Promoting Normalcy for Children and Youth in Foster Care

Many of us recall doing the “typical” things during our teenage years: going to a friend’s house, taking a school trip, working an after-school job, joining a club, dating, attending prom, and learning to drive. But, because of real and perceived constraints, foster youth are often denied a chance to participate in these kinds of everyday activities that are essential for their transition to adulthood. The Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 is a groundbreaking federal law designed to promote permanency as well as well-being and normalcy for youth in foster care.

Juvenile Law Center has created this guide, Promoting Normalcy for Children and Youth in Foster Care, to help states embed the new “normalcy” requirements of the law into their own state laws and regulations. The deadline for states to implement the normalcy provisions of the federal law is September 2015. The guide includes a detailed overview of why “normalcy” is crucial to healthy child and adolescent development and the federal requirements prioritizing normalcy for foster youth. A list of key recommendations for state legislation and regulations are also included.