Key Question: How might we offer resources and support to children who are aging out of foster care? Studies report that just 3-4% of former foster youth obtain a four-year college degree. Young adults who are aging out of the foster care system often struggle to navigate the adult responsibilities and challenges they are suddenly faced with.
Each year, about 20,000 children age out of foster care. Many of these young adults lack essential resources that many of us take for granted—like the skills and community support needed to obtain housing, jobs, and basic medical care. Some do not even have access to their birth certificate or know how to obtain their paperwork.
Today, we have the absolute privilege of talking with someone who has a passion for providing meaningful support to these vulnerable individuals.
Lynn Johnson is the President of ALL IN Empowering Futures. This nonprofit agency focuses on driving national initiatives to combat the crisis of children aging out of the foster care system. Prior to her work with ALL IN, she served as the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
In this episode, Lynn shares why it’s important that everyone feels a responsibility to care for youth who are aging out of the foster care system, some of the challenges these young adults often face alone, ways we can help meet their most pressing needs, and much more.
NEIGHBOR-TO-NEIGHBOR IMPLICATIONS:
- When children age out of the child welfare system, they often have very few documents (such as birth certificates), which makes very difficult to get a driver’s license, apply for a job, or receive benefits.
- We all have a responsibility to care for these kids. It’s not solely the responsibility of the government or the church. It’s all of us coming together to offer wrap-around support for children who have aged out of the child welfare system.
- Even prior to aging out, many children in child welfare get bounced around to several different placements. It’s important for us to advocate that children remain in stable places where they have a strong attachment to their foster families, school, and teachers.
- In the same way that we offer resources to foster families, we can offer resources to aged-out youth. This could look like hosting a weekly meal or matching the individual up with an adult who will help them set up doctor’s check-ups or get to job interviews. You might even set up a class that helps aged-out young adults learn vital life skills.
Meet Our Guest
Lynn Johnson is the President of ALL IN Empowering Futures, a non-profit agency combating the crises of children aging out of the foster care system, adoption, poverty, and human trafficking. She has held many positions in human services and previously served as the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families in the US Department of Health and Human Services. It was in this position that she created the ALL IN Foster Care and Adoption Challenge. Lynn has been married for 40 years, and she now has three adult children and one granddaughter. She and her husband also hold more than 150 alumni of the foster care system, now adults, close to their hearts.
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