Child Welfare: Profiles of Current and Former Older Foster Youth Based on the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD)
Released: 2014-10-24T00:00:00

National Youth in Transition Database

Background

Research on former foster youth is limited and most of the studies on outcomes for these youth face methodological challenges. For example, they include brief follow-up periods; have low response rates, non-representative samples, and small sample sizes; and do not follow youth prior to exit from foster care. Few studies include comparison groups to gauge how well these youth are transitioning to adulthood in relation to their peers in the foster care population or general population. However, two studies—the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study and the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth—have tracked outcomes for a sample of youth across several domains, either prospectively (following youth in care and as they age out and beyond) or retrospectively (examining current outcomes for young adults who were in care at least a few years ago), and compared these outcomes to other groups of youth, either those who aged out and/or youth in the general population. Nonetheless, these studies focus only on youth who were in foster care in four states.

The 1999 law ( P.L. 106-169 ) authorizing the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) required that HHS develop a data system to capture the characteristics and experiences of certain current and former foster youth across the country. The law directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consult with state and local public officials responsible for administering independent living and other child welfare programs, child welfare advocates, Members of Congress, youth service providers, and researchers to (1) "develop outcome measures (including measures of educational attainment, high school diploma, avoidance of dependency, homelessness, non-marital childbirth, incarceration, and high risk behaviors) that can be used to assess the performances of States in operating independent living programs"; and (2) identify the data needed to track the number and characteristics of children receiving independent living services, the type of services provided, and state performance on the measures. In response to these requirements, HHS created the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD). The final rule establishing the NYTD became effective April 28, 2008, and it required states to report data to HHS on youth beginning in FY2011. This report provides summary and detailed data for FY2011 through FY2013.

HHS uses NYTD to engage in two data reporting activities. First, states report information twice each fiscal year on eligible youth who currently receive independent living services regardless of whether they continue to remain in foster care, were in foster care in another state, or received child welfare services through an Indian tribe or privately operated foster care program. These youth are known as served youth . Independent living services refer to the supports that youth receive—such as academic assistance and career preparation services—to assist them as they transition to adulthood. Second, states report information on foster youth on or about their 17 th birthday, two years later on or about their 19 th birthday, and again on or about their 21 st birthday. In this second group, foster youth at age 17 are known as the baseline youth, and at ages 19 and 21 they are known as the follow-up youth (and are also referred to as tracked youth in this report). These current and former foster youth are tracked regardless of whether they receive independent living services at ages 17, 19, and 21. States may track a sample of youth who participated in the outcomes collection at age 17 to reduce the data collection burden. Information is to be collected on a new group of foster youth at age 17 every three years.

Served Youth

Table 1 includes an overview of data on the served youth who received an independent living service and the type of services they received for each of FY2011 through FY2013.

The number of youth receiving an independent living service in each of those years ranged from about 97,500 to nearly 102,000. Across all three years, youth were 18 years old, on average, and more than half were female (51% to 52%). The largest share of youth were white (41%-42%) followed by black (29%-31%) and Hispanic youth (19%). About 7 out of 10 youth were in foster care when they reported receiving a service. Youth generally had less than a 12 th grade level of education, and about one out of five received special education instruction during a given fiscal year. In addition, nearly one out of five had been adjudicated delinquent, meaning that a court has found the youth guilty of committing a delinquent act.

Among the most frequently received services in most of the three years were academic support to assist the youth with completing high school or obtaining a general equivalency degree (GED), such as academic counseling and literacy training; career preparation services that focus on developing a youth's ability to find, apply for, and retain appropriate employment, including vocational and career assessments and job seeking and job placement support; and an independent living needs assessment to identify the youth's basic skills, emotional and social capabilities, strengths, and needs to match the youth with appropriate independent living services (see Figure 1 ). About 60% of youth received three or more independent living services.

Follow-Up Youth

Table 2 summarizes the characteristics and outcomes of the 19-year-old follow-up youth in FY2013. These youth—part of the follow-up population—were initially surveyed in FY2011 (at "baseline") when they were 17 years of age. The table displays information for the entire surveyed group of 19-year-olds (youth overall) as well as four sub-categories of these youth: those who were in foster care and those who were not, and those who had received at least one independent living service and those who had not. These categories are not mutually exclusive. Most of the 19-year-old youth who were in foster care also received at least one independent living service. Therefore, the data for these two groups are similar. In total, 7,536 youth participated in the survey at age 19 (this is compared to 15,597 who participated at age 17). Those who did not participate had declined to participate, were considered to be on runaway or missing status; could not be otherwise located; were incapacitated or incarcerated; or were deceased.

Figure 2 includes data on selected outcomes for youth in foster care and those who are no longer in foster care.

Demographics

Slightly more than half of the 19-year-old youth participants were male. The largest share of youth were white (42%), followed by black (31%) and Hispanic (19%) youth. Youth were asked about their outcomes across six areas—financial self-sufficiency, educational (academic or vocational) training, positive connections with adults, homelessness, high-risk behaviors, and access to health insurance.

Financial Self-Sufficiency

About one-third of youth were working full-time and/or part-time at age 19; however, youth in foster care were more likely to be working part-time and youth not in foster care or not receiving any independent living service were slightly more likely to be working full-time. Approximately 30% of youth had completed an apprenticeship, internship, or other type of on-the-job training in the past year. (For comparison, approximately 13% of these youth were working full-time and/or part-time and 20% had completed employment-related skills training when they were surveyed at age 17).

The 19-year-old youth were about equally likely to receive Social Security benefits, either Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) (12% to 14%), regardless of foster care status or receipt of independent living services. (About the same share of these youth was receiving Social Security at age 17.) Youth not receiving any independent living services were slightly less likely to report receiving other ongoing financial support (11% versus 13%-17%). Youth who were in foster care at age 19 did not qualify for public supports such as financial assistance, food assistance, and public housing. The other groups of 19-year-old youth—those not in care, those receiving at least one independent living service (and not in care), and youth not receiving any independent living services (and not in care)—were equally likely to receive such public supports.

Educational Attainment

Overall, youth were most likely to have a high school diploma (56%) or its equivalent. Educational outcomes were notably distinct for follow-up youth at age 19 depending on whether or not they were in foster care or whether they received an independent living service. Youth who were in foster care at age 19 and/or who received at least one independent living service were also slightly more likely to have a high school diploma or equivalent than those youth who were not in care or had not received at least one independent living service (58%-60% versus 52%-53%). Overall, 54% of youth were enrolled in school at age 19, which could include high school, college, or vocational school. Among youth in foster care, 70% were currently enrolled. This is compared to 44%-62% of youth in the other three subgroups (youth not in care, youth receiving at least one independent living service, and youth not receiving at least one such service). (Also for comparison, when these youth were age 17, almost all (93%) were attending school and 8% had obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent.)

Positive Connections with Adults

Almost all youth at age 19—regardless of foster care status or receipt of independent living services—said that they had a positive connection to an adult who could serve in a mentoring or substitute parent role, including a relative, former foster parent, birth parent, or older member of the community. (Nearly all youth had reported the same when they were surveyed at age 17.)

Homelessness and High-Risk Behaviors

Most of the 19-year-old youth had not experienced homelessness in their lifetime, and youth in foster care were much less likely to report being homeless than the other groups (11% versus 18%-24%). (This is compared to 16% of youth overall when they were surveyed at age 17.)

Youth in care at age 19 were also less likely to report having been incarcerated (14% versus 20%-29%). About the same share of youth (13%-17%) self-referred or were referred for an alcohol or drug abuse assessment or counseling during the fiscal year, regardless of foster care or independent living status. Youth in care and/or receiving at least one independent living service were slightly less likely to report that they had ever given birth to, or fathered, any children (9%-10% versus 13%-14%).

Access to Health Insurance

In general, nearly 9 out of 10 youth had Medicaid or some other health insurance at age 19 (about the same share of youth had health insurance coverage at age 17). Youth in care and/or youth receiving at least one independent living service were more likely to report having health insurance (95%-99%), compared to youth not in care nor receiving independent living services (74%-88%). Most youth in care or receiving at least one independent living service received Medicaid coverage (81%-85%). About the same share of youth (14% to 17%), regardless of foster care status or their receipt of independent living services, had other health insurance. Among youth who had health insurance, youth receiving at least one independent living service and/or not in foster care were slightly more likely than youth in foster care and/or not receiving any independent living services to have insurance coverage for at least some prescription drugs (77%-78% versus 70%-72%).