Financing Policies and Practices that Support Permanency for Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care

This strategy brief is one of a series of briefs exploring strategies for financing supports and services that help foster youth make successful transitions to adulthood. It was written by The Finance Project with support from the Foster Care Work Group. The Foster Care Work Group (FCWG) is one of three work groups of the Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG), a collaboration of foundation leaders dedicated to improving the lives of the nation's most vulnerable young people. Foundation leaders participating in the YTFG are committed to achieving a common vision -- ensuring that vulnerable youth are connected by age 25 to institutions and support systems that will enable them to succeed throughout adulthood. The FCWG brings together foundation leaders with a shared interest in preparing youth in foster care for their transition out of the child welfare system and providing them pathways to lifelong economic well-being

Connected by 25: Financing Policies and Practices that Support Permanency For Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care

In an effort to strengthen philanthropic investments among its membership, the Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG) asked a group of policy experts to provide recommendations on how foundations can work to encourage effective policy solutions on issues affecting youth in transition to adulthood. The primary challenge was to think beyond the systemic silos that so deeply shape the services and expectations of youth and move towards an overall framework that could produce improved outcomes. YTFG's work is based on the Connected by 25 framework, in which all youth reach the following outcomes by age 25:Educational achievement in preparation for career and community participation, including a high school diploma, post-secondary degree, and/or vocational certificate trainingGainful employment and/or access to career training to achieve life-long economic successConnections to a positive support system -- namely, guidance from family members and caring adults, as well as access to health, counseling, and mental health servicesThe ability to be a responsible and nurturing parentThe capacity to be actively engaged in the civic life of one's communityThis issue brief offers a summary of those recommendations, focusing on four primary transition points that often threaten the ability for youth to be connected by age 25 to the institutions and support systems that help them succeed throughout life