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Media | Policymakers | Researchers
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What can Social Institutions do to Support Successful Transition? Why Focus on the Transition to Adulthood For Vulnerable Populations? D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, Gretchen R. Ruth, in the introductory chapter for the volume On Your Own Without a Net: The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations, focus on groups of adolescents and young adults who face the greatest challenges in the lengthening process of becoming an adult in the modern world. This introductory chapter reviews both the ways that the transition to adulthood has become longer and more difficult in the past half century and the many ways that youth in the general population remain dependent on their families for help during these years. Social Policy and the Transition to Adulthood Richard Settersten argues that better and more coherent social policies must be developed to help young people enter adult life. Public Scholarship and Youth at the Transition to Adulthood If unpredictable job markets are inevitable for future generations, Constance Flanagan argues that it is futile to expect a job to be the main source of personal meaning. In place of paid work, she suggests that public scholarship can remind young people that building community and democracy has meaning. It can give them a reason to care about public schools, parks, health, and welfare, and allow them to experience being part of something larger than themselves. Programs and Policy Goals for Helping Vulnerable Youth as They Move into Adulthood As the transition to adulthood has been delayed, attaining adulthood has become even more difficult for young adults who don’t have a family to help them during their early 20s. In their book, On Your Own Without a Net, Wayne Osgood and co-authors, show that at-risk kids need special policy considerations to help them make it on their own. A coordinated program is needed that includes, for example, life and job skills training, transition planning for moves from the justice system or foster care into the mainstream, and improved access to physical and behavioral health care. Youth Aging Out of Foster Care When a state or local government removes a child from his or her home, it necessarily assumes the responsibility to prepare the child for an independent, self-sufficient life. In his chapter of On Your Own Without a Net , Mark finds that in many cases, the government fails its duty, and fully 12% of youth reported having been homeless at least once since leaving foster care. Courtney argues that youth who have spent any time in foster care past the age of 16 should be given continuing support and training until they are 21. Juvenile Justice and the Transition to Adulthood He Len Chung and coauthors, and David Altschuler, argue in separate chapters of On Your Own without a Net that youth from the juvenile justice system could best be helped through interagency teams with authority and flexibility to assist youth and protect public safety. Christopher Uggen and Sara Wakefield, and Jeremy Travis and Christy Visher, in their two chapters maintain that society must provide these young people with assistance to find a job, build a family, and participate fully in civic society. Transitioning for Young Adults with Mental Health Issues Two-thirds of all individuals with mental health problems do not seek treatment. J. Heidi Gralinski-Bakker and her co-authors, in On Your Own without a Net, argue that w ith training and assistance, families can help bridge the gap at critical points in a young adult’s transition adulthood if a mental health issue has been identified and addressed. In order to make this happen, however, the stigma against those with mental health conditions, which the U.S. Surgeon General has called “the most formidable obstacle to future progress in the arena of mental illness and health,” must be lifted. Homeless Youth and the Perilous Passage to Adulthood Life on the street is hard for anyone, but it can be especially treacherous for youth. In their chapter in On Your Own without a Net: The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations , John Hagan and Bill McCarthy survey homeless youth from two Canadian cities that have vastly different approaches to homelessness. They find that, if supported, and if contact with police is minimized, homeless youth can better regain their foothold on a productive path to adulthood. Moving into Adulthood for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Health Concerns A generation ago, most young people with chronic or disabling conditions died before they reached adulthood. Today, more than 90% will survive into adulthood. Robert Blum, Patience Hydock White, and Leslie Gallay in their chapter in On Your Own without a Net, find that society and families are unprepared to move these young people out on their own. To change this situation, transitional planning for youth with disabilities or serious medical conditions should start early, involve the youth, include vocational programs, and build a strong support system for the youth that includes the medical community, family, friends, peers, and the larger community in which they live. Primer on Health Care Access for Young Adults with Disabilities Today, children with disabilities or special health care needs account for one-half of all health care expenditures for children, even though they represent about 15%–18% of the American child population. For most, their health issues will follow them into adulthood. Yet, as they pass the legal age of consent, typically age 18, their access to health care changes dramatically. Patience Haydock White and Leslie Gallay’s chapter in On Your Own without a Net , argue that states should modify government and private insurance policies to cover disabled youth until age 25. Challenges in the Transition to Adulthood for Youth in Foster
Care, Juvenile Justice, and Special Education Students’ Perspectives on Juggling Work, Family, and College Lisa Matus-Grossman, Susan Gooden with Melissa Wavelet, Melisa Diaz, Reishma Seupersad have written a report for Opening Doors project which explores how to help low-wage workers move toward career advancement and higher wages by enrolling in and completing community college programs.
Mentoring Young Adults Network member Jean Rhodes finds that mentoring relationships are most likely to promote positive outcomes when they are close, consistent, and enduring, and that government programs have in large part failed to establish and sustain such relationships. She and her co-authors call for a better alignment of research and practice in the area of youth mentoring, recommending policies that (a) promote evidence-based innovation, rigorous evaluation, and careful replication in dissemination for youth mentoring programs, and (b) encourage intentional and scientifically informed approaches to mentoring across the full-spectrum of youth-serving settings. Several papers:
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