Young Adults In Foster Care

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Interdisciplinary Studies Research Project Leo Alex, Joshua Dingler, Brian Margio, Lindsay Tabora Introduction Research Question: Why are young adults who have 'aged-out' of the Florida foster care system plagued with high unemployment rates? Children who grow-up in the foster care system–whether it be foster or group homes–that never find permanent placement (reunification with birth parents, kinship placement, guardianship, or third-party adoption), eventually 'age-out' of the system. This means, when they hit 18 they are essentially 'released into the wild'–the state stops funds, they are pushed out of their group homes or foster homes (due to a need for space) and they are on their own (Littlefield). The problem is long-term foster…show more content…
Most foster children have seen several different homes and families, suffered from abuse and neglect, and have learning and emotional disabilities. These issues create very unstable emotions that, unless addressed, can carry on into adulthood and affect every aspect of their lives–including their ability to secure gainful employment. The cause of this emotional instability can stem from the treatment they received before they were placed into foster care or even from the foster care situation itself. Because foster children can be moved frequently from home to home, they rarely have time to connect and stay connected to their foster families and friends. The frequent moves also cause many to fall behind in their studies. Recent statistics show that only 50% of foster children even graduate high school. Their lack of success, whether it be graduating high school, getting into college, or finding employment, is not due to their lack of desire to work hard, but more that it is “emotionally difficult” (qtd. in…show more content…
It consists of the analysis of what stimuli cause a behavior and in what way that behavior is directed. Stemming from this concept is Maslow’s theory of human motivation, outlined in a hierarchy of needs, which gives very useful insight into the motivational force at play: the motivation of the young adult to be employed. Of course, if a young adult feels unmotivated or incapable of succeeding in a competitive job market, he will very likely be unsuccessful and end up as a part of the unemployment statistic. Therefore, this theory is even more important to answering the question of why foster children are plagued with unemployment upon aging out of the

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