Since the mid-1980s, Congress has passed legislation that is intended to support older youth in foster care who are expected to leave care without being reunited with their parents or having another permanent family placement. At the center of these policies is the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP), authorized in 1999 ( P.L. 106-169 ) to provide services, including housing, for older foster youth. With funding from the CFCIP and other sources, states have developed independent living programs that supplement youth's own efforts to attain self- sufficiency. Additionally, federal law directs child welfare agencies to develop policies, where appropriate, targeted to older youth that assist in their transition from care, such as written case plans outlining the services they will receive to prepare for independent living. Despite these services and supports, research has demonstrated that compared to their counterparts in the general population, current and former foster youth are more likely to have difficulty making the transition to adulthood. The limited research literature on this topic demonstrates that during their early adult years, former foster youth are much more likely than their peers to forego higher education, describe their general health as fair or poor, become homeless, and rely on public supports. This research, along with the efforts of policy makers and child welfare advocates, has brought greater attention to the challenges facing youth transitioning from care. Congress has focused on efforts to ensure that youth have connections to caring adults and can continue to receive support from the state after they reach the legal age of majority—usually age 18—to help ease the challenges associated with the transition to adulthood. Asserting that most youth are not ready to live independently at age 18, federal policy makers have expressed special interest in providing a safety net for youth who are wards of the state. The 110 th Congress conducted a series of hearings on child welfare reforms, some of which focused on older youth in care. These hearings culminated in the passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-351 ), an omnibus child welfare bill that addresses several aspects of the child welfare system. P.L. 110-351 is arguably one of the most significant laws that pertain to older youth in foster care. More recently, the 113 th Congress held hearings on child welfare topics that focus, in part, on older youth. Following these hearings and other efforts, Congress passed the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act ( P.L. 113-183 ). President Obama signed the bill into law on September 30, 2014. The law specifies protections for older youth in care, seeks to promote "normalcy" among children in foster care so they can participate in age and developmentally-appropriate extracurricular and other activities, and requires child welfare agencies to respond to children who are victims of sex trafficking or may be at risk for such victimization. This report presents issues affecting older youth as they transition from foster care into adulthood, particularly with regard to implementation of P.L. 110-351 and P.L. 113-183 . Perhaps the most pressing implementation issue concerning P.L. 110-351 is the challenges states may face in extending foster care to older youth. As of FY2011, states may extend care after age 18 by authorizing partial reimbursement for the cost of that continued support. One possible challenge in implementing this provision is that even with assistance from the federal government, states may be hesitant to extend care because of the cost. In addition, states are required to assist youth in developing a transition plan within 90 days of exiting care that identifies the supports and services available when they transition from care. In carrying out the plan, states can take a variety of approaches, such as beginning the transition planning process well before the 90-day requirement and engaging adults who can have meaningful connections to the youth when they emancipate from care. Even with the option to extend foster care, policy makers and advocates remain concerned that older foster youth and those who have aged out will continue to experience challenges during the transition to adulthood. Emancipated youth face particular obstacles in fostering permanent connections with caring adults, securing health insurance and housing, and staying connected to work and school. Further, little is known about youth as they transition from foster care, although a new national database will likely provide some insight into their outcomes across a number of areas, such as education, employment, and contact with social service and criminal justice systems. Another concern is that youth in foster care are vulnerable to child sex trafficking, which refers to adults sexually exploiting children under age of 18 for commercial purposes. P.L. 113-183 requires, one year after the law's enactment, that child welfare agencies have policies in place to serve these youth. Congress may wish to monitor how states are implementing these and related requirements, including how many victims have been reported by state child welfare agencies to the federal government and any best practices that have been identified for serving these victims. After a brief background on federal child welfare policies concerning transitioning youth, this report will include discussions on implementation of select aspects of P.L. 110-351 and other ongoing issues. The report is a companion to another report that provides context about older foster youth and related federal policy. See CRS Report RL34499, Youth Transitioning from Foster Care: Background and Federal Programs . The overall number of children in foster care has been declining in the past decade or so. On any given day in FY2002, approximately 523,000 children were in foster care, while the corresponding figure for FY2012 was 397,122. The share of older children in care also increased but then declined slightly over this period. Children ages 13 through 17 comprised about 29% of the caseload in FY2002, 35% in FY2010, and 34% in FY2012. The share of older youth who exited care because they reached the state's legal age of majority followed this same trend. In FY2002, just over 20,000 children "aged out" of foster care, making up 7% of all children who exited care that year. These figures increased in each subsequent year through FY2010, when slightly more than 26,000 youth aged out, making up 11% of all children who exited that year. However, the number (and share) of youth emancipating reached a recent all-time low of 23,396 (10%) in FY2012. A growing body of research on youth who spend some of their teenage years in foster care demonstrates that they tend to experience more negative outcomes in adulthood than their peers generally. A leading study of former foster youth—known as the Midwest Evaluation on the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth ("Midwest Evaluation")—is tracking outcomes of former foster youth in three states: Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. All of the surveyed youth entered care prior to their 16 th birthday. Surveyed youth responded to researcher questions about outcomes in four data collection waves: at wave 1, when they were ages 17 and 18, at which time most were in foster care; at wave 2 when they were ages 19 and 20, at which time some remained in care; at wave 3, when they were age 21 and no longer in care; wave 4, when they were ages 23 and 24; and wave 5, when youth were age 26. These outcomes have been compared to outcomes of their peers in the general population. The most recent results of the study, based on survey data of youth at age 26, found that former foster youth and youth generally shared some common characteristics, but that the former foster youth experienced more negative educational and employment outcomes, among other outcomes. For example, former foster youth were less likely to have attained a four-year college degree compared to youth in general (2.5% versus 23.5%). Youth in the Midwest Evaluation who were not currently in school reported barriers to enrolling or staying in school, including that they could no longer afford school, became employed, needed to care for a child, or had no transportation, among other reasons. While youth formerly in care were almost as likely to report ever holding a job as youth in general (93.6% versus 98.2%), a smaller share were currently employed (48.3% versus 79.9%). Their mean annual income was about $13,000, compared to about $32,000 for their peers. The state child welfare agency, with oversight by the court, is responsible for the care and placement of children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or for some other reason that does not allow them to remain in their homes. The child welfare agency uses both federal and state funds to facilitate children reuniting successfully and safely with their parents, and when this is not possible, to find them a permanent and safe home. A primary federal source of funding is Title IV-E foster care, authorized under the Social Security Act. To be eligible to receive federal funds (under both the Title IV-E foster care program and related Title IV-B child welfare services program), states must agree to carry out activities that are intended to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of all children in foster care. These include that a state has a written case plan detailing, among other things, where the child is placed and what services are to be provided to ensure that a permanent home is re-established for the child. Further, for each child in foster care, this plan must be reviewed on a regular basis. The case review is to be conducted not less often than every 6 months by a judge or an administrative review panel, and at least once every 12 months by a judge who must consider the child's permanency plan. As part of any permanency hearing, the court must consult "in an age appropriate" manner with the child. Specific case plan and case review procedures pertain to older youth in care, some of which go into effect one year after enactment of P.L. 113-183 .