Children Aging Out of Foster Care

Aging out.

Statistics and data available in our annual reports reveal some disheartening facts: for children in out-of-home placement the prospect of growing up in a permanent home becomes increasingly slim with each passing year and nearly negligible five years after the child’s removal from the home.

As a result, each year hundreds of New Jersey teenagers age out of foster care when they reach the age of 18. Without the benefit of family and community support systems their risks for homelessness and human trafficking are at much higher rates than the general population.

This is why our mission also encompasses making sure that every young person at risk of leaving foster care without achieving the goal of permanency receives necessary support to transition to adulthood.

For more than a decade, CPAC has been working with various organizations like the Rutgers’ Child Advocacy Clinic to help inform teens who are aging out of their rights to request and receive continuing services and resources from the DCP&P and community organizations up to the age of 21 – even after they decide to opt out at age 18.

A founder of Trenton-based Age-Out Angels, which links youth ages 14 – 24 with volunteer mentors, is an honorary member of the NJ CPAC Executive Board. Age-Out Angels - Home | Facebook

The NJ Youth Resource Spot (NJYRS) is a website created for young people, by young people. The majority of the content was written and selected by NJ DCF Youth Council members who have lived experience with the DCP&P, the Children’s System of Care (CSOC) and the DCF Regional Schools. Content includes an overview of aging out, area-based support services and funding available to eligible young people who were in foster care at age 16 or older or in a DCF adolescent contracted housing program between the ages of 18-21. New Jersey Youth Resource Spot (nj.gov)