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Our overloaded foster care
system is broken, and ultimately failing America’s
most vulnerable children. It leaves many of our youth without the tools necessary
to become productive and successful members of society. As a result, without
help, two years after being discharged from foster care:
- Up to 45% will experience homelessness.
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Half will be unemployed.
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Less than half will have a high school diploma.
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They will be three times more likely than the general population to suffer from
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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They will be seven times more likely to experience drug dependence and twice
as likely to experience alcohol dependence.
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They will be seven times more likely to suffer from bulimia.
- Within four years, 41% will be on some type of public assistance.
Three out of ten homeless Americans have a foster care history.
Currently in Palm Beach County, there are approximately
300 adolescents in foster care, and about 100 of them will turn 18 this
year and be forced to
leave the system. And yet, consider this: the average age a young American
becomes self-sufficient is 26. Why, then, would we have the unrealistic
expectation that our country’s most vulnerable youth would be ready
to live independently at 18?
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