By Huiling Feng, Justin S. Harty, Nathanael J. Okpych, and Mark E. Courtney, Chapin Hall at The University of Chicago, June 2020
A fundamental tenet of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 is that allowing foster youth to remain in care past their 18th birthday would improve their outcomes as adults. One of the most significant challenges transition-age foster youth face is homelessness. Foster youth experience disproportionately higher rates of homelessness than the general population of youth. Providing appropriate housing while youth are in care has been a critical component of extended foster care services. A better understanding of youth’s homeless experience and predictors of homelessness after the implementation of extended care can help both policymakers and practitioners better assist older foster youth to secure stable housing and prevent homelessness.
What we did
This memo examines (1) transition-age foster youths’ experiences of homelessness that occurred between participants’ first and third interviews—about a 4-year period between ages 17 and 21, (2) whether participating in extended foster care decreases the odds of experiencing homelessness among foster youth by age 21, and (3) the associations between homelessness and other characteristics of the youths and their experiences such as demographic characteristics, maltreatment history, etc.
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