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34 Clearinghouse Rev. 197 (2000-2001)
Foster Care Independence Act and John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program: New Catalysts for Reform for Young People Aging Out of Foster Care

handle is hein.journals/clear34 and id is 203 raw text is: The Foster Care Independence Act and John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program: New Catalysts for Reform for Young People Aging Out of Foster Care By MaryLee Allen and Robin Nixon Learning to live independently is a life- long process. For most children, the early stages are part of growing up in a fami- ly. In the family setting, children receive continuous economic and emotional sup- port from nurturing parents as the chil- dren make the transition from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood. For many children, however, family support is unavailable-for a few weeks, months, years, or their entire child- hood. At times when parental care and protection are missing, local government agencies may become the community's designated agent in loco parentis. All young people need the support of caring parents, services to help them prepare for adulthood, and community resources that they can draw on when needed. Young people who grow up with only the state as parent share these same needs but often face much greater chal- lenges in getting their needs met. Ap- proximately one-third of the children in foster care today are teenagers and an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 age out of care each year without being adopted or returned to their families. Their struggles are great as they move toward adulthood on their own. The federal government since 1987 has targeted assistance to states in order to meet better the needs of at least some of the young people aging out of foster care. Since then, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have engaged in some activities to assist these youths. However, the resources provided have been inadequate to reach the number of young people needing services, and the quality of these activities and their bene- fits to young people have remained uneven. In November 1999 Congress re- designed the federal Independent Living Initiative funded under title IV-E of the Social Security Act intended to improve services to young people aging out of fos- ter care and to hold states more account- able for improving outcomes for these youths as they move into adulthood. In this article we outline the history leading up to the enactment of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. We describe important provi- sions of the Chafee Foster Care Inde- pendence Program and outline the oppor- tunities the program offers for attorneys and others to strengthen advocacy on behalf of young people making the tran- sition from foster care. We also describe how the implementation of the Chafee program can be a catalyst in states for sig- nificant reforms for the young people who age out of foster care. Finally we review the lessons learned to date in hopes that JULY-AUGUST 2000 1 JOURNAL OF POVERTY LAW AND POLICY MaryLee Allen, is director, Child Welfare and Mental Health Division, Children's Defense Fund, 25 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20001; 202.662.3573. Robin Nixon, is director, Youth Development, Child Welfare League of America, 440 First Street NW, Suite 301, Washington, DC 20001:202.638.2952.

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