Children aging out of foster care need practice living on their own

Only half will have a job by the age of 24

ROANOKE, Va. – Not every child will be adopted out of foster care before they turn 18, especially older teenagers.

DePaul Community Resources tries to get them ready to live on their own.

There are apartments at some locations where they can live and practice being adults, with the safety net of staff to help them.

But as the vice president of child and family services, Renee Brown, says they want people to think about fostering to adopt to make a big difference for these kids.

"If you are willing to open your heart and your home we will provide the training, we will provide the support, all the services that we have at DePaul to support you. We want the families to be successful, we want the children to be successful," she said.

According to the National Foster Youth Institute:

  • there's less than a 3-percent chance of a child who ages out achieving high education
  • only half will have a job by the age of 24
  • seven out of ten girls who age out will become pregnant before the age of 21

If you would like to learn more about foster care/adoption, contact Cindy Davis at DePaul Community Resources at cdavis@depaulcr.org or 540.381.1848 x 4009 or online at www.depaulcr.org

There are more than 600 children who are ready for foster to adoption in Virginia. They are ready to find a permanent and loving forever family. 10 News is profiling one child who needs a home every day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in 30 Days of Hope. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.


About the Author:

You can see Jenna weekday mornings at the anchor desk on WSLS 10 Today from 5-7 a.m. She also leads our monthly Solutionaries Series, where we highlight the creative thinkers and doers working to make the world a better place.