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here are some statistics
The number of young people leaving the U.S. foster care system without a permanent family is at an all-time high, according a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The study found that the total number of children in foster care has decreased, but the number of those "aging out" of the system has grown by 41 percent since 1998.
In Texas alone, nearly 900 foster children in state care "age out" each year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
AGING OUT
National statistics on foster-care youths who age out:
• 1 in 4 will be incarcerated within two years after they leave the system
• More than one-fifth will become homeless at some time after age 18
• About 58 percent had high school degrees at age 19, compared to 87 percent of a national comparison group of non-foster youth
• Of those who "aged out" of foster care and are over the age of 25, fewer than three percent earned college degrees, compared with 28 percent of the general population
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia
• Texas foster care youths who age out:
• 41 percent of former Texas foster children have been homeless one or more times
• 38 percent are emotionally disturbed
• 50 percent have used illegal drugs
• 48 percent graduated from high school
• 48 percent had a full-time job within two years of leaving the foster care system
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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