Foster Care

Each year, between 18,000 and 20,000 children are emancipated from foster care on reaching age 18 and find themselves suddenly having to fend for themselves with no support from the state or county (Facts, 2004; Life, 1998). They have no home, no job, and no health care. They are often ill-prepared for life on their own, since foster care is not conducive to providing these skills and they receive no special training in independent living. Some may still have a connection with their foster parents, but many do not. A 1986 study of 55 foster youth in the San Francisco area 10 years after they had been emancipated showed that they were often struggling with ill health, poor education, severe housing problems, substance abuse, and criminal behavior.

Other studies found that emancipated foster youth required academic remediation and demonstrated problems in areas of self-control, managing home and school learning demands, and peer and adult relationships (Life, 1998). Studies have also found these youth suffer an unusual number of undiagnosed maladies such as headaches, dental and vision problems, sleeping difficulties, weight problems, drug or alcohol abuse, sexual problems, depression, loneliness, and thoughts of suicide, but only a third of them sought treatment for these problems. Studies of the homeless in New York and Los Angeles found that 40 percent to 50 percent of them had been in foster care. Many experience extreme financial hardship. A third of the emancip

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er-increasing costs of Medicaid. The downturn in the economy has forced further tightening of budgets. There have also been reports that foster youth are responsible for a disproportionately large percentage of expenditures on Medicaid. Many states have adopted this new proposal. California, with the highest number of foster children in the country, has extended coverage to emancipated foster youth (Ladew, 2020). South Carolina, Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas have all adjusted their Medicaid plans to cover emancipated foster youth. Many states have so few children in foster care that extending health care benefits should not be an issue. Missouri, for instance, had only 289 youth leaving foster care last year. In Montana, the children of legislators are covered until age 23, yet these same legislators refused to cover emancipated foster youth, even though Montana emancipates only about 100 youth each year (Ladew, 2002). It doesn't make sense for states not to cover these youth because many of them would qualify for Medicaid anyway because of their low income status. The difference is that if they were covered under the emancipated foster youth program, they would be streamlined

Category: Government - F