Morgan Simpson Transition

Easing the Transition: The Role of Foster Parents
The advocacy project Morgan Simpson and I completed took a closer look at the transitory period foster youth face when they age out of the foster care system. Upon their eighteenth birthday, unless they sign a Continuing Residential Support (CARS) Agreement or join the LINKS program, foster youth are considered legal adults no longer under the care of the State. This means that all the services they were receiving—housing, medical, mental health, et cetera—cease. For the majority of the adolescents in a permanent family, the transition from childhood to adulthood is a gradual process comprised of stages of increasing responsibility and autonomy. Foster youth are not granted that luxury; their
path to adulthood is instantaneous.
To get a better sense of what that change is like, Morgan Simpson and I interviewed several individuals who have either aged out of the foster care system or have had a personal connection with someone who has.
We began by speaking with Mrs. Jessie Cotton, a foster parent. Her nine years as a foster parent afford her the ability to speak to this issue. Roman Rys, a former foster youth, was interviewed about his experiences going from foster care to independence. Finally, we spoke with Mrs. Angel Roberts and Crystal Kellerman, who work at Beaufort County’s Department of Social Services (DSS). Both women are in the foster care division.
After speaking with these individuals, it was decided the focus of this project should be to make foster parents aware of the influence they can have in making the foster youth’s transition smoother. With that power, the aim was to encourage foster parents to assist the youth in building their independence and like skills that will benefit them throughout the remainder of their
lives.
This goal was actualized by creating a short video and a brochure. The video, Easing the Transition: How Foster Parents Can Help, presents a few statistics on youth who have aged out of foster care without sufficient support and it introduces programs designed to mitigate the negative consequences of such a drastic transformation. Easing the Transition calls foster parents to stand in the gap between the skill-building services provided and the actual skills the youth have upon exiting foster care. It concludes by offering suggestions on how to facilitate autonomy in the youth.
The brochure, “Easing the Transition: The Role of Foster Parents,” offers foster parents concrete tips on how they can assist teenagers in becoming adept at managing their finances, building relationships, and maintaining their health. Morgan Simpson and I plan to make the brochures available in DSS lobbies following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Project and Policy
In 1999, the John Chafee Foster Care Independence Act was enacted by Congress. This legislation extensively increased the effort made by the federal government to aid youth in and those who have been released from the foster care system. This act led to the creation of the NC LINKS, subsequently referred to as LINKS, program. LINKS was conceived “to build a network of relevant services with youth so that they will have ongoing connections with family, friends, mentors, the community, employers, education, financial assistance, skills training, and other resources to facilitate their transition to adulthood” (“Adolescent Services, n.d.). The program’s desired outcomes are to assist youth in: having sufficient financial resources to meet their needs, obtaining safe and steady housing, meeting academic and/or vocational goals, establishing lasting community connections, avoiding high risk behaviors, postponing teenage pregnancy, and accessing physical and mental health services (“Adolescent services,” n.d.).
The CARS Agreement is a document foster youth must sign if they wish to remain in a State licensed home or facility while continuing their education or until they reach 21 years of age. With this, young adults voluntarily consent to being under DSS’s “placement authority” which permits foster parents to continue receiving financial assistance for the housing and care of the foster youth (“The CARS Agreement,” 2014).
The John Chafee Foster Care Independence Act has stabilize the journey into adulthood enormously for foster youth. However, it would be impossible for every young person with a CARS Agreement or enrolled in the LINKS program to achieve all seven of LINKS’s intended outcomes with the limited funding and the limited number of available caseworkers to guide foster youth to a higher quality of adulthood.
This is where foster parents factor in. Foster parents spend more time with the youth than does the caseworker, so it is only logical to have parents actively involved during this crucial period. Even if young people are able to learn the necessary skills for healthy adult living, they will never become proficient enough to apply said skills in the “real world” if they are not given the opportunity, encouragement, and freedom to practice them within the safety of their foster homes. The John Chafee Foster Care Independence Act is the State’s acknowledgement of a joint effort between it and foster parents to shepherd foster youth into a thriving adulthood.

Project Objective
One goal of this endeavor was to raise awareness of the fact that the majority of foster youth are not being adequately prepared for a life independent of the foster care system.
While there have been numerous studies on the reality of a swift adulthood for former foster youth, many foster parents are uninformed of the severity of such a phenomenon. Such possible consequences include increased homelessness, less education, unemployment, increased involvement in the criminal justice system, and increased teenage pregnancy.
The second goal was to help foster parents recognize that they have the power to help reduce the likelihood of the aforementioned effects. Foster parents typically aspire to help children and teenagers, which is why they choose to foster, but some may not realize just how impactful their time with this population can be. Building on their desire to help create a better life for foster youth, this project empowers parents to become more active in the adolescent’s growth. It is simple to advise parents to teach young people to become contributing members of society, but it is another thing to make that a reality. The video and brochure are intended to offer some concrete suggestions foster parents can implement. While neither provide an all-encompassing list, they are a starting point for guiding youth towards
self-sufficiency.