ills; ensure theactive involvement of young people in the individualplanning and decision making process that will lead tosuccessful emancipation; increase access to emergencyshelter, transitional housing, and longer-term affordablehousing options; ensure that no youth is discharged tohomelessness and provide support and concrete assistance,including health care, basic necessities, and formalaftercare services through age 21 (Nixon, 1998). Thesethings listed above are addressed in bill H.R. 3443.Young people need appropriate information about thestrengths and limitations of all permanency options,including adoption, legal guardianship, and other permanentliving arrangement, as well as emancipation. Though manyfoster teens are adopted each year, emancipation toindependence is the reality for many others. Long lasting,supportive, and strong connections to family members,friends, and other adults are critical to young people’shealthy development while they are in foster care and totheir success in adult life. Young people report thatrelationships with people who care about them and are therefor them consistently make all the difference in the worldwhen they are on their own (Mech, 1994). These are some ofthe problems faced by 20,000 foster children who age-out ofcare each year.HistoryIn the early 1980’s, older adolescents in foster careand young adults who had been discharged from foster carebecome a source of great concern to professionals in humanservices and to society at large. Many young peoplereleased from foster care were returning to the care of thestate as adults, either through the welfare or criminaljustice systems, or as residents in shelters for thehomeless(Stone, 1987). At the same time, studies such asthe one conducted by Westat in 1986 showed that about halfof the children in foster care nationally were age 12 orolder, and that many of these teenagers would exit fostercare as adults who must live on their...
