Queer youth in foster care are at an increased risk of aging out of foster care¹. On average, one in four youth who age out of foster care will become homeless within four years². LGBTQIA2S+ youth are at an increased risk of experiencing homelessness³. 

By supporting services to youth transitioning out of foster care, FFA helps ensure LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care are given the services and resources they need to successfully transition into adulthood. 

What is the Family First Act (FFA)?

• Passed in 2018, FFA included historic reforms that focus on keeping children safely with their families, when possible
• FFA funded the following four areas
  • Supports prevention services
  • Provides support for kinship (relative) caregivers
  • Establishes requirements for placement in residential treatment programs and improves quality and oversight services
  • Improves services to older youth

How does FFA help LGBTQIA2S+ Youth Aging Out of Foster Care?⁴

• Allows states to offer services to youth who have aged out of foster care (up to age 23)
• Services for transitioning to adulthood begin at age 14 (previously they began at 16)
• States must provide youth who exit care as adults with documentation that proves the youth was in foster care. This helps a youth access certain programs and services to assist them
• States can now provide young adults education and training vouchers until age 26 (previously age 23)

What can you do?

• Caseworkers + advocates + professionals: Help older LGBTQIA2S+ youth learn what services are available for youth aging out of foster care through FFA. Learn more about this in Part 4 of this series, coming soon!
• Kinship Caregivers + foster/resource families: Help older LGBTQIA2S+ youth in your care access and utilize services made available to them through FFA. 
• Everyone: Contact your representatives and senators and tell them how important these services are for LGBTQIA2S+ youth in care! Encourage them to put more funding towards making sure  LGBTQIA2S+ youth in care receive the resources they need. 
  • You can use the resource here to find your representatives and senators
  • For tips on writing your representative(s) or senator(s), see the resource here

For more information on how to support older LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care, visit the other parts of this series!

• Part 1: Transition Plannning with Older LGBTQIA2S+ youth in foster care
• Part 2: Supporting Older LGBTQIA2S+ in Foster Care
• Part 4: Practice Improvement: Supporting Transition Planning

Learn more about the Family First Act and the importance of services to older youth:

Implementation:

• Future Savings: The Economic Potential of Successful Transitions from Foster Care to Adulthood
• Fostering Youth Transitions
• Leveraging FFPSA for Older Youth: Improving Transitions
• Family First Act can fund needed services and supports for older youth in foster care

What Lived Experience Leaders Say:

• A Historic Opportunity to Reform the Child Welfare System: Youth & Alumni Priorities on Older Youth Successful Transition to Adulthood
• Preventing Homelessness Among Young Adults from Foster Care
• Improving the Transition to Independent Adulthood

Sources:

¹LGBTQ in Child Welfare: A Systematic Review of Literature

²Housing and Homelessness

³LGBTQ in Child Welfare: A Systematic Review of Literature

⁴Family First Act Bill Text