Some Type of Way: Aging Out of Foster Care

Some Type of Way: Aging out of Foster Care seeks to address the following questions currently relevant to practitioners, policymakers, and researchers: What are the realities of the lives of youth aging out? Why are they struggling? What are agencies and service providers doing to help them? What should be done to help these youth negotiate the transitions out of care and into adulthood? Based on over 90 interviews and almost 1,000 hours of observation of youth aging out and service providers in a mid-Atlantic county in the United States, the book presents real stories along with relevant research and theories to help understand how youth transition out of foster care and into adulthood.

Featuring five youth--Plato, Solana, Titi, Matty, and Jaden--and including poignant examples from many others--the book explores the complex and complicated challenges youth face as well as their creative survival strategies and resilience. The book includes descriptions of service providers' efforts to assist youth aging out and shares service providers' insights. It highlights the limitations of the foster care system and the service delivery system for youth aging out. Schelbe details systematic barriers in society that create obstacle as youth leave care.