What is Happening with Our Foster Youth?

Honoring Emancipated Youth, a non-profit agency serving transitioning foster youth in San Francisco, has compiled the following :

Homelessness

• Within 18 months of emancipation 40-50% of former foster youth become homeless
• 65% of emancipating foster youth need immediate housing when they exit the system

Employment

• 50% of emancipated foster youth experience high rates of unemployment within 5 years of emancipation
• 60% of former foster youth earn incomes at or below $6,000 per year, which is substantially below the federal poverty level of $7,890 for a single individual

Education

• 70% of teens who emancipate from foster care report wanting to go to college, 10% attend and less than 1% graduate from college
• 83% of foster children are held back by the third grade
• 75% of children and youth in foster care are behind grade level
• 40% of foster youth complete high school compared to 84% of the general population

Mental & Physical Health

• 33% of all foster care alumni have no form of health insurance
• Former foster youth experience Post Traumatic Stress disorder at a rate 2 times the level of U.S. war veterans
• Nearly 50% of foster children suffer from chronic health conditions such as asthma, visual and auditory problems, dental decay and malnutrition
• 50-60% of children in foster care have moderate to severe mental health problems
• Foster children are more likely than other children on Medicaid to have mental health or substance abuse conditions

Incarceration

• Foster youth with multiple placements are 5-10 times more likely to become involved with the juvenile justice system than youth in the general population
• 25% of former foster youth will be incarcerated within the first 2 years of emancipation