Overview

• An estimated 29,500 youth were emancipated from foster care in FY 2008.¹
• Approximately 100,000 youth are released from secure and residential facilities each year.²
• Approximately 53,000-103,000 of the homeless population on a single day are between the ages of 18 and 24.³
• Approximately 1.2 million youth drop out of high school each year, more than half of whom come from minority groups.⁴
• An estimated 2.8 to 5 million young people aged 16 to 24 are neither in school nor employed.⁵
• More than 25% of high-school dropouts are on welfare, compared to only 10% of those with a high-school degree.⁶
• Reliance on social services is common among youth aging out of foster care and youth released from secure and residential facilities.⁷
• Young adults with disabilities are three times more likely to live in poverty as adults than their peers without disabilities.⁸
• In 2007, 17% of all serious violent crime involved a youth offender. In half of these crimes, more than one offender was involved in the incident.⁹
• Youth transitioning from out-of-home placements, such as foster care, experience high rates of involvement in the criminal justice system.¹⁰
• Sixteen percent of all high-school dropouts aged 18 to 24 (and 30% of all black dropouts in this age group) are incarcerated or on parole.¹¹
• The adjudication rate of youth with disabilities is four times higher than for youth without disabilities.¹²

References