The Reality
In the United States, there are over 400,000 innocent children and youth placed in the foster care system through no fault of their own.
The foster care system is an invisible problem that has very visible costs to society. There are countless reasons a child or youth might be placed into the foster care system, including but not limited to:
Parent(s) with drug addictions
Parent(s) with mental health disorders
Parent(s) with sudden health conditions
Parent(s) that are incarcerated
Death of any parent(s)
Unwanted pregnancy
All of these circumstances highlight the fact that the child or youth typically have no control over being placed in the system.
24%
will have no high school diploma or GED 75% higher than the general population
1 in 5
will become homeless after age 18
MORE THAN HALF
of foster youth report $0 in wages in the first four years after leaving the system
Why It's A Problem
IMPLICATIONS ON SOCIETY
CONSTANT INSTABILITY
Moving through so many homes and schools creates a feeling of being unwanted or unloved, and makes it difficult to develop the social and life skills cultivated in a loving home
LACK OF COMMUNITY
Their inability to build trust and maintain relationships lead to a network deficiency
INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES
Security and optimism are replaced with loss and hopelessness when youth age out and have nowhere to turn for help
Foster children and youth are raised by a system that has not only failed them for decades, but funnels them into the prison, homelessness, unemployment and human trafficking pipeline when they age out of the system.
THE SOBERING TRUTH
Foster Care To Prison:
we are sending more youth from foster care to prison than to college
Foster Care to Homelessness:
foster youth age out of the system with nothing but the clothes on their backs and nowhere to go.
Foster Care to Unemployment:
more than 50% of foster youth report $0 in wages earned in the first four years after leaving the system
Foster Care and Healthcare:
foster youth are two times more likely to experience PTSD than US war veterans
How we’re solving the problem
FOSTER NATION ENGAGES THE COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT AND EMPOWERFOSTER YOUTH AGING OUT OF THE SYSTEM TO BECOMESELF-SUFFICIENT
PREPARE
We host trainings and programs to get foster youth ready for the real world - from career mentors to career trainings. We help foster youth become even more amazing than they already are by honing their professional skills as they prepare to become self sufficient adults.
SUPPORT
We provide resources and connections that support and meet their basic needs so they can get where they want to go in life. We also host events that build a relatable, supportive and collaborative community for foster youth to feel seen & heard, valued, and supported.
EMPOWER
We raise awareness through campaigns that bring the foster care experiences to light, and empower foster youth to become self advocates. Our goal is to help them feel good about their life stories by changing the foster care narrative.