CASA

Guide to Independent Living for Transitional Age and Emancipated Foster Youth

The “Guide to Independent Living for Transitional Age and Emancipated Foster Youth” is a 214-page comprehensive guide, which was designed to provide Alameda County CASA volunteers and youth with resources and checklists for emancipation preparation. CASA youth will be encouraged to use this guide prior to their dismissal from dependency, ideally beginning at 15 years of age. This will enable youth to have adequate time to prepare for their emancipation and understand the services and resources available to them during this process. Volunteers will teach their assigned youth how to understand and make the best use of this guide. This guide provides our volunteers and youth with both practical and accessible information. In addition, we hope to educate and empower our foster youth to plan for their future by taking the time to thoroughly review this guide with their CASA volunteer.

CASA volunteers will also work with their youth’s team to coordinate services and offer assistance with completing tasks in the Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP). To effectively advocate, CASA volunteers get to know the youth and speak to everyone involved in their life, including the youth’s family members, teachers, attorneys, social workers, therapists, psychiatrists, and others. CASA volunteers research the facts of the case, create a plan for advocacy, facilitate a collaborative relationship between all parties on the case, make written recommendations to the court and monitor progress towards established goals. The information they gather and their recommendations help the court make informed decisions.

Alameda County CASA believes it is critical to provide adequate and consistent adult guidance to youth during their emancipation process. Unfortunately, many foster children face a lack of consistency among the multiple systems involved in their case.  As a result, youth may experience a lack of continuity among professionals, including caregivers, social workers, attorneys, teachers, therapists, psychiatrists, judges/commissioners, etc. This constant movement of professionals in their lives often leads to a lack of continuity in care and can contribute to poor emancipation outcomes.

Here in Alameda County, at least 60 percent of youth emancipating from foster care become homeless within one year, according to the Alameda County Ombudsman’s Office. The Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles predicts that 50 percent of former foster youth will become unemployed. Fewer than 10 percent enroll in college, and only one percent graduate. Sadly, an astounding 25 percent of former foster youth will become incarcerated within two years of emancipation. This is both shocking and, we believe, unnecessary if our youth have adequate and consistent support during their emancipation process.

This is where a CASA can make a significant difference. CASAs make certain that all professionals newly involved in the case are consistently being updated to ensure they have adequate and current information. Advocates also monitor progress toward established goals and follow up with professionals to certify that tasks are completed in a timely manner. Due to the fact that transitional age foster youth are required to meet application deadlines and enroll in numerous supportive services, it is important for someone to adequately monitor their progress. CASAs can be the person who assists the team to ensure that a foster youth’s needs are met and help the youth to achieve positive outcomes. They help youth set and achieve realistic goals, develop skills and move toward greater independence.

We are very excited to share this valuable resource with other organizations supporting transitional age youth. You can download a free copy from our web site at: www.casaofalamedacounty.org