Yesterday, the City Council passed a law that requires the city of New York to track what happens to children after leaving foster care. According to officials, an average of 1,000 18 to 21 year-old children leave foster care in the city. Unfortunately, a large number of this foster children tend to struggle after they’ve been sent out on their own. With the passing of this law, New York will now have to issue public reports with data, including how many foster children end up in public housing or receive housing subsidies, how many go to college or get jobs and how many of them ultimately reunite with their families.
Separate bills passed yesterday will also require New York to track high school graduation rates for foster kids, in addition to monitoring how many of them get government-issued IDs. The City Council voted unanimously in favor for all of these bills. According to the sponsor of the bills, Public Advocate Letitia James, being a child in foster care shouldn’t mean that one’s adult life is characterized by homelessness, dependence on welfare or prison, but such trends are unfortunately all too common. Foster care is failing, and the New York City needs to know why, and figure out what works and what doesn’t.
There are currently around 12,000 kids in foster care in New York City alone who have been taken away from their parents due to abuse or neglect. Foster children can choose to leave home when they turn 18, and stop being eligible for foster care at the age of 21. According to advocates such as James, an estimated one in five young adults who leave foster care end up in a homeless shelter within three years, and half of them are unemployed. Less than a quarter of them are in college. Jamel Robinson, who spent his entire childhood in foster homes and currently works to prevent homelessness among former foster youth, said that finding stability after leaving a temporary home with no family to fall back on is unsurprisingly difficult.
Maria Haymandou 