Credit hours:
2.50

Course Summary

For teenagers who have been living in foster care, the transition to adulthood presents many new and often daunting experiences. This course provides foster parents with guidance on how to help youth and emerging adults build a foundation for a successful transition to adult life outside of foster care.

In this course, you can expect to learn:

  • Unique challenges youth face when exiting foster care
  • Adolescent development and changes in the brain
  • Laws and programs to support transitioning youth
  • The critical role of foster parents
  • Tools to empower foster youth to prepare for the transition to adulthood

Step 1

Read this FosterClub Real Story written by Shawn Denise Semelsberger. She provides youth perspective about aging out of foster care unprepared.

Step 2

FosterClub recommends foster youth do 21 things before they transition out of care to make sure they have a successful journey to independence. Read FosterClub's "it's T time" to become familiar with steps foster youth should take before they leave foster care.

Step 3

Read this FosterClub Real Story written by Ricky Ballesteros, he provides valuable youth perspective about why transition planning is important.

Step 4

Review "Helping Youth Transition to Adulthood: Guidance for Foster Parents", developed by the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Step 5

Join the discussion in the comments below to answer the following question:

When do you think a young person should begin their transition plan?

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Course Discussion

sarahhmiller1970@gmail.com's picture
2 months 2 weeks ago

sarahhmiller197... said:

Foster kids (all kids really) should begin learning transition type skills as they approach the end of their high school - so I guess around age 16 or so.
wrmiller13@gmail.com's picture
2 months 2 weeks ago

wrmiller13@gmail.com said:

In my opinion - the transition plan should begin at about age 16 - and ramp up as a foster child moves closer to age 18 / high school graduation. Waiting too long means trying to teach and learn too many things and skills too quickly. Some things will always be lost / set aside at that point.
latoyals's picture
2 months 3 weeks ago

latoyals said:

I believe they should start their transition plan at 16years
Hannaht1's picture
5 months 2 weeks ago

Hannaht1 said:

I belive that preparing for transition should begin at like age 14, that's 8th or 9th grade. Have them make the shopping list for the household sometimes or help them open a checking account show them how to balance a check book, things like that.
Charetta's picture
7 months 2 weeks ago

Charetta said:

Making sure that child is perpaired for transition with showing them how to take care of themselves with everyday skills.
annalecomte's picture
7 months 2 weeks ago

annalecomte said:

Transitioning planning should begin when a youth enters high school. They can slowly practice things like filling out paperwork with guidance so that things like that aren't foreign to them by the time they age out. These are things that bio kids should do as well, but kids in foster care often need more support due to not having positive adult role models for part of their lives.
kateem02's picture
8 months 2 weeks ago

kateem02 said:

Transition planning should begin when the child is either 14 or in the ninth grade (whichever comes first) , since the classes, career and life preparation courses taken at this time influence the youth's ability to attend college.
roberta838's picture
9 months 3 weeks ago

roberta838 said:

Where is the certificate for taking the course
roberta838's picture
9 months 3 weeks ago

roberta838 said:

I think a person should start their transition process as early as the beginning of the 12th grade. Start researching areas of interest. This would be an excellent way to start off their lives. They should seek out avenues of support before and after high school.
Glory141727's picture
10 months 2 days ago

Glory141727 said:

Earlier adolescence