ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO FACE
Young people aging out of foster care face added burden amid pandemic
Esperanza Harb celebrated her 22nd birthday alone, after spending about three weeks without toilet paper and barely enough food to sustain her.
Living on her own while transitioning out of the foster system, Harb is accustomed to self-reliance. But in March, as the new coronavirus ground the world to a halt, she felt her anxiety and depression worsening in solitude.
The sneaker store where she was a manager temporarily shutdown and she had to drop some of her classes when Valencia College made the transition to online learning, due to a lack of proper technology and support. She couldn’t see her therapist in person and she began to have dark, even suicidal, thoughts.
With U.S. unemployment rates at record-breaking highs and the status of higher education uncertain, those in or aging out of foster care now face added pressure during their transition to adulthood. The pandemic amplified existing issues and took a massive toll on the financial, emotional and mental well-being of young people like Harb.
These aren’t new problems for those in foster care, she said. It’s just worse now.
“We’re not able to be around people who love us and care for us,” she said. “You feel like you’re trapped in your own world.”
Nearly 65% of “transition-age” foster care youth lost their jobs because of the pandemic, according to a nationwide poll of 18- to 24-year-olds currently or formerly part of the system by FosterClub, a national network for foster youth.
Half of those who applied for unemployment benefits didn’t receive the assistance. More than half of all respondents said they didn’t receive a stimulus check.
More than 20% said they were forced to move or fear they will be forced to leave their current