Giving Compass' Take:

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation explains why it is essential to connect foster children with permanent families, even if they are close to aging out of the system. 

• How can you take action to support connecting foster children to permanent families?

• Learn how the opioid epidemic is straining the foster care system


Young people who are in foster care have often experienced attachment disruptions, trauma, and adversity. These early experiences profoundly affect the way young people perceive relationships, permanence, and trust. Not only is it normal for all adolescents and young adults to crave independence, but for those who have experienced trauma, moving multiple times, letdowns and dashed expectations for a family, a young person may want to focus on independence to avoid getting hurt again.

Even though acting on emotion, being impulsive and taking risks is normal behavior for all adolescents, adults often respond to young people in foster care with restrictions and punishment. Such responses can ultimately jeopardize a young person’s stability and permanence.

Caregivers and teachers may see resistance and normal risk-taking as defiance, and may disengage instead of investing in an enduring relationship at this critical point. Child welfare professionals such as caseworkers and judges might hear what the young person says and, believing they are honoring their wishes, may abandon the quest for a family, too.