Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

According to the 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015), 36,907 youth were homeless (under age 25) with 13% of these youth being minors. In (2013) it was reported that between 31 and 46% of youth with histories of foster care placements were homeless at least once during their transition to adulthood. Adulthood in the United States is generally accepted to involve greater degrees of independence and self-sufficiency than childhood, and foster care alumni, like all transition-age youth, must negotiate a series of challenges to independent living as they move into adulthood. However, youth transitioning from foster care often make this transition without many of the supports traditionally available to transition-age youth (Osgood, Foster,Flanagan, & Ruth, 2004). These youth are frequently disconnected from family, friends, and other caring adults (Osgood et al., 2004). They may have missed opportunities to prepare for independent living, including opportunities to acquire life skills (Naccarato &DeLorenzo, 2008). They are more commonly disconnected from the worlds of education and employment.Two pieces of legislation target independence preparation for older youth in child welfare. The 1999 Foster Care Independence Act created the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence program which provides funding for independence training programs to provide life skills training for youth emancipating from care. The passage of the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110–351) mandated the development of a transition plan for youth aging out of foster care. The question that still remains was this enough, does this legislation that exist adequately support foster care alumni though the transition to adulthood and who of this population is at a greater risk of experiencing homelessness?This research will be a meta-analysis and literature review that highlights the risk factors and rh policy efforts that lead to the foster care to homelessness pipeline. The foster care to homelessness pipeline is the phenomenon similar to the school to prison pipeline identifying factors that can contribute to foster youth alumni experiencing barriers to housing during their transition to adulthood.The target audience for this research will be social work practitioners and policy makers. This study adds to the knowledge of the experiences of foster youth survivors by identifying themes/ risk factors that lead to homelessness. Identifying these goals and brining seriousness to this issue will hopefully be a call to change makers to make a difference in the lives of foster youth alumni. Social work practice intervention will be advocacy, policy and planning. The research will identify ways of supporting this population. This proposal is directly related to APPAAM's mission of “improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis and education", as it is imperative for social workers to be the leaders in bridge the gap in housing disparities for transitional age youth, underserved populations.