Fourteen years ago, an abandoned air force base was transformed into a vibrant intergenerational community, Hope Meadows, to help move children from foster care to adoption and turn seniors into active givers of supports and services. Now, as sites across the country replicate their approach, Hope Meadows is adapting to the new challenges that come with long-term success.

By examining foster youth in Illinois -- one of the few states that extends care up to
age 21 -- this new Chapin Hall study finds that a higher degree of advocacy by juvenile
courts is linked with more services for older foster youth, greater involvement by
caseworkers and adults, more positive attitudes about remaining in care beyond 18 and
a greater awareness that by law youth may remain in care beyond 18.

This Finance Project brief presents five financing strategies that can support education success programs and services for youth currently in or transitioning out of the foster care system. For each, the brief highlights relevant funding sources to consider, the range of partners to engage, considerations for implementation and examples of the strategy in practice.

This annual cohort study examines the impact of foster care services from Casey Family Programs on youth ages 19, 22 and 25. This study also compares these youth to other former foster youth and to their peers who have never experienced foster care.

The latest findings are consistent with other foster care studies: the Casey young adults reported high rates of homelessness, symptoms of mental health disorders, GED completion, dependence on public assistance and involvement with the criminal justice system. However, their educational and employment outcomes as well as health insurance coverage and rates of drug use were better than most studies.

(2008) May is Foster Care Month, and for the 20th anniversary celebration of the campaign, Connect for Kids spoke with Candice Douglass, communications director with Casey Family Programs, to get the latest on foster care and child well-being, and emerging trends we should all know about. We also got the scoop the Kinship Caregiver Support Act currently in Congress and an innovative approach to permanency for teens in a Q&A with Celeste Bodner, executive director of FosterClub, the national network for young people in foster care. Find out what’s new, what’s working, and how you can make a difference no matter how much time you’ve got to give.

Casey Family Services has released a report from the research roundtable held during the last National Convening on Youth Permanence in 2006. The report offers an overview from national experts of how to document and understand youth permanence strategies for children in foster care.

At least one-third of children in foster care have physical or mental disabilities and are at higher risk for poor educational, employment and well-being outcomes. This report from the National Council on Disability finds that federal investments are undercut by lack of coordination across programs and agencies. It offers recommendations for policymakers.

Here's a nonprofit social network (think MySpace or Facebook) for social workers, foster parents and others interested in improving the lives of foster and adoptive youth.

Could you have made it entirely on your own at 18 or 21? Each year, roughly 25,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system, many without family or economic supports. Without connection to a caring adult and support to plan and prepare, these youth face steep challenges, including higher rates of unemployment, poor educational attainment, health issues, incarceration, and homelessness. But those are the problems, the statistics—what about the potential of these teens, and their desire to succeed? We spoke with Betsy Krebs, co-director of the New York City-based Youth Advocacy Center, about what works to help teens aging out of foster care succeed. There’s room for the whole community...

In keeping with our promise to track the responses the New York Times had to its “A History of Neglect” series on foster care in New York, we selected a core question from the fourth and final week of responses.