On Sale: Aug 8, 2006
Page Count: 336 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN-13: 9780465077663

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Each year, as many as 25,000 teenagers “age out” of foster care, usually when they turn eighteen. For years, a government agency had made every important decision for them. Suddenly, they are on their own, with no one to count on. What does it mean to be eighteen and on your own, without the family support and personal connections that most young people rely on? For many youth raised in foster care, it means largely unhappy endings, including sudden homelessness, unemployment, dead-end jobs, loneliness, and despair. On Their Own tells the compelling stories of ten young people whose lives are full of promise, but who face economic and social barriers stemming from the disruptions of foster care. This book calls for action to provide youth in foster care the same opportunities on the road to adulthood that most of our youth take for granted-access to higher education, vocational training, medical care, housing, and relationships within their communities. On Their Own is meant to serve as a clarion call not only to policymakers, but to all Americans who care about the futures of our young people.

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Martha Shirk

About the Author

Martha Shirk, a journalist who specializes in social issues, is co-author of Lives on the Line. She lives in Palo Alto, California.

Anna Wadia is a program director at the Ms. Foundation in New York City.

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