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Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care Through Their Middle Twenties |
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From Urban Institute: This study examines employment outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through their middle twenties in three states: California, Minnesota, and North Carolina. Results suggest that youth who age out of foster care continue to experience poor employment outcomes at age 24 and generally follow one of four employment trajectories as they transition to adulthood. Youth who age out of foster care often have bouts of homelessness, criminal activity, and incarceration (Courtney, Piliavin, and Grogan- Kaylor, 1998; Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, and Nesmith, 2001). A primary task in transitioning to adulthood, and the focus of this report, is finding and sustaining employment. It might be hypothesized that some would experience unstable employment in their initial attempts to connect to the workforce, but that these patterns would stabilize when youth reached their mid-twenties. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) requested this study to examine employment and earnings outcomes for youth, through their mid-twenties, who age out of foster care. Low rates of employment persist through age 24: About three out of five youth who age out of foster care are working at age 24 in all three states, a rate lower than that of youth nationally and youth from low-income families. Four patterns of connectedness to the workforce emerge: Never connected youth have a consistently low probability of employment between ages 18 and 24.
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