Transitions to Adulthood at Juvenile Law Center

Teens who are raised in foster care have the same aspirations as teenagers everywhere, but are too often ill-prepared for the adult world. In far too many cases, the child welfare system not only fails to place teens in family settings, but also fails to provide them with the skills and education they need to make it on their own. While our federal law requires that we make all efforts to provide youth in the foster care system with permanency, older youth are frequently discharged from foster care based on their age or the lack of resources available, not because they achieve permanency or are ready to live on their own. When they leave the system, they often lack access to housing, health care, education or jobs. Higher education is too often out of their reach. Many have not been taught the life skills they need to function as productive adults.

In its Transitions to Adulthood work, JLC promotes policies and practices that are informed by the latest research on adolescent development and research which confirms every child’s need for healthy attachments to caring and consistent adults in their lives. JLC is working with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to aid older youth in their transition out of these public systems that have supported them, and into successful, stable, healthy, and productive lives as adults in the community.

First and foremost, our work is influenced by the belief that all children should grow up in supportive and nurturing families. Helping families sustain themselves and support their children as they grow into adulthood is the most effective way to ensure a successful transition for youth. Thus, JLC seeks to promote policies and practices which help youth safely stay with their families or, if this is not possible, place them in the most family-like settings available. Strengthening families is a transition to adulthood issue.

While we seek to increase the number of older youth who are able to return to their families or exit the system to other permanent arrangements, it is important to recognize the large number of older youth who remain in our state systems. Despite being competent, capable, and resilient, young people leaving state-supported environments are vulnerable to poor outcomes, such as homelessness, reliance on public benefits, and low educational achievement. JLC's Transitions to Adulthood work aims to provide older youth transitioning from state systems to independence with access to the services, supports, and relationships they need to achieve their goals and aspirations.

Recent Activities

Representing individual youth. JLC is one of the few public interest law firms in the country that does individual client representation in addition to policy work. We represent a small number of youth in Philadelphia Family Court. We also operate a legal clinic at Covenant House in Philadelphia where we give legal advice to older teens who were in the child welfare system and are homeless. Case work enables us to help older youth remove legal barriers blocking access to programs and opportunities that help them succeed as adults, and identify policy issues that matter to teenagers and drive our policy agenda.
Providing staff support to the Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board (YAB). JLC attorneys work directly with current and former foster youth from across the state and employ several youth interns and trainers. JLC’s work must be informed by the voices of the youth who have been in the system and works to ensure that local, state, and federal policies are also impacted by the voices of youth. We assist youth in advocating for policies before executive and legislative branches. JLC activities include: preparation of legal fact sheets for youth about their rights in foster care and as they age out, assisting with the preparation of testimony and communications material, and training youth on their rights and how to advocate for themselves in court and beyond. We have worked with the YAB to promote a Foster Youth Bill of Rights and currently are working on gaining support for a college tuition waiver bill and legislation that would tie the transition from the system to the achievement of outcomes rather than simply age.
Developing model juvenile court policies. We have built a coalition in Philadelphia that has adopted a Family Court protocol for older youth in foster care. The protocol establishes judicial oversight of the transition process, and is designed to ensure that youth are not discharged from foster care without adequate support. We seek funding to introduce the protocol statewide and nationally. In addition, JLC has created a bench book for judges in the state to assist in the understanding of the needs of transitioning youth and the resources available to them.
Promoting quality educational opportunities for foster youth. We work to ensure that youth have stability in their education and are provided the support that they need to complete high school. Our work also includes increasing access through state and federal policy changes, as well as ensuring that youth of college age have access to housing and services so that they have the support of caring adults and other resources while in college and when college is not in session.
Promoting federal and state law which supports older youth after age 18 and provides a positive and effective bridge from the system to “the real world.” This work is driven by the acknowledgment that the average young person does not become “independent” until around age 25. It is unrealistic and inequitable to expect that youth who do not have the support of their families to make it on their own at 18 when we do not expect this of some of the most privileged young people. Therefore, JLC advocates for state legislation which would extend Medicaid to former foster youths who are ages 18-21 and ensures that all youth have access to a comprehensive aftercare system, particularly housing. JLC is also working with others to amend federal law to permit states to receive Title IV-E reimbursement for placement maintenance until a youth reaches the age of 21. This federal policy would provide states with more resources to serve older youth as they transition from the foster care system.