The transition to adulthood is one most will face with a family cheering them on and serving as a backbone when life throws curveballs. When someone ages out of the foster care system, there is a lack of support in every area of adult life.
Seeing that lack of support, Buckner International created the National Aging Out of Foster Care Awareness Day, which falls on May 31. The awareness day focuses on the more than 23,000 youths who turn 18 with no permanency, and seemingly nowhere to turn at the end of their time in foster care.
According to the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, one in four of America's foster youth are homeless within four years of leaving foster care. Less than 3% will graduate with a bachelor's degree. And according to the National Foster Youth Institute, 50% of the homeless population nationwide spent time in foster care.
National Aging Out of Foster Care Awareness Day is so important because it's bringing awareness to the services available to youth across the country who've aged out of foster care.
"We really want to bring awareness to the fact that there is support for youth who aged out of care, and that we're here to help with that," said Bekah Coggins, director of transition services for Buckner Children and Family Services. "We want them to establish life skills and be comfortable taking care of themselves and their families and to contribute to their communities around them."
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