2015 | United States
Housing for aging out youth: Developmental needs during the transition to adulthood
RELATED INITIATIVES
Economic Security
One of the major challenges facing the over twenty thousand youth who age out of foster care each year is homelessness (Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, & Nesmith, 2001). For these aging out youth (AOY) developmental trajectories into adulthood are often complicated by personal, social, and systemic factors that impede gradual entry into adulthood, leaving the period of “emerging adulthood” truncated. Despite the unique developmental needs of AOY, housing services for them often mimic adult services, for example Housing First. This qualitative study seeks to understand if and how supportive housing can help AOY. Open-ended questions were asked by facilitators for the purpose of eliciting broad and comprehensive responses about the service needs of AOY, their goals and dreams, and meaningful relationships.
Atterbury, K., Small, L. A., Munson, M., & Stanhope, V. (2015, January). Housing for aging out youth: Developmental needs during the transition to adulthood. Oral presentation for the Society for Social Work and Research 19th Annual Conference: The Social and Behavioral Importance of Increased Longevity. New Orleans, LA.