C.  Transition from Foster Care

Child Welfare Services Reg. No. 7.301.23(A), 12 Code Colo. Regs. 2509-4.
In addition to educational transition under IDEA, foster children must transition out of foster care. DHS is responsible for drafting a plan, called a Family Service Plan, for transition from foster care to independent living and emancipation. It must be based on the individual needs of the child and be in the best interests of the child. The Family Service Plan must document services that are to be provided for the areas of need. The services are described “in terms of specific, measurable, agreed upon, realistic, time-limited objectives and action steps to be accomplished by the parents, child, service providers and county staff.”

Child Welfare Services Reg. No. 7.301.21(C).
For children age sixteen and older in out-of-home placement, the transition plan must be completed within sixty calendar days of the child’s sixteenth birthday. 

Child Welfare Services Reg. No. 7.301.24(K).
The plan must assist the youth in preparation for self-sufficiency and independent living.



Reference












42 U.S.C. § 677(a)(5) (2002).
1.  John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Chafee Act)

The Act, which is intended to help young adults transition out of foster care to independent living, sets forth five types of programs and provides federal funds for states to implement the programs.
  • Transition help for children likely to remain in foster care until age eighteen in the areas of daily living and health skills;
  • Transition help for children likely to remain in foster care until age eighteen in training and education to obtain employment;
  • Transition help for children likely to remain in foster care until age eighteen in preparation for post-secondary education;
  • Transition help in the form of personal and emotional support to children aging out of foster care;
  • Transition help to former foster children between eighteen and twenty-one years of age in finance, housing, counseling, employment, and education.
42 U.S.C. § 677.
The Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) enables states to provide independent living programs and services to foster youth “aging out” of the foster care system, and the services extend to age twenty- one. 











Herrick & Ward, supra note 18 at 7-6.
The following youth are eligible for assistance:
  • youth in out-of-home care, under the age of sixteen, who have a permanency goal;
  • youth in out-of-home care, ages sixteen to twenty-one, who have a permanency goal;
  • youth ages sixteen to twenty-one who have been dually adjudicated both delinquent and abused or neglected, and who have been, at some point, in the care of the Department of Human Services; and
  • young adults ages eighteen to twenty-one who were in out-of-home care on their eighteen birthday.
National Council on Disability,  supra note 1 at 29.
Chafee also provides an Educational and Training Voucher Program for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care, which provides education and training funds for postsecondary education.  









Herrick & Ward, supra note 18 at 7-5.
Some services offered under CFCIP are:
  • tutoring;
  • peer support;
  • career counseling;
  • housing assistance;
  • independent life skills training;  and
  • tuition vouchers for post secondary education.
Id. at 7-5 to 7-6.
If youth are in a Residential Treatment Center, the RTC is responsible for providing independent living skills.



C.R.S § 25.5-5-101;
C.R.S § 25.5-5-201(1).
2.  Medicaid Eligibility

Children receiving foster care maintenance or adoption assistance payments are eligible for medical assistance under Medicaid from age eighteen until they turn twenty-one.



McNaught, supra note 6 at 30.
3.  Special Issues With Foster Care Transition

The Chafee Act doubles the amount of federal funds provided to the states for services for teens leaving the child welfare system.







National Council on Disability, supra note 1 at 35.
Potential problems for IEP transition for youth in foster care are:
  1. lack of coordination with CFCIP transition planning;
  2. lack of postsecondary education goals;
  3. lack of parent participation without provision of an educational surrogate parent (ESP); and 
  4. less advocate involvement.
Id. at 6
Both the IEP and CFCIP provide, or should provide, transition services, but the two systems often operate independently, without coordination. 

Id. at 30. 
There may be almost no alignment of IDEA’s IEP transition plan with the transition plan required by the child welfare system, even though coordination is critical.

Id. at 31. 
Fewer foster youth go to college compared to youth who are not in the child welfare system. Special problems faced by foster youth may be that they are not prepared for the self-sufficiency and independent living required in college, or even adult life in general. 

This is true for non-foster youth as well, but they tend to have better support systems from parents.

Id. at 38. 
Institutionalized foster youth are especially vulnerable to being inadequately prepared because the transition of leaving the group home on their eighteenth birthday can be extremely abrupt.