Adoption is such a robust institution that the SCOTUS cites it - yet kids "age out" of foster care

[ck4829]

May is National Foster Care Month and I want to take this opportunity to spread awareness of what we as a community can do to support a vulnerable population: young adults “aging out” of foster care.

I have gained this information through research, interviews, and personal experience stories. I do not claim to know what a young adult aging out of the foster care system has gone through, as everyone’s experience with the foster care system is different. I have been a foster sister since I was two years old, and have always been interested in learning more about how the foster care system affects the young people in our community.

In Massachusetts, young adults who have not found a permanent home, “age out” of foster care at age 18. More than 23,000 young adults age out of foster care in the U.S. every single year. Former foster youths are at significantly increased risk for homelessness, unemployment, incarceration, and early and/ or unintended pregnancy. Additionally, 54% of this population will drop out of high school and fewer than 5% will earn a bachelor’s degree.

Young adults aging out of foster care do have the choice to opt-in to continue receiving resources from the government for an additional extended period of time through a program called “Extended Out-Of-Home-Care.” This additional support is important, but it is not enough as it is only available until the age of 22. Our community must support these young people through employment opportunities, housing, mentoring, and funding programs like My First Place (hopewellinc.org/my-first-place/) – a Boston-based program that provides stable housing and case management services for individuals aging out of foster care.

https://www.lowellsun.com/2022/05/07/letter-to-the-editor-supporting-our-young-adults-aging-out-of-foster-care/

Every child who ages out of foster care - Go find the SCOTUS justices, they're your parents now.

[Phoenix61]

1. I can't imagine being on my own at 18.

I was a month shy of graduating high-school.

[spooky3]

2. And it's even harder today to earn a living wage

If you don’t have a college degree.

[Coventina]

3. The vast majority of people looking to adopt want babies, not children.

They also want healthy babies, not special needs.

Oh, and they mostly want white ones.

Plus, the hoops that one needs to go through to adopt, or even foster, are beyond what most people can afford.

Adoption is not a magic "fix" for abortion and anyone who thinks that is not living in the real world.

[FakeNoose]

5. Agreed! Adoption isn't the magic "fix"

The adoption agencies only covet the white infants - very little time is spent on finding permanent homes for all the others. And yet, it's the non-white pregnancies that are in many cases, the problem pregnancies. Maybe the mother-to-be isn't married, doesn't have a full-time partner, lacks a steady job, possibly a victim of rape, hasn't finished her education, healthcare may be questionable, and on and on. These are the situations where a terminated pregnancy is probably the right choice.

But when that choice is taken away and abortion is no longer possible, the adoption agencies will be swamped with babies and children they can't find permanent homes for. Then what happens? Does SCOTUS have a plan for that?

[RobinA]

6. In My Experience

in this field, any healthy infant is pretty easy to find an adoption for, regardless of ethnicity. The problem comes when the child is older, again, regardless of ethnicity.

[LonePirate]

7. They should adopt a foster care kid or they should be removed from all adoption waiting lists.

I know that won't be a popular opinion but oh well. We should not be rescinding women's rights partially due to a lame adoption supply shortage when we have thousands and thousands of kids waiting to find a good home which these people supposedly offer.

[Coventina]

8. It's a complicated problem with no easy fixes. And "the system" is overburdened and unfriendly.

It's tragic, and the children end up suffering the most.

I had a front row seat when my brother and his wife decided to become foster parents.
They did not want to adopt, they just wanted to foster. They had decided they were not going to have children of their own, but wanted to help with children who needed a safe home.

After going through the whole process with just one child (a nine-year-old who did end up getting adopted by another couple, so a much-needed happy ending for her!) they said "never again." They were physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted by it.

The system just brutalizes you.

[LonePirate]

10. No doubt the foster system in America is atrocious for foster parents and even worse for the kids.

I simply think we need to apply tactics employed by the RW in other areas. They say there is plenty of demand and we obviously have excess supply. Those parents, if they truly want to adopt, can choose from the existing supply or they can change their minds. We should stop catering to their goldilocks or boutique demands.

[Mad_Machine76]

4. CPS permanency worker in Indiana

can confirm :-/

[mopinko]

9. i've posted before about my friend who wrote/produced the movie 'foster boy'

they should make those justices watch that movie.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. Adoption has nothing to do with it IMO

I don't care if 100% of unwanted children were adopted into loving homes. That still doesn't take away a basic human right to be pregnant to term or not.