Question by FieldMouse: When foster kids turn 18, is it true that they can not stay with their foster parents?
because most foster homes are ONLY licensed up to 18?
So, the kids have to go into transitional living or somewhere else?
Best answer:
Answer by Sneha
It is true that kids have to leave their foster parents when they are 18, unless they want you to stay with them which in that case the age is 21. If not, the kids have to find somewhere else to live, since legally you are an adult.
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if the foster family wants them to stay of course they can stay,, but after they turn 18 the state will no longer pay the foster family to support them..
what should have happen by the time a foster child turns 18, they should have a part time job,and maybe have finished high school and be ready to go to college..
foster care doesn’t pay past 18 but any good foster parents would let the child stay there and help them get into college or a good job as long as the child was staying out of trouble. Not all foster parents are only about the money. some areas have transitional assistance to help them get on their feet.
It depends on the state you’re in as to whether or not the child can stay in foster care after the age of 18. In California, kids can stay in foster care up to the age 19 as long as they are working on graduating from high school. The rule here is that when a kid turns 18 AND graduates from high school then they are discharged from foster care. There is no rule that they can’t continue to live in the foster home if the foster parents want them to stay, but the foster parents will not continue to get paid for them.
If a kid in foster care is getting close to 18, the social worker should be working with them on transitioning from care. Kids should start ILS (independent living services) at age 16 so they have a plan for what they will do as adults. Also, transitional living programs can be good programs. The kids can live there free while they save money and continue their education. There are checklists the social worker should be going through with the child, making sure the child has a copy of the SS card and birth cert, making sure they will graduate HS before leaving care, be enrolled in college or job training schools if the child wants, has a bank account, has their medi-cal transferred over (foster kids can keep their insurance until age 21), has applied for food-stamps, etc. The list is too long to put here. The social worker should be working hard on all of these issues. If he/she isn’t, involve the supervisor. The care and effort put into the transition by the social worker has a direct impact on how well the child will do as an adult.
If you are in foster care, talk with your social worker about these things. If you have a friend in care, encourage them to call their social worker. There’s a good website that is run by adults working with foster kids, and foster kids that have aged out, that has a lot of information. I put the link below. It should be helpful to you.
I’ve never heard where it is mandatory for someone to leave at 18. The home owners, even though they are foster parents, can still determine who they want to live with them so if they want to allow the person to stay that is their business. What does stop however is the financial supports and the person essentially becomes dependent upon themselves for the rest of their life. Some areas do have transition periods and programs though but where they live is their business.
Once the child is 18, s/he is no longer a foster child, but an adult. Then it’s up to the parents and the child. The state can’t prevent the parents from allowing the child to stay. But the paren’t don’t have to allow it.
Most states now won’t pay foster parents for kids over 18. Thank God, some states are changing this because it’s really, really devastating to kids without any type of support.
An adult over 18 is allowed to live wherever they want. If the family agrees to it, the former foster child can stay. The family would receive no subsidy or stipend, nor would the relationship be supervised by social workers.
In most cases this situation would no longer officially be fostering for the state. It would just be an adult choosing to live with other adults, which does not require any sort of licensing, just mutual consent.
Here in Australia there is no such law, however there are times (unfortunately quite often) where the foster family doesn’t allow the young person to keep staying with them because at the age of 18 the state stops the financial contribution towards the child’s care.
It’s NOT something that any decent foster family would do.
I looked this up after you asked about it. At least in Texas, a child can stay in care until their 20th birthday as long as they are still working towards a high school diploma. They can stay until their 19th birthday if they are still in vocational school or working on a GED.
Any adult can live with any adult until a court order rules otherwise.