How can our cities and Nation afford to shatter immigrant families? These families, who may never see their children again, become the financial responsibility of the US. The parents are maintained until deported and the children are maintained until they age-out of the foster care system. We already have problems with the US foster care system, and when these immigrant children age-out of the fcsystem many will continue to be a financial burden on the government in some form or another, especially since many families won’t ever know where their parents and children are. How can an economy that is teetering on the verge of collapse support this, or the additional aged-out children? And why are we ripping children from the arms of their parents when abuse is not an issue. This growing unrest is an indication of things to come.
Approximately 285,000 foster care teens “age-out” of the foster care system or become emancipated each year. Once they leave the system, their state and foster families are no longer required to give them assistance. They are left to fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, many foster care teens don’t have the support and life skills necessary to live on their own. Foster care studies show that 25 percent of “aged-out” foster kids must earn a living without a high school diploma or GED. At least 20 percent of have been homeless and fewer than 20 percent are able to support themselves. Nearly a quarter of former foster care children are incarcerated within two years of their emancipation. Because they lack the support systems most young adults take for granted, aged-out foster care teens are at high risk for substance abuse, domestic violence, and poverty. {Jamie Littlefield} [SOURCE]


