Youth transitioning from the foster care system to living on their own often face unique circumstances and challenges. Planning for the future by having a vision and exploring a variety of supports can help to create successful transitions that lead to good lives.
There are many things to think about and do to prepare for this change. For youth who are transitioning from the foster care system to living on their own, it can be a particularly stressful time as one considers where to live, work and play.
The information and tools provided here are designed to equip youth transitioning from foster care with the knowledge and skills to plan for the present and the future; identify, navigate and access supports; build confidence and move forward on the path to living self-sufficient, connected and successful adult lives in the community.
The LifeCourse Nexus Training and TA Center entered into a development partnership with Elevance Health to develop and disseminate best practices for foster care. This partnership resulted in a Transition from Foster Care portfolio, including tools and tip sheets to support youth who are transitioning from foster care and those who support them to plan for a successful transition within the context of a broader vision for a good life. To learn more, click here.
The tools in this section are designed to help you start to plan and implement a successful transition from foster care to living on your own.
Envision your “good life” as you transition to adulthood, and identify steps and experiences needed to get there. The trajectory provides space for considering current goals, as well as things to avoid moving forward.
Identify the variety of supports available to you, and explore how to use them, in combination, to help achieve your good life vision. Some supports are centered around safety, personal strengths and assets, technology and relationships. Others are based on eligibility criteria or are supports that anyone in the community can access.
Exploring a vision in each of the life domains helps plot a trajectory for a full, quality adult life. This tool is to help you start to think about a more specific vision for your adult life, and narrow down what to focus on as you plan for your transition from foster care.
The Charting the LifeCourse Portfolio is designed as a booklet printed on 11×17 paper. It includes the CtLC Trajectory for Transition from Foster Care tool on the inside and the Integrated Supports Star for Transition from Foster Care on the back. It provides a cover sheet to include even more information about yourself.
The tip sheets in this section are designed to serve as a guide to help you use the tools above to plan for and implement your successful transition from foster care to adult life.
This tip sheet provides an overview of how and why to use the Life Trajectory – Transition from Foster Care tool. It gives step by step suggestions on how to complete and use the trajectory, as well as an example of a completed trajectory.
Use this tip sheet to discover how use the Integrated Supports Star tool to explore different kinds of support that will help support your journey from foster care to living on your own, and shares an example of a completed star.
This tip sheet explains the life domains, and how you can use them to refine and define specific aspects of your vision for a good life as you plan for your successful transition from foster care to adulthood.