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According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), as of September 30, 2014, there were 415,129 children in foster care. AFCARS also estimated that in 2014, more than 22,000 youths emancipated or “aged out” of the foster care system when they reached 18 years of age.
Youths face myriad challenges throughout their time in the foster care system, but one that is not often addressed is the lack of financial guidance and support once they emancipate from the system. Our E-News Exclusive this month explores this subject, those who are studying it, and others who are creating programs and initiatives to help foster care youths learn more about responsible financial management.
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— Marianne Mallon, editor |
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The Financial Gap for Foster Care Youths
By Sue Coyle, MSW
Today, more and more youths are choosing to remain at home after high school and even after college, relying on their parents and their parents’ house to help ease them into the “real world.” The time spent at their childhood home enables young people to become financially stable or, at least, financially confident and capable so that they feel able to live independently when the time is right.
However, there is a subset of youths who don’t have that opportunity—youths who range in age from 18 to 21 are transitioning out of foster care.
“The emphasis in child welfare is to get young people into permanent families quickly,” explains Clark Peters, PhD, MSW, JD, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri. “The first priority is to get them back into the family of origin, and if that’s not going to happen, the next best option is adoption or subsidized guardianship. But there’s this other group [of youths] who do not get unified and do not get adopted. If you become 14, 15, 16 years old, the odds of getting adopted drop.
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Study Shows Mental Health Care Gaps Play Out
in the Emergency Department
NPR reports on a new study that finds that compared with physically ill patients, people with mental health conditions rely more on the emergency department for treatment and tend to be stuck there longer than people with physical symptoms.
Transparency Among Pop Culture Figures About Mental Health Rising
According to the Los Angeles Times, a growing number of celebrities are revealing battles with depression and other mental health struggles in a quest for transparency and healing.
American Academy of Pediatrics Relaxes Digital Exposure Guidelines
The Washington Post reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics has acknowledged that some online media exposure for children can be beneficial, and that it has radically revised its thinking on the subject. |
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Social Worker Safety: Ultimate Self-Care
Most social workers have learned to care for themselves mentally and emotionally, but many are still at risk for their actual physical safety. Organizations are reaching out to support them and teach social workers how to protect themselves in risky environments. Read more »
Financial Social Work Education:
In the Field and the Classroom
In a world many say is still recovering from the 2008 recession, social workers are learning tools to help clients become financially literate. Read more » |
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Parental Smartphone Use May Affect Kids
As smartphones and tablets blur lines between work, home, and social lives, parents are grappling to balance it all, a new small study suggests. Parents’ use of mobile technology around young children may be causing internal tension, conflicts and negative interactions with their kids, suggests the qualitative study in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
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