When young people age out of foster care and other child welfare services, they become susceptible to homelessness, human trafficking, and other threats to their well-being.
Gaps in Foster Care Lead to Youth Homelessness
We Help Young People Facing Homelessness When Foster Care Can’t
32% of the youth who come to Covenant House have had involvement with foster care. Our trauma-informed, strengths-based approach to our residential programs and support services meet youth where systems have either left off or failed to meet their needs.
When Young People Age Out of the Foster Care System
Young people typically age out of the system at 18 or 21 years of age, a time when they are often ill-equipped to navigate a successful path to a self-sufficient and independent adulthood.
This is precisely when young people become most vulnerable to homelessness, human trafficking, and a host of other threats and obstacles to their well-being and future happiness.
Children and youth enter foster care or child welfare systems when there is a problem of violence, abuse, neglect, or crisis in their home of origin. While a healthy foster placement might help a child come to terms with such hardships, a poor placement or an untimely aging out of the system without achieving permanence carries lifelong consequences, leaving young people at increased risk of poor educational outcomes, homelessness, unemployment, early parenthood, and substance use.
Help Youth Facing Gaps in Foster Care
Your support will provide shelter and services to young people experiencing homelessness who have aged out of the foster care system.
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Know the Issues That Drive Youth Homelessness
Young people experiencing homelessness face numerous challenges and barriers that hinder their journey toward sustainable independence and a hope-filled future.
