Youth raised in foster care face greater difficulty achieving common goals, such as completing high school, identifying a career path, and securing reliable transportation and health care. Historically, services addressing these challenges have been offered by independent living programs, which are often under-funded and unable to serve all eligible youth. A new report, Promising Practices: How Foster Parents Can Support the Successful Transition of Youth from Foster Care to Self-Sufficiency, serves as a source of information for foster parents who want to help prepare the youth in their care to live independently.

The report focuses on foster parents who have already had success with adolescents in their homes. These parents offered unique ideas, proven strategies, and real-life examples. The report also clarified factors contributing to the success of foster parents and confirmed that these parents:

Define boundaries for youth
Advocate for youth and seek needed services
Recognize that rewards do not come immediately
Have an inner confidence and are guided by a belief system
Have a commitment to children
Value the family experience and what it can bring to a young person's life

A follow-up to Promising Practices: Supporting the Transition of Youth Served by the Foster Care System (1999), the report was initiated by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, and the National Resource Center for Youth Services at the University of Oklahoma. View the report on the National Resource Center for Youth Services Web site at www.nrcys.ou.edu/PDFs/PPII.pdf.

Related Items

Read more about the issues of youth transitioning out of foster care in previous issues of Children's Bureau Express (http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov):

"Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Face Uphill Climb to Adulthood