Tennessee’s foster care kids who ‘age out’ face high rates of homelessness, addiction and incarceration, study finds

Courtesy of Governor Bill Lee

Tennessee has one of the largest foster care populations in the country. And a new report from Belmont Innovation Labs has found that those youth are suffering once they age out of the system.

The study revealed alarming statistics about outcomes for 21-year-old foster youth from a survey in 2021:

• Nearly half were unemployed.
• More than a third did not have stable housing.
• And more than half had been incarcerated.

More: ‘It’s been a never-ending cycle’: Inside the confusion and heartache of one family’s experience with Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services

It’s easy for these young people to slip through the cracks once they are too old to be in foster care. And addressing the problem is urgent — only California and Ohio had more teens entering foster care than Tennessee, and more than 800 young people aged out of the system last year.

According to the report, Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services only has 16 employees who assist more than 2,000 older foster care kids in living independently as they transition out of the system. That’s roughly one staff member for every 125 kids.

The study recommends that the state invest more in helping build a safety net for these young people. That means connecting them with adult mentors to build stable relationships, and with resources to access affordable housing and mental health care.