75% foster children end up in jail?

that is interesting. even if it were accurate, it probably is dependent on cirucmstances. i KNOW my children ARE at more of a risk of incarceration than other children bc they have a relative in jail that they used to live with and spent too much time visiting. i don't think it matters that they were adopted into a loving family.....the fact remains that they spent MANY years in an environment that taught them you can take what you want, people owe it to you, and when you get caught, LIE. if you have to go to jail, we'll see you on the inside. (THIS IS NOT A GENERALIZATION, it is case specific to my children.) my kids don't think jail is that bad. SCARY! but in this instance, i think to even make that comment is CRAZY. i doubt that 75% of those kids will now end up in jail. i think they are a group of people desperate to get their children back and so they will use any statistic available to them to help their case. this is not the first one i've seen that i think is maybe taken out of context....for lack of a better explanation. and regardless of what i think of the whole situation, i have to think, if i was trying to prove my case to get my kids, i'd use whatever i could find too...even if it didn't totally relate.

I think it MAY be possible that they are talking about kids who age out. I saw a documentary story on CNN and was shocked and saddened by the stats for kids who age out...

I agree that it is horrible reporting - to throw something out there unsubstantiated. He definitely needs to be more specific - isntead of implying that a child in short term foster care for 3 weeks at the age of 2 or whatever is likely to end up in jail! Might be for the ones that age out, as someone above said. From the kids I know that have, I'd say that sounds about right, tragically.

she is 20 now, does not live w/ me since she was 17. Shoplifted while in my home at age 15. Though she has never been to adult jail, she is very much like her b-mom (tends to put herself in risky situations, has done drugs, has been a stripper, and still works in a strip club just like her b-mom) She wsa 11 when she moved in and was 13 when we adopted her. We probably at least kept her from being in harms way while here by adopting her.

I didn't check the primary source, but I got this from PBS's Newshour website, which I tend to trust for reliable reporting. It's from June 2005: Nationwide, an estimated 30,000 adolescents age out of the foster care system each year. According to the Child Welfare League of America, 25 percent become homeless, 56 percent are unemployed, 27 percent of male children end up in jail.

The number of young people leaving the U.S. foster care system without a permanent family is at an all-time high, according a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The study found that the total number of children in foster care has decreased, but the number of those "aging out" of the system has grown by 41 percent since 1998. In Texas alone, nearly 900 foster children in state care "age out" each year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AGING OUT National statistics on foster-care youths who age out: 1 in 4 will be incarcerated within two years after they leave the system Օ More than one-fifth will become homeless at some time after age 18 About 58 percent had high school degrees at age 19, compared to 87 percent of a national comparison group of non-foster youth Օ Of those who "aged out" of foster care and are over the age of 25, fewer than three percent earned college degrees, compared with 28 percent of the general population Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia Texas foster care youths who age out: Օ 41 percent of former Texas foster children have been homeless one or more times 38 percent are emotionally disturbed Օ 50 percent have used illegal drugs 48 percent graduated from high school Օ 48 percent had a full-time job within two years of leaving the foster care system Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

We took our first older child this past week. We had her for respit for a week. She is almost 12. She is a great kid, the best that her foster parents have ever had. I was so grieved after the week was over. The reason that this child will likely have so many problems later on is because of her bio mom. She has good foster parents, she did say some things about them that raised my eyebrows. But then again I wonder what she may say about us. :eyebrows: I wonder what will become of her. I do know though that most of these stats are a result of what happens to them before they come into the system. I have often thought that if it is bad enough for them to be taken away from their parents that it should be a clean break. If the parents do change within the first year, then reintroduce them slowly back into their lives. Just my thoughts. ~di