Foster Care Support Group
Foster care is a system by which a certified, stand-in parent(s) cares for minor children or young peoples who have been removed from their birth parents or other custodial adults by state authority. Responsibility for the young person is assumed by the relevant governmental authority and a placement with another family found.
I am absolutely terrified...
I have no idea what I'm supposed to expect.
My dad is bipolar and mentally abusive, so that's why I'm going into the system.
What is foster care like?
What happens when I turn 18? Do I just become homeless?
I have no idea what I'm supposed to expect.
My dad is bipolar and mentally abusive, so that's why I'm going into the system.
What is foster care like?
What happens when I turn 18? Do I just become homeless?
There are programs for when you turn 18, but I think they vary by the state. In Washington, you can sign yourself into foster care until you are 21 as long as you continue with your schooling. Other than that, a lot depends on the foster parents you get -- and whether you like each other or not.
We certainly have no plans of kicking our 18 year-old foster kid out, even if she is no longer in the system. (We're trying to change that. She got stuck with a bad social worker who sucker-punched her with a hearing she was not notified about.)
My foster daughter was placed in my home when she was 17. She was supported by the county until she finished school (21 years old). She is now 28 and she is still part of our family.
In our state, you can stay in foster care until 21 as long as you are still in school (the same as Draydteacher - Washington).
I wish you the best of luck.
K