When youth age out of care

Staff in the two communities in which the project has taken place worked over the course of several months to identify and refer eligible youth to the project; in one of these communities, the MCFD office was made available to us, which greatly facilitated our contacting and meeting with participants. [...] In addition, the project has built in a peer support component whereby young adults who have lived in care are available to offer support to the youth participants over the course of the project. [...] For the majority of youth these transitions represent a process that takes place over a period of time and with the support of family or relatives. [...] Page 3 When Youth Age Out of Care – A Report on Baseline Findings Youth leaving foster/substitute care at the age of majority (i.e.19 years old in BC) face an additional transition - from the care of the child welfare system to reaching the legal age of majority and thus “ageing out” of the child welfare system. [...] The project is guided by an Advisory Committee comprised of young adults involved with the BC Federation of Youth in Care Networks, staff of the Victoria Youth Clinic, head office and regional staff of the BC Ministry for Children and Family Development, faculty and researchers in the School of Child and Youth Care, and staff of the Child and Youth Office for B. C. Thirty-seven youth participated