reports and resources reflect important perspectives of transition-age youth in foster care, offering insights into their most urgent needs and solutions for meeting those needs:

• Aged out: How we’re failing youth transitioning from foster care
• Barriers to authentic youth engagement
• Breaking barriers: 10 pathways to a thriving life beyond foster care
• Elevating Youth Engagement: A training curriculum for meaningful partnership with young people in foster care
• Exploring federal supports for transition-age youth: Federal convening readout report
• Feeling “plugged in”: Promoting connection after care

1 Geiger, J. M., & Okpych, N. J. (2022). Connected after care: Youth characteristics, policy, and programs associated with postsecondary education and employment for youth with foster care histories. Child Maltreatment, 27(4), 658–670.

2 Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2019). Future savings: The economic potential of successful transitions from foster care to adulthood, p. 5.

3 Content of this brief was informed through ongoing consultation with members of the Knowledge Management Lived Experience Advisory Board. This team includes youth, parents, kinship caregivers, and foster parents with lived experience in the child welfare system who serve as strategic partners with Family Voices United, a collaboration between FosterClub, Generations United, the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, and Casey Family Programs. Members who contributed to this brief include Gabriel Foley, Tiffany Jones, and Mars Presswood. In addition, the Think of Us report, Aged out: How we’re failing youth transitioning out of foster care, provided helpful content and framing.

4 “The terms transition-age youth and older youth refer to young people in foster care approaching the time of exiting the system to independence. That age can range from 14 to 21 (or age 23 depending on states with extended foster care).

5 The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2025). The evidence for extended foster care: And a new standard of care for older youth, p.2

6 One question in the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) survey tangentially addresses mental health: “Currently is there at least one adult in your life, other than your caseworker, to whom you can go for advice or emotional support?” The NYTD is required under the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999.

7 Ball, B., Sevillano, L., Faulkner, M., & Belseth, T. (2021). Agency, genuine support, and emotional connection: Experiences that promote relational permanency in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 121, 105852.

8 Ball, B., Sevillano, L., Faulkner, M., & Belseth, T. (2021).

9  Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., Kurka, J. M., Yoo, W., & Rodríguez De Jesús, S. A. (2021). Former foster system youth: Perspectives on transitional supports and programs. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 48(2), 287–305.

10 Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., Kurka, J. M., Yoo, W., & Rodríguez De Jesús, S. A. (2021); Salazar, A. M., Spiers, S. S., & Pfister, F. R. (2021). Authentically engaging youth with foster care experience: Definitions and recommended strategies from youth and staff. Journal of Youth Studies, 24(8), 1015–1032.

11 Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., Kurka, J. M., Yoo, W., & Rodríguez De Jesús, S. A. (2021).

12 Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency. (2023). Four ways that courts can actively engage children and youth involved in child welfare proceedings.

13 Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., Kurka, J. M., Yoo, W., & Rodríguez De Jesús, S. A. (2021).

14 National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council. (2025). Access granted: Mapping pathways and networks that nurture.

15 The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2015). What young people need to thrive. Leveraging the strengthening families act to promote normalcy. Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

16 National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council (2025).

17 Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., Hahn-Floyd, M., Williamson, H. J., Kurka, J. M., Yoo, W., & Rodríguez De Jesús, S. A. (2021).

18 Cancel, S., Fathallah, S., Nitze, M., Sullivan, S., & Wright-Moore, E. (2020). Aged out: How we’re failing youth transitioning out of foster care. Think of Us.