Youth Aging Out of foster care

Problem Overview  

The dilemma that above 20,000 youths undergo in the present foster care system is that after turning 18 they are faced with lack of the real-life skills, no income and most significantly no place lay their head (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . Every day, children from various backgrounds and varied ages join the foster care system. They are enrolled in this system because of several reasons such are parental abuse, abandonment, drug addiction, and behavior related challenges. Parents place their children into foster care primarily so that they can receive reunification. When reunification is not achieved, the child maintains the care of the system to the point that they became eighteen, or a point referred to as aging out.

The youths normally encounter several beginnings that prevent them from succeeding. The population experience situations of unemployment, drug abuse, insufficient health care, vagrancy, and increased probabilities of being incarcerated. Presently, 270,000 convicts that are incarcerated had once enrolled in the foster care system (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . Studies suggest that 25 percent of those in foster care are likely to homeless after they aged out of care since most of them lack the skills as well as education to be take up an employment opportunity (Davidson & Underwood, 2017; Curry & Abrams, 2015) .

The youths are deprived of the right to education. When students join the foster care system, their records are delayed and this documentation process causes them to lag behind their peers. This aspect then amounts to a youth lagging behind by sometimes a grade. As time advances, the child misses the ability to continue educationally. 40 percent of the adolescents in the foster care system have shifted to at least three foster environments (Gomez, Ryan, Norton, Jones, & Galan-Cisneros, 2015) . Consequently, the several school relocations deprive them of their educational rights causing them trauma that hinders their learning ability and development.

Values and Interests  

The health implications of this problem are grievous to the economy of the nation today than before. Youths being diagnosed in the foster care system with post-traumatic stress disorder has doubled what is experienced among the United States’ war veterans. This enables us to understand the situation, and how individuals have been affected by it (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . The statistics alone calls for the need to invest in more guidance and counseling support for these youths who are transitioning into adulthood.

The government is bound to be aggressive going forward to reduce or eliminate cases of abuse and neglect. Doctors and practitioners under the sponsorship of nongovernmental organization have risen to reduce the number of deaths among children because of issues of ill-treatment and being neglected (Gomez et al., 2015). Families are a bit responsive to support the children that are transferred to the foster care system so that cases of homelessness and incarcerations are reduced. Families are willing to cooperate with the system so that these children are helped in the end. The practitioners have demonstrated a lot of concern as they engage more family members to be mandated in the future of these kids. 

Scope of the Problem  

Children of various ethnicities and backgrounds have joined the foster care system. 38 percent of these children are from various ethnic backgrounds. 24 percent of the foster children are blacks; Hispanics are about 22 percent (Rebbe, Nurius, Ahrens, & Courtney, 2016) . The Department of Homeland Security has procedures to enroll these children. The procedures used to enroll the children basically do not align what foster care needs to be, but when the parent's rights are ended, they become part of the foster care system moving from one home to the next (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . About 5100 are enrolled for foster care, a majority of them being of Latino descent, as of 2018 (Rebbe, Nurius, Ahrens, & Courtney, 2016) . The same authors report that about 100,000 individuals left their US citizen children behind after having been deported, who had to be part of the foster care. The young children end up being mistreated and not defended because of the predicaments that the parents went through. Some people would appreciate taking up these children and adopt them in spite of the language differences and the status in place. 

Family system theory helps us to identify challenges that result from disengaged relationships among family members. Parents have disengaged with their children either by fleeing away or rejecting them based on behavioral problems, causing these dysfunctional relationships (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . Self-efficacy theory also reinforces the parents missing out their role in influencing the family to function effectively (Thompson, Greeson. & Brunsink, 2016) . Social work comes in to mobilize more people to adopt these children as well as ensure that they have a safe landing if that is not the case. 

Policy Development

The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 as well as the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program federal funding was increased by 100 percent to 140 million being channeled to the youths as they transition into the outside world (Rebbe, Nurius, Ahrens, & Courtney, 2016) . For states to have a full disbursement of this amount to their region, they must give 20 percent congruent to these funds (Gomez et al., 2015). The goal of this policy of funding is to offer a plan and services so that the young adults may be trained to have the skills and education to secure the employment opportunities, plan for post-secondary education and to source for support and guidance as they attain independence. The states also utilize 30 percent of their independent living program monies for room and board.

Education and training incentives should be incorporated into the Foster Care Independence Act. The voucher would supplement the monetary need for post-secondary education for the young adults enrolled for the foster care programs. Young adults within the foster care system should be given the chance to secure secondary education, while being supported by these grants (Rebbe, Nurius, Ahrens, & Courtney, 2016) . It will give room for those susceptible youths the opportunity to receive high education and training skills that will be beneficial to their future. Higher education enhances the ability of them being received for employment even if they age out of the foster care program. 

The gap to the current policy is that it does not cover for the progress of the young adults up until the ages of independence, and not just being 18. Children should automatically be enrolled in a program that will guarantee their posterity based on their current monetary and physical support that is deficient (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . Lack of guidance and support from community members is also a challenge, as many people do not prioritize the needs of others, particularly these vulnerable groups. 

The present policy recognizes that one needs to be under the age of 21 to be eligible for the provisions of the government. The foster care services beyond 18 years of age are optional that also demands that the youths attain specific school and work engagements to be eligible (Gomez et al., 2015). The policy positively ensures that the youths are educated and guided to independent living. The youths receive the motivation to explore and organize their future and of course being receiving the local support as well as resources from the society until they can stand on their own. The move can solve the problem of releasing the youths when they age out in part (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . At least, they have matured to navigate a new way of life upon exit from the foster care program. However, the commitment of the government to allow the student to enjoy the services is based on the hard work and loyalty of the student. 

Policy Alternative  

The major outcome for the current policies and programs such as Great Expectations in many states is to enable the candidates in the foster care system to have a postsecondary education. The educational skills gained are significant in enabling youth to have an independent and successful life going forward (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . The youths are supposed to receive a community college education, offer services and receive life skills that are significant to shift successfully to a life of independence after living the foster care system.

It is possible for the youths to fizzle out and miss these opportunities provided for them through this program. This could be because of peer pressure, lack of guidance, counseling, and mentorship. In such cases, for instance, the students may not be aware of how to receive the financial support scheduled for them. They may miss out of the life skills because of self-esteem issues and the program not being productive in their end (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . Of course, such scenarios spring up spontaneously without planning for them. 

Values in the current policy exist that are harmonious with social work ethics and values. The community colleges that enroll students for this program are needed to recruit a campus coach. That is, they should hire individuals that have the competency to deal with youths that are in the foster care program. Mentorship and guidance programs are geared towards helping the youths gain life skills that will make them responsible for going forward (Thompson, Greeson. & Brunsink, 2016) . Thus, ethical boundaries of respect and being a role model are expected among the staff and the participants. 

Additional funds are needed since education needs resources and support. Considering the huge population that is transitioning from the foster care into adulthood, this federal and state support is quite essential. The federal and state government must continue mobilizing funds to facilitate this transitioning period. Most of the funds spend in educational programs could be sourced from the taxpayer's money (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . An open framework that allows contributions from various willing sources and non-governmental organizations should be laid. The community could also show their support by sharing their resources with this vulnerable group. Policymakers should be engaged in the process of reinforcing this program. Various entities should collaborate with the government to ensure that the youths are helped in their transitioning process (Davidson & Underwood, 2017) . The partnership of the federal government and the state government is also critical. The state governments could consolidate their funds by consistently contributing to this course and expect the support of the federal government. Schools, child welfare agencies and many more can give their inputs in facilitating these programs for a successful rollout. 

The anticipated position that may challenge the policy is the fact that it is optional to join John H. Chafee Foster Care. The program is done alongside the Foster Care program, and interventional potential may be frustrated in this vein. Youths that have turned 18 within the foster care system may find it difficult to be patient until they are 21 (Gomez et al., 2015). Opting out of the program prematurely will cause them to miss out the adaptive life skills that they need to successfully transition to the outside world as adults. The program has resulted in limited success, but there is still hope based on the presence of resources and support for these transitioning young adults.

Policy and Human Rights 

The right to education is highly portrayed in the program. The youths are granted equal opportunity through the non-discriminative criteria that have been established (Rebbe, Nurius, Ahrens, & Courtney, 2016) . Rights to expressions are also exemplified in the program. The youths in this the care system are encouraged to decide their friends, options of schools and other aspects of life significant for their progress.

The changes are inherent in the program support human rights in the sense that the youths are granted the opportunity to choose the program themselves. It is optional to continue and enroll in the program once they understand their rights and responsibilities (Gomez et al., 2015). The social worker is able to clear things up for these students at the onset that they do not understand their rights and responsibilities (Curry & Abrams, 2015) . The human rights and responsibilities run throughout the foster care and another program so that everything is consolidated.

The changes brought the transitional program is consistent with the sustainable development goals in the sense that the government is targeting equal educational opportunities for all. The government is cognizant of the aspect of equality so that the youths will not be denied opportunities because of their background and cultures (Gomez et al., 2015). This consistency with SDG is also seen in the mobilization of funds and resources to grant opportunities to all. The more the youths are empowered so that they can transition well to the society, the more peace is attained. 

References

Curry, S. R., & Abrams, L. S. (2015). Housing and social support for youth aging out of foster care: State of the research literature and directions for future inquiry.  Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal ,  32 (2), 143-153. 

Davidson, W. D., & Underwood, A. (2017). No Child Left Behind: Barriers for youth aging out of foster care. 

Gomez, R. J., Ryan, T. N., Norton, C. L., Jones, C., & Galán-Cisneros, P. (2015). Perceptions of learned helplessness among emerging adults aging out of foster care.  Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal ,  32 (6), 507-516. 

Rebbe, R., Nurius, P. S., Ahrens, K. R., & Courtney, M. E. (2018). Adverse childhood experiences among youth aging out of foster care: A latent class analysis.  Children and youth services review ,  74 , 108-116.

Thompson, A. E., Greeson, J. K., & Brunsink, A. M. (2016). Natural mentoring among older youth in and aging out of foster care: A systematic review.  Children and Youth Services Review ,  61 , 40-50.