The opioid crisis dramatically amplified the pressures on American families and the foster care system, leading to a surge in the number of children removed from their homes. In response, President Trump signed the Family First Prevention Services Act in 2018, marking a significant shift in federal funding that enabled states to better prioritize preventative services like mental health care and substance abuse treatment to keep families together.
But the Family First Act, and subsequent initiatives supporting it, represented only a small adjustment to the social safety net and did little to address the systemic uncertainty facing all Americans, particularly young people, and the anxiety that is catastrophically amplified for those exiting the foster care system.
A November executive order, Fostering the Future for American Children and Families, has a similar limited vision. It aims to improve the operation of foster care systems but again fails to address the heightened uncertainty that now permeates American life and leads to children entering foster care and negative outcomes when they eventually exit. For the general population, this anxiety reflects a precarious economic reality: stagnant wages, the rising cost of housing, the perpetual fear of a health care crisis and the unraveling of social safety nets. Young Americans, especially those entering the workforce, face a persistent feeling that the standard milestones of stability, such as homeownership and reliable employment options are increasingly out of reach, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The negative effects of this widespread national uncertainty are magnified exponentially for the over 20,000 young people who age out of foster care each year. This population enters adulthood without the safety net most young people rely on — family support, stable housing and financial resources. A study of California youth who aged out of foster care found that nearly one-quarter of youth who age out will experience homelessness within four years. Educational outcomes are equally stark. Research on secondary and postsecondary education outcomes for students with foster care experience shows that only 8–12% earn a two- or four-year degree by their mid- to late-20s, compared to about 49% of the general population.
The new executive order does not address the cliff of instability faced by these emerging adults, and the data on foster care alumni is stark evidence of the need for resources to break the generational cycle of foster care involvement.
While some states offer extended foster care or transitional services up to age 21, there are certain groups of youth whostruggle to be eligible for them. Executive orders that do not fundamentally ensure stable, long-term support continue to miss the mark in creating lasting change.
Ultimately, countering the pervasive uncertainty felt by young Americans, and particularly those impacted by foster care, requires interventions far broader than a targeted social service reform. It demands universal systemic change that stabilizes the economic and health landscape for everyone:
Affordable Housing and Health Care: National initiatives that prioritize genuinely affordable housing and guaranteed, accessible mental and physical health care would immediately relieve the central anxieties of young people aging out.
Educational Equity: Dedicated, fully funded programs that ensure foster care alumni can pursue and complete higher education without financial burden.
Guaranteed Mentorship: Federal or state programs that mandate and fund stable, long-term mentoring and life-skills coaching programs specifically for youth aging out, extending well past age 21.
The new Fostering the Future of American Children and Families Executive is well-intentioned, but its impact is constrained by its scope. A stable nation cannot be built solely by improving one bureaucratic mechanism; it requires addressing the profound economic and social pressures that threaten the well-being of all its citizens, especially those most vulnerable. Until those fundamental challenges are addressed, the young adults of the foster care system will continue to be among the most exposed to the worst effects of American uncertainty.
