Help for Former Foster Children

Program offers funds for home down payments

By Vikki Conwell

Establishing roots is a little easier for former foster children, thanks to a national program designed to help them become financially-fit adults. The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a St. Louis-based foundation that helps young people transition out of foster care by providing services that promote independent living.

The program targets the 20,000 young people (42% of whom are African American) who leave foster care each year without the financial support to succeed. It offers housing assistance as well as education, employment, and healthcare to former foster care children between the ages of 14 and 23 residing in select cities or counties nationwide.

Once admitted, participants receive financial literacy training, including the basics of banking, and are given $100 in seed money to open an Individual Development Account. For every dollar a participant saves, the program matches $4 for home down payments, $3 for funds to start a business, and $1 for car purchases and other expenses. Funds can also be used to help with college tuition, medical expenses, computer purchases, and apartment deposits. Asset-specific training, such as homeownership counseling, is required before receiving matching funds.

After age 18, states are no longer obligated to provide care or financial assistance to those in the foster care system. Program organizers believe the initiative is a much-needed boost for a population at risk of falling through the cracks. Typically, foster children “turn 18, have no money, and haven’t graduated from high school,” says Gary Stangler, the program’s executive director. “The notion of savings is foreign. Their foremost need is money.” According to the foundation, within four years of leaving foster care, 25% of the population becomes homeless, while less than 20% become self-supporting adults. (more,,,)