Finding Stability for Youth
One in four youth exiting foster care lack lasting connections to family or supportive adults. FosterClub believes that meaningful relationships post-care significantly enhance their chances to thrive.
Why It Matters
Young people in foster care often struggle to form lasting, supportive relationships. Such enduring and supportive relationships have proven to aid former foster youth in securing housing, education, and stable jobs. Professionals working with these youth should prioritize reconnecting them with birth families, chosen families, and other supportive figures through various means, including mentorship and community involvement.
There are 3 different types of permanency:
Legal Permanency
Legal family relationships like adoptive parents
Relational Permanency
Emotionally supportive relationships like a teacher or mentor
Cultural Permanency
Feeling connected to one’s culture/traditions
Quick Facts
- Youth who exit care without permanency are more likely to experience homelessness, poverty, and/or mental health challenges.
- Black and Native American youth are less likely to have supportive adult relationships after exiting foster care.
- 1 in 4 youth in foster care will live in a group placement setting. Youth in group placements are less likely to have supportive relationships with adults after exiting care.
“When I started high school, my life was in a downward spiral. I was fortunate enough to have some people that recognized that I had something better to offer and that I had the choice to change my life around. Without these people, I don’t know if I’d be here today.”
— Former foster youth
Tools You Can Use
- Here is a fact sheet of how caregivers can connect with birth parents in the hopes of family reunification.
- FosterClub has created this 1-pager with Information for LEx About Permanence.
- This is a helpful resource from Casey Family Programs about the importance of family visitation and connection for youth in foster care.
How We're Working on this issue
Journey to Success Campaign
FosterClub helps lead the Journey to Success Campaign, championing the rights of older foster youth, especially their right to permanency.
Through Washington DC visits, virtual training for child welfare professionals, and informative briefs, FosterClub collaborates with esteemed partners like Think of Us, American Academy of Pediatrics, Youth Law Center, and Partnership for America’s Children to amplify its impact.
National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council Priorities
The National Foster Care Youth + Alumni Policy Council's LEx members inform federal policymakers about real-life foster care experiences and advocate for vital child welfare reforms.
FosterClub's Permanency Pact
FosterClub's Permanency Pact is a collaborative tool, developed with LEx and adults, designed to assist youth and their support teams in achieving lasting permanency.
“They have each been very supportive of my goals. Never held judgment or bias against me for things that occurred previous to or while in care. Even after care.
— Former foster youth from Oklahoma
Want to Learn More?
Check out this resource about prioritizing family ties from the Journey to Success Program.
Data from the Casey Foundation shows how youth transition out of foster care.
Here’s a study with some helpful data that shows the need for permanency support for foster youth.
Blogs on Permanence
Contest: Foster Love in February
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR ENTERING! The young people of foster care never cease to amaze us. We invited FosterClub's youth to contribute their voice to our Foster Love in February contest by sharing poems and stories of ways they stay connected to family, and why that is important to them. We published several of their quotes...
Permanence
In my childhood and early adolescence I had never had a supportive person that gave me hope or encouragement. Throughout my life I had heard horror stories of foster care. It was something I feared more than the situation I was in with my own family. The stigma of foster care scared me away from trying to reach safety. However...
Informing the Court: What Permanency Means for Young People
In court, permanency is often talked about from a legal standpoint, but we know that permanency can mean something different for young people who experience foster care. One of FosterClub’s Young Leaders, David Hall, recently had the opportunity to share his experiences around permanency in a webinar hosted by the Capacity Building Center for Courts and attended by members of...
My Permanency
Permanency: lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely. That is the dictionary definition of the word. However, in the perspective of a foster youth, permanency has no set definition. In the foster care system, youth may experience instability regarding placement, and for that, the system tries to lead youth on a path to permanency through reunification, emancipation, kinship...
Ensuring Permanency for Young People in the Foster Care System
National Foster Youth Advisory Council Members of the National Foster Youth Advisory Council (NFYAC) believe that every young person in the foster care system is entitled to a wide array of supports, resources and opportunities to ensure permanency in their lives. We believe that all young people in foster care need: Compassionate, committed adults who are willing to be life...