Foster Youth Transitioning to Adulthood

Roughly 600 young adults “age out” of New York City foster care each year, meaning they reach the age of adulthood without being reunified with their parents, adopted, or in a subsidized guardianship with relatives. Few young people face greater challenges: youth who age out of foster care have high rates of homelessness, unemployment, poverty, criminal justice system involvement, and other negative outcomes. 

Funded by the District Attorney of New York under its Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII), Action Research is evaluating three programs designed for youth who are transitioning out of the foster care system. This quasi-experimental, mixed methods study, conducted in partnership with Child Trends and the Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI), will provide information concerning the challenges providers face in implementing the program models and how well the programs meet their goal of helping transition age youth live independently. For the first time, the study will show the educational, employment, housing, and other outcomes for a population of older youth leaving foster care without permanency.