This paper presents a community assessment of foster care youth in Arizona, focusing on the needs, risks, and systemic challenges facing young people in the state's foster care system. Drawing on national and Arizona-specific statistics, the paper examines the population's vulnerability to poor educational outcomes, homelessness, teen pregnancy, juvenile justice involvement, and poverty. It reviews the community structure and patterns of service delivery through the Arizona Department of Economic Security, traces the development of federal and state independent living programs — including the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Act — and identifies critical gaps in coordination between child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The paper concludes with recommendations for comprehensive transition planning to better support youth aging out of care.
A community assessment is a process by which a collaborative partnership gathers information on the current strengths, concerns, needs, and conditions of children, families, and the community. The information comes from many sources — especially parents and family members — and is elicited by many techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and scanning demographic data collected by local agencies. Because many types of partners participate in a community assessment — strategic planners, program staff, administrators, teachers, parents, and other community members — the resulting information is broad, accurate, and useful (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, n.d.). Chiefly, such assessments focus on local assets, resources, and activities as well as gaps, barriers, or emerging needs. The process of identifying and appraising this information will help a collaborative partnership address a social problem, such as the situation of foster care youth in the Arizona state system.
Due to a lack of support and resources, foster care youth are inadvertently disadvantaged before their lives truly have an opportunity to begin. Shockingly, over 500,000 youth are in foster care in the United States (Williams, 2011). Each state has a social service agency — in Arizona, the Department of Economic Security (DES) — that is legally responsible for caring for abused, neglected, and abandoned children who enter foster care because they cannot remain with their parents or other family members. Unless these children can be returned to the custody of their parents, placed in an adoptive home, or placed with a permanent guardian, they remain in the care and custody of DES until they reach the age of 18.
In comparison to other young adults, youth with a foster care history are at greater risk of low educational attainment, homelessness, non-marital pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, joblessness, poverty, physical and mental illness, and engaging in or being victims of crimes (Williams, 2011). Foster youth who are also involved in the juvenile justice system are at even greater risk. These youth are very often released from the juvenile justice system on their 18th birthday with little or no family support, no home to return to, and few, if any, services to help them live successfully on their own.
Arizona foster care youth need a great deal of support both while in foster homes and as they transition into adulthood. The lack of support can have long-term negative effects physically, mentally, and emotionally. By providing tools to help develop self-efficacy and self-sufficiency, foster care youth may persevere and become contributing members of society. The goal is to empower them to rise above their circumstances and to enrich their life experiences and choices.
The Office of Adolescent Health under the Department of Health and Human Services has compiled information regarding adolescent health disparities spanning many areas — from mental, physical, and reproductive health to substance abuse and relationships. For example, in 2008, Arizona was ranked 45th out of 50 states in teen birth rates among mothers ages 15 to 19 (Hope and A Future, 2010). The choices made and behaviors adopted during adolescent years affect overall wellbeing and, potentially, health throughout a person's life. Without proper support and resources, foster care youth are at a distinct disadvantage compared to youth not in foster care. By identifying foster care youth, empowering them with support and information through peer group workshops, and increasing accountability through resource referrals, communities can help bridge the gap in health disparities among this population.
Needs assessments also provide an opportunity for communities to be empowered in addressing their unique social problems. Such assessments are a form of community-based research — collaborative inquiry dedicated primarily to serving the research and information needs of community organizations (Norris & Schwartz, 2009). A needs assessment of foster care youth between 12 and 18 years old reveals the necessity of tools for successfully transitioning into adulthood.
The following national statistics illustrate the scope of the problem (Hope & A Future, 2010):
Arizona-specific statistics paint an equally urgent picture:
"Broken homes, permanency challenges, and youth empowerment goals"
"DES responsibilities, placement instability, and federal programs"
"Service coordination failures and legislative funding history"
While current state law allows foster youth to voluntarily remain in the care of DES after reaching age 18 and receive additional support and guidance toward independence, the reality is that some youth are discouraged by their case managers from staying in foster care, or they may be told they cannot stay in care (Krinsky, 2010). The law does provide that youth must accept personal responsibility for preparing for and making the transition to adulthood. Many Arizona youth are shuffled from placement to placement; more than half of the youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have experienced more than 11 placements before reaching the age of 18 (Collins, 2010). An overburdened and under-resourced system is not accommodating the needs of a growing number of youth who will age out of care.
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