I recently had an interview with a lady who is helping start up an organization to help kids aging out of the foster care system. One aspect that stuck out to me is the kids aging out of group homes and foster care often don’t have anyone in their life to support them. These young adults have a desire, just like anyone else, to have people that feel like family in their lives to help guide them through adulthood and encourage them. Imagine not having at least one person in your life that you could count on to encourage and uplift you without even asking. Due to many in the system feeling this way, they seek out that fulfillment in other areas and ways, such as through drug use or being in unhealthy relationships. I learned most of the kids who do not have families to support them are coming from group homes. The children who are able to spend at least a few years in a foster home tend to feel like they have support as they age out of foster care. There is a gap in our current system that is not giving the necessary support to help kids who have turned 18. They are being released onto the street with no support or resources, depending on what county they live in. I learned from my interview that statistically there is a higher percentage that end up addicted to substances, homeless, and can often find themselves pregnant without the resources to support having a child, which can further perpetuate children being taken into foster care and the cycle can start all over again. This made me curious to continue researching what the life of an 18 year old coming out of a group home looks like. I will write in future posts about what I find!