Extended Foster Care for Program Implementation

Student: Brittney Edmondson

Faculty Mentor: N/A

Political Science

College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts

The Extended Foster Care AB(12) program has proven to be highly effective in promoting achievement in academics, work experience, and housing rates among adult foster youth. The population of foster youth is increasing over time, while services continue to be available. Furthermore, there is noticeable room for improvement in inclusive housing services. Homelessness is the number one hindrance that has played a major role in the lack of achievement in this population. A child who enters the foster system instantly faces the inevitable fate of homelessness, being sent to placement in a temporary home. In the transition to adulthood at the age of 18, foster youth need a reliable place of permanent residence. For instance, a Housing Choice Voucher is a federal government program for assisting low-income populations with supplemental rent services, covering a percentage of the monthly rent based on one’s household income. Housing Choice Vouchers allocated for foster youth in extended care would be an honorable opportunity for stability. This voucher opportunity would help shift the high rates of homelessness and provide a favorable incentive for youth in extended services to follow EFC eligibility guidelines. The implementation of Extended Foster Care AB(12) has shown a slow but steady success rate in areas of improvement, and it works. The inclusion of additional housing resources, like the Housing Choice Voucher, would serve as a motivating factor for extended care foster youth.