Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth
Chapin Hall: Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 19 - Executive Summary
This is the second report from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, a longitudinal study of youth aging out of foster care and transitioning to adulthood in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. It is based on survey data collected during follow-up interviews with 603 of the 736 youth from whom baseline data were collected.
Results suggest that youth making the transition from foster care to young adulthood face a number of significant challenges, including educational deficits, mental health problems, economic insecurity, victimization, and early child-bearing. They fare worse than their same-age peers across a variety of domains and are much more likely to have been involved with the criminal justice system. At the same time, many of the young adults continue to have strong ties to family and perceive relatively high levels of social support.
