This report was published by Fostering Change.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

For most young people, family is there to lend a hand with things like rent, groceries, and support as they make the first few steps into adulthood. Unless they’ve been in foster care.

Fostering Change commissioned this research to provide an economic perspective on the challenges and opportunities associated with youth aging out of government care. Over three reports we consider: (1) current educational, economic, social and wellness outcomes; (2) the costs of those outcomes; and (3) the costs of increased supports in relation to the potential savings and benefits they offer.

This series of reports offers important new insights into the economic consequences and issues for youth aging out of care. To our knowledge, no previous study in BC has attempted to estimate the costs of current outcomes and the potential benefits from better preparing and supporting youth from care in the early years of their adulthood.