"Aging out" of Foster care & Independ. Living

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"Aging out" of Foster care & Independ. Living

Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:56 am

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http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/pfosterkids.html

Congress Passes the Foster Care Independence Act


December 1999

The Foster Care Independence Act was approved by the House of Representatives on November 18 and by the Senate on November 19, just minutes before adjourning for the year. The Act allows states to use Medicaid dollars to provide health insurance coverage to former foster children until age 21 and allows youth to have assets worth up to $10,000 without losing benefits. It also doubles the money for Independent Living programs (from $70 million to $140 million) and allows this money to be spent on such activities as life skills training, substance abuse prevention, and preventive health skills. The provisions of the new Foster Care Independence Act will go into effect when the President signs the bill into law.

BACKGROUND

When young people in foster care turn 18, they face many difficulties. They often lose their housing, their support for daily living, and their health insurance. Although youth formerly in foster care have higher levels of physical and mental health problems than their peers, 51% of them have no insurance coverage and 44% rate "obtaining medical care" as a significant problem. If they try to save money in preparation for these losses, total assets above $1000 make them ineligible for Independent Living programs.

To address these concerns, the Foster Care Independence Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), and in the Senate by the late Senator John Chafee (R-RI). After strong advocacy efforts by APA and other organizations, the House passed the bill on June 25 by an overwhelming vote of 380 to 6. A modified version of the bill, H.R. 3443, was approved by the House on November 18 and the Senate on November 19. President Clinton is expected to sign it.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE ACT

Medicaid expansion. States may extend Medicaid coverage until age 21 to young people who have "graduated" from foster care.

Independent Living. The name of the Independent Living program is changed to the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program as a tribute to Senator Chafee's longstanding commitment to child welfare. In addition, funding for the Independent Living Program is doubled from $70 million to $140 million annually. States may use up to 30 percent of these funds for room and board for youth ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care. The remaining funds can be used for: education, vocational training, preparation for post secondary education, training in daily living skills, substance abuse prevention, pregnancy prevention, and preventive health activities. States must also use federal training funds to help foster parents, adoptive parents, group home workers, and case managers understand and address issues confronting adolescents who are preparing for independent living.

Additional uses of the funds allow states to help children prepare for self-sufficiency when appropriate, not just after their 16th birthday as in the current law. Furthermore, states can offer different services to children at various stages of achieving independence, or children in different parts of the state. They can also use a variety of providers to deliver independent living services. However, states must devote some portion of their funds for assistance and services for older youths who have left foster care but have not reached age 21. Independent living activities are not to be viewed as an alternative to adoption, and can occur concurrently with efforts to find adoptive families for these young people. To carry out these activities, all states will receive a minimum of $500,000, with each state contributing a 20 percent state match.

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Last edited by Marina on Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:52 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:00 am

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http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/indlivhr3443.htm

The Foster Care Independence Act:
Changes the name of the Independent Living Program.
As a testimonial to the late Senator Chafee (R-RI), the Senate sponsor of the legislation, the program is now entitled the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.

...

Recognizes the need for special help for youths ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care.
States must use some portion of their funds for assistance and services for older youths who have left foster care but have not reached age 21.
States can use up to 30 percent of their Independent Living Program funds for room and board for youths ages 18 to 21 who have left foster care.
States may extend Medicaid to 18, 19 and 20-year-olds who have been emancipated from foster care. Access to the new independent living funds is not contingent upon states exercising that option.

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:06 am

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=9128917

Lawmakers Reconsider Assets of Foster Children

by Rachel Jones

Weekend Edition Sunday, March 25, 2007 ·

Across the country, child welfare agencies are trying to cover costs by claiming the Social Security benefits of tens of thousands of foster children. New legislation on Capitol Hill aims to give control of that money back to the children.

By the time she was 19, Shaunita Thorpe was a foster-care veteran. She had been in and out of care since she was 7. One day, her foster-care caseworker visited and happened to mention that she was supposed to be getting $607 a month.

"She was like, 'Shaunita, are you getting your money?'" she recalls. "I said, 'What money are you talking about?' and she said, 'Your SSI check.' And I said, 'What is SSI?"

Now 22, Thorpe says those monthly payments from the Supplemental Security Income program could have made a big difference in her life. For example, she was eligible for SSI because she had learning disabilities. Maybe she could have had tutors.

"I missed one semester in the 12th grade," Thorpe says. "I could have went to school and paid for my books and whatever I had to pay for to finish that one semester."

But now, Thorpe says she can't afford to take the GED, or get her cosmetology and driver's licenses. She's also struggling to pay rent. And though she's been labeled "mentally challenged," Thorpe says she should have had some say in how her SSI payments were spent. She's suing the state to get that money back.

"I been trying to fight for two years to be my own payee and they keep saying, you cannot be your own payee," Thorpe says. "If I was so mentally challenged, I wouldn't be able to do the things I do."

Like testifying at a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Thorpe recently got to tell her story to Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA). He was introducing legislation that would prevent states from claiming the Social Security benefits of eligible kids in foster care.

State officials say the SSI money is a vital part of how they care for foster children, especially those with special needs. In 2001, the Supreme Court agreed. The ruling stemmed from a case in Washington state. The Court found states weren't violating any Social Security Act rules, and that the practice wasn't harming the best interests of foster children.

Steve Williams directs communications for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. He says the SSI benefit money helped foster kids with serious disabilities get things such as wheelchairs, therapy and special education.

"And the rest of it was applied to basic life stuff like food, shelter and clothing," Williams says. "But again, for that child… for that child only."

The practice saved Washington State taxpayers $7 million in 2001, the last year for which figures are available. Williams says that if there's any money left after basic needs are covered, officials put it in a bank account for the foster child.

But child advocates say other states don't. They say some foster-care agencies even hire private companies to help track kids who get SSI and survivor's benefits.

Rep. Stark says that might not be so bad if the money was used exclusively for child welfare. But too often, he says, it winds up in a state's "general fund," where it could be used for roads, landfills or prisons, where Stark says those foster kids might end up.

His legislation would require child welfare agencies to appoint an independent manager for each foster child's benefits. Child welfare officials say they already have way too much to handle. But Stark doesn't see it that way.

"It's a pretty simple thing to take the check and put it into the bank each month into the child's savings account," Stark says. "I don't know that it takes a whole staff of lawyers to do that."

Most states won't end the practice without a fight. But child advocates say that unless eligible foster children actually get the SSI payments they're entitled to, they could wind up like so many other youth who age out of the system: homeless and broke.

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:13 am

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=9128920

The Plight of America's Post-Foster Care Children


Weekend Edition Sunday, March 25, 2007 · To find out more about what happens to these children, especially after they leave the foster care system, Liane Hansen speaks to Peter Pecora of the Casey Family Programs in Seattle.

(Listen)

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:04 am

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http://www.johnburtonfoundation.org/Projects.html

Foster Care Projects of the John Burton Foundation



The John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes is committed to reducing participation in California's foster care system and improving the quality of resources and support for those children and youth in foster care. The Foundation is currently pursuing this mission through its three primary public policy and advocacy projects:

...

2. SSI Transitions Project

The transition from foster care to independent living is a challenging, particularly for the up to 15% of youth exiting foster care annually with a physical or mental disability. Despite their high level of need, youth with disabilities commonly exit foster care without any additional assistance. Most troubling, the foster care system currently does not ensure that youth with disabilities have applied to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a public benefit available to individuals with disabilities despite the fact that studies have shown that access to this valuable public assistance significantly improves their transition.

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Marina
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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:32 am

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http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL33855_20070201.pdf

CRS Report for Congress


Child Welfare:
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits
for Children in Foster Care


February 1, 2007

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page 20


"On the other hand, SSI eligibility, once determined, may be maintained into
adulthood (with re-determinations) where eligibility for a foster care maintenance
payment ceases generally at, or soon after, a youth’s 18th birthday."

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:34 am

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... OSDP91.DTL

Needed -- a safety net

John Burton

Sunday, April 8, 2007


Sophia has never had it easy. From the time she was born with sickle cell anemia to the time she was placed into foster care at age 8, after being chronically neglected by her drug-addicted mother, Sophia had her share of troubles and a few more.

Things didn't get better for Sophia as she got older.

Her many placements in foster care prevented Sophia from receiving the consistent medical care she needed to manage her illness. By the time she was ready to "age out" of foster care at age 18, she regularly experienced the painful attacks that characterize sickle cell, requiring hospitalization, pain medication and many lost days of school. Despite her dis ability, Sophia left California's foster-care system when she turned 18 with nowhere to live, no source of income and nowhere to turn for help

Sadly, there was help for Sophia -- she just didn't know about it.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal income supplement program that assists our nation's most vulnerable: disabled children and adults with limited income. SSI provides a monthly cash benefit and qualifies them for a range of supportive services, such as affordable housing and expanded access to health services -- services that would have made all the difference to Sophia. Despite their eligibility for SSI, youth such as Sophia often fall through the cracks of the child-welfare system and exit foster care without SSI in place. In California, children and youth in foster care are not systematically screened for physical or mental disabilities.

Sophia is not the only youth in foster care who faces this predicament. A February 2007 report issued by a California Department of Social Services workgroup estimates that 15 percent of California's children and youth in foster care suffer from a serious mental or physical disability. These disabilities aren't mild depression or even post-traumatic stress disorder. As with Sophia, the disabilities experienced by many foster youth are often permanent, and include physical disabilities such as sickle cell or mental-health disorders as serious as schizophrenia.

Legislation under consideration in Sacramento would ensure that youth with disabilities aren't left to fend for themselves. Assembly Bill 1331, authored by Assembly member Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, would require county child welfare agencies to screen all youth at age 16 for a mental or physical disability and apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for those who are likely to qualify.

AB1331 would also allow youth whose SSI applications are being processed to remain in foster care until a final decision regarding their application has been made. This aspect of the proposal is essential, as youth who exit foster care with an SSI application pending quickly join the ranks of the homeless and cannot be notified about additional paperwork requirements or certification meetings.

Finally, the legislation will create a modest savings account for youth with disabilities, so that when they exit care with SSI, they have enough money to secure basic necessities, such as a place to live and food.

Creating a safety net for disabled youth exiting foster care would cost the state of California less than $2 million annually. With a state budget of more than $103 billion, this cost is negligible. The cost of continuing on our current course, however, is considerable. A study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research found that homelessness among mentally ill people imposes a startlingly high cost to taxpayers. On average, these individuals utilize $40,500 worth of publicly funded services every year.

Cost issues aside, however, this issue raises fundamental questions about the value we place on children, particularly those with disabilities. How can a society sit back and allow young people with a serious mental or physical disability leave the foster-care system, knowing that they have no resources or support to assist them? Would those of us with children ever consider such a course of action for our own children? Even the most hardened cynic must look at our practice and know that it is wrong.

Fortunately, we have the opportunity to make things right. AB1331 cleared its first legislative hurdle March 27, passing the Assembly Human Services Committee with bipartisan support. Now it will move on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and it is hoped thereafter onto the Senate and ultimately onto Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for his signature.

Each step along the way, we must maintain our resolve to treat California's disabled foster children as though they were our own. It may be too late for Sophia, but there are many more foster youth with disabilities who will benefit from the safety net SSI can provide.

John Burton is the former president pro tem of the California Senate and founder of the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:38 am

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http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/getinfo/acl07/pdf/07-10.pdf

BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES
FOR SCREENING FOSTER CHILDREN
WITH DISABILITIES AND ASSISTING THEM
WITH ELIGIBILITY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

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Marina
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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:42 am

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http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/158682.html

Give disabled foster kids a break

Your editorial, "Helping California's foster kids into adulthood," Forum, April 15, correctly describes as "shocking" what happens to foster children with disabilities when they "age out" of foster care. Children often turn 18 and exit the system with no family supports, no money and nowhere to live. Many become homeless or incarcerated.

Children with disabilities are eligible for federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, yet not every state screens foster children for eligibility. Even worse, in many states, welfare agencies simply view the benefits as a revenue stream and keep the money for themselves.

I applaud Assemblywoman Noreen Evans for pushing legislation requiring all of California's foster children to be screened for SSI eligibility. This is a great first step. More can and must be done at the federal level as well.

I have introduced a bill (H.R. 1104) to require every state child welfare agency to screen children for SSI eligibility and to set aside the SSI money for the children to use when they turn 18. Creating such a nest egg would allow children transitioning into adulthood to go to college, secure housing and become self-sufficient. We strive to provide our own children with these opportunities. We should do the same for foster children.

- Pete Stark, Washington, D.C.

Member of the House, D-Fremont

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Postby Marina » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:23 pm


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Postby Marina » Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:53 pm

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http://www.jrplaw.org/Documents/surviva ... _20_06.pdf

A Survival Guide
for Teens Aging Out
of Foster Care

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Postby Marina » Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:56 pm

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http://www.aphsa.org/Home/Doc/Medicaid- ... re-Rpt.pdf

Medicaid for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

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Postby Marina » Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:13 pm

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http://www.cfbroward.org/new/foster_care.pdf

Transitional Independent Living
Strategic Plan
Challenges of, and Potential Solutions for,
Emancipated Foster Care Youth in Broward County

Florida

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Postby Marina » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:17 am

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http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/191/over16.html


Youth with Disabilities Aging Out of Foster Care:
Issues and Support Strategies

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Postby Marina » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:20 am

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http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/homeless ... ytitle.pdf

Discharge Planning from Publicly funded institutions.

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Postby yellernboyz » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:20 pm

Does anyone know if there are time guides to keeping foster kids in care? ex... the state has to have them for 6 months to get their monies for the kids. If not they can't justify why they took them in the first place? My case worker seems to be dragging her feet on everything and the six month review is coming up in October '07

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Postby Frustrated » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:31 pm

I am not sure, but here in Canada, age 6 and under, one year in Foster Care, age 6 and over, up to two years. It all depends.

However, I am not 100% sure but that is the standard stay in foster care system up to one year. it can be extended to two years. Caseworkers must have a hearing to have them permanent wards of the State so they can live in Foster Care permanently until age 18 or 21. I am not sure what the hearing is called, maybe a Dependancy Hearing? Maybe Marina has more insights than I do.

FYI , MOST SERVICE PLANS are up to 6 months, then it expires then they must either draw up a new service plan for another 6 months or extend it to one year.

Does your Service Plan has an expiry date to it? If it does have an expiry date, then it is done and over with. That's why the Worker is dragging her feet trying to "extend" it and bringing a whole bunch of stuff like you are not finished with it, or not done with it so they extend it for another 6 months. 9 months to 12 months is when they have Dependancy Hearing, and if threatened it is around the same time they suggest TPR just because you refuse to do a service Plan which seems to be moot and unproven. There will be alot of hearings between 9 months to 12 months and the most crucial time. They could have said to the Judge that you did not complete the services or whatever, so it is crucial that you have documented PROOF of completion and attach to the affadivits for court procedures. So the Worker cannot say you didn't finish. Be one step ahead of them and in that case, it always works if you keep a detailed journal of accounts for more than a year. If possible if allowable in your State (check taping laws) is to tape record your Worker or record of any sorts electronically with your Worker to expose her lies.
It is easy to steal from poor people. But don't do it. And don't take advantage of those poor people in court. The Lord is on their side. He supports them and he will take things away from any person that takes from them.~ Proverbs 22:22

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Postby Marina » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:51 pm

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0709 ... ging_out_1

Missouri program helps foster children aging out of the system

Sun Sep 9, 11:47 AM

By Betsy Taylor


ST. LOUIS (AP) - Annica Trotter knows firsthand the challenges foster children face as they become adults: She was already living on her own at age 18, three years after turning herself over to the state, entering the foster care system as a pregnant 15-year-old.


Trotter is now part of a St. Louis-based program that could serve as a model to ease the transition from foster care to independence. The St. Louis Aging Out Initiative focuses on young people in state custody who don't have the resources needed to make a smooth transition to life on their own once they "age out," or are legally emancipated from the foster care system.


Without the program, it's estimated about half of the foster children in the St. Louis region who age out become homeless at some point. Less than half have a high school diploma or its equivalent, and about 80 per cent of young women who age out become pregnant before 21, organizers said.


The program aims to help foster children before they're on their own.


"A lot of communities nationally are struggling with this," said Curtis Holloman, of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Local Initiative Funding Partners program. "How do we make sure these youth who live in so many different families or at so many different addresses are healthy, productive adults?"


The foundation, a New Jersey-based health care philanthropy, recently gave the St. Louis program a three-year, US$500,000 matching grant; some $600,000 was already committed by area organizations involved in the program. If successful, Holloman sees it as a potential national model.


Trotter said former foster children like herself often enter adulthood lacking certain crucial skills.


Although she knew how to look after her own place or to call maintenance if something broke, she said, "I needed help with how a bank account worked, what's credit, filling out and maintaining a budget. No one really had time to explain those 'little' big things to me, or they just assumed someone else had."


Now 21 and in college studying to be a paramedic, she works with foster children to help them navigate adulthood.


About 20,000 young people "age out" of the foster care system annually in the United States, including about 350 a year in Missouri. Missouri is among the states that can provide services up to age 21, but foster children seeking independence can opt out at 18.


Once they do, they're left to make their own decisions about finances, school, jobs, housing, even health insurance - though foster children in Missouri qualify for health care coverage until they are 21, under a new law this year.


The Aging Out Initiative helps them acquire life skills, with a goal that they can take care of themselves financially by age 25, said Kevin Drollinger, executive director of Epworth Children and Family Services, the lead agency on the project.


It seeks to help teens with questions like, "What sort of funding assistance is available for college? How do I get my GED or learn about trade school?" Drollinger said.


"The idea is to piece together services and to let them choose from there."


The initiative is recruiting 100 16-year-olds this year and another 100 in 2008. The hope is that participants will be more likely to have a high school diploma, to make use of education training vouchers, to be able to secure steady jobs and housing.


While there are already resources available in Missouri to children aging out, the new program is set up to feel less like a class. It allows foster children to decide what they need more information on and gets that assistance to them, Trotter said.


She lets teens in the program know she can relate.

When Trotter was eight weeks old, her mother was found wandering in St. Louis traffic, with young Annica wrapped in a receiving blanket and nothing else. Trotter began living with her grandmother.

At age 13, with her grandmother in failing health, the two moved in with another relative. They had about a year of stability before the adults stopped being able to provide for basic needs.

"We lived for a year without gas. The electricity was never on all the time. And, uh, we didn't have any food," Trotter said. "...I was so jealous of other kids, not because they had cool clothes or cell phones, but because they had food."

At age 15, she became pregnant, left school and worked at a fast-food restaurant.

When her grandmother died, Trotter essentially turned herself over to the state, realizing she needed a better living situation. Trotter didn't get prenatal care until she entered foster care, she said.

But stays in her first foster homes were problematic. In one, a woman falsely accused her of trying to sleep with another foster child. In another, a mother wanted Trotter to do basic tasks for the woman's adopted teen.

Her son, Michael, had multiple health problems and required hospital stays, once for four months.

In 2002, Trotter and her son were placed in a foster home that changed their lives. The foster parents were George and Linda Brother. "They were very welcoming. It was nothing like what I'd ever really experienced," she said.

Linda Brother found a program that accepted special-needs children, to help Trotter care for her son. Trotter began taking classes to earn her GED. "Before I came into foster care, I never thought I'd go to college," Trotter said.

The couple consoled and supported her when Michael died of breathing-related problems in 2004.

Trotter requested to stay in state care until she was 21. The skills she needed when she got her own place are among those she helps current foster children learn in the Aging Out Initiative.

Participants also create "life books" that include their Social Security card, birth certificate, family health history and immunization records. They can include family photos, so they don't get misplaced if children change homes.

Organizations working on the program believe it will give foster children support to succeed. And Trotter has some additional support on her side, too. Last year, on her birthday, her foster parents adopted her.

"It meant the world," Trotter said. "It was the first time I felt what family is supposed to be."

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