Homelessness During the Transition from Fostercare into Adulthood and its Effect on Youth - Report Example

Paper Introduction Youths who are transiting to adulthood should have a well developed self efficacy skill and self esteem that will equip them to easily manage their relationship in different contexts including employment and education settings. High developed brains will also help them relate well with family and friends. In most cases, youths living in foster care systems have in most cases lived through a number of traumas and other disruptive events as they prepare transiting to adulthood. Some of these include, abuse, loss of relationship, discontinuity with education, different home placements, among others. The negative experiences at this point when not handled might result into substance abuse, lack of confidence and mental illness. These challenges impact on the social and emotional development of the youths. (White, Gallegos, OBrien, Weisberg, Pécora, Medina 373)Understanding the significance of stage and vulnerability are important variables with regards to the development of the brain. It highlights the need to have supportive and positive relationships with regards to the continued development of brain. Foster youths should always have a place to call home as they emancipate from child welfare system. Informal mentoring conducted by adults helps in enhancing outcomes in terms of education, physical well being, and psychological well being. The most serious challenge faced by youths when they age out is homelessness or unstable housing. The accumulation of challenges that people, especially the youth may experience in the course of growing up may have some damaging effects to them. This is, particularly, significant given that the stages that people follow during the process of growing up have a bearing on the people. Any slight deviation from the normal process, as expected of the youths affects development in all spheres of life. As presented, this is the argument of this essay. Discussion It is unarguable that homelessness is a significant problem faced by young people as they age out of foster. On top of all the challenges faced by the youths is housing. Studies conducted in the past have deduced that there are high rates of homelessness found among former youth fosters who recently aged out of care. Unfortunately, the figure continues to grow day by day and that portends even further challenge to the society. Most of the former foster care youths are unlikely to pay mortgage or, even, rent a house compared to their peers. A number of studies conducted show a positive correlation between homeless and foster care and also the emancipation of care on young adults. It is approximated that at least a fifth of the youths face emancipation homelessness at leads for a day within the year of emancipation. The same data points a worrying trend for the bisexuals, gay, lesbian, transgender and other questioning young adults representing at least 5% of the youths at the foster. Despite the fact that studies on percentages of youths in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning are different, analysis shows that most of them are under sex minority. The available anecdotal evidence from social series shows that this group of people is overrepresented in the homeless populations. The bottom-line, given the reality indicated, is that it is a real challenge that must be addressed, lest it continues (Doyle, 1589). Homelessness is deprivation of basic human right. It should be noted that factors that leads to homelessness are multifaceted. Some of the reasons for homelessness include economic insecurity, lack of social support, and behavioral health among others. Challenges that relate to homelessness have seen global initiatives to tackle it to the extent of recognition by the United Nations as an essential. Given the approach to address the related challenges, it is dehumanizing for people to face such kinds of challenges in this day and time. (Kushel, Yen, Gee ,Courtney 989) Economic insecurity- After 2007/2008 economic meltdown, most families have not been able to afford a reasonable housing. The number of persons without jobs has also increased from this time. When one is not able to secure a job that can sustain either rent or mortgage likely they will remain homeless. If the government fails to help these youths secure jobs, they might pose a threat to the society. The stress that this category of people undergoes gives birth to other troubles amongst this group. The socio economic breakdown witnessed has a ripple effect and the general society pays by having to deal with the subsequent activities they engage. In that view, the government has a duty to protect the society as well as the homeless people. Behavioral health- This is another predictor of someone remaining jobless and homeless. Trauma or exposure to violence contributes to behavioral problems among youths. Youths who are not accompanied are likely to be stressed unlike the accompanied youths. Despite the fact that homeless experience influences our behavior, youths who experiences homelessness will likely portray behavioral problems before the homelessness experience compared to those without homeless instances. Insufficient positive social support- Homeless person tends to have weak social support and also have fewer social networks. In most cases, their friends act more as form of social support to them. Despite the commitment that their friends and family may have, they are usually overwhelmed; they did input from other agencies and the government to improve on service delivery. Policy makers have worked on a number of ways, which can help deal with the issue of homelessness among youths. Practitioners, researchers and advocates believe that, the morality our today’s lives will be judged by the kind of solutions adopted and implementation. It is in order that those working with the homeless have the understanding of programs existing at both state and federal level and other resources, which can be used to support the youths. The ultimate solution lies in recognition of the actual problem, appreciating it and the right mechanism of dealing with it. It calls for a concerted effort from the entire society because it is not an individual problem but a societal problem. It is only such an approach that can offer solution to the perennial problem that has faced people. (Dworsky, Dillman, Dion R, Borden, Rosenau 69) Chafee Foster Care Independence Act –This Act provides different assistance to help former and current care youths to successfully make transition to adulthood and also avoid instances of homelessness. It sets aside grants, which is provided to states with a plan to assist youths in different fields such as education, housing, financial management, employment. It supports older youth and those who have just aged out of foster care system. The system got a boost in 2002, when the senate added the educational and training vouchers to it. It facilitates the training and educational needs of youths who are aging from foster. Besides $140 million authorized under this program, it also authorizes $60 million to fund post secondary and training vouchers for youths who are in need. Needy students under age 18 can access up to $5000. There is also Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 (DRA, P.L. 109-171) and Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169) for the youths who are under foster care. This legislation allows states to extend Medicaid for youths aging out of foster care. There is also the enactment of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-192) that will ensure that health coverage will be available from January 2014 up to age 26 for the youths who left foster at 18. Conclusion As young adults navigate transition to an independent adulthood, they require an emotional support from the family, friends and any other person around them. Without skills of managing stress as they transit to adulthood, youths in most cases ensure that they maximize education, housing and employment resources available to them. As adult mentors stay with youths, they tend to offer emotional support that facilitates successful transition and for positive outcomes. Mentorship formed either through informal or formal programs will help in reducing incidences of homeless during transition to adulthood. Finally, there should be lifelong connections with adults as youths begin making decisions for their future. Works Cited Doyle,Joseph J.,,Jr. "Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care." The American Economic Review 97.5 (2007): 1583-610. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. Dworsky A, Dillman K, Dion R, Coffee-Borden B, Rosenau M. Housing for youth aging out of foster care: a review of the literature and program typology. 2012. Available at: http://www.huduser.org/portal/ publications/interim/hsg_fter_care.html. Accessed June 1, 2012. Kushel MB, Yen IH, Gee L, Courtney ME. Home- lessness and health care access after emancipation: re- sults from the Midwest Evaluation of Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(10):986~993. White C, Gallegos A, OBrien K, Weisberg S, Pécora P, Medina R. The relationship between homelessness and mental health among alumni of foster care: results from the Casey Young Adult Survey. j Public Child Welf. 2011;5(4):369~389. Read More