Poor health care access common among youth leaving fos...(orial: Providing Better Opportunities fo...),Health

The available research indicates that youth transitioning from foster care are likely to experience a number of negative outcomes in addition to homelessness, write Peter J. Pecora, Ph.D., and Tiffany Washington, M.S., of Casey Family Programs, Seattle, in an accompanying editorial.

To make a difference in these young peoples lives, programs must provide them with age-appropriate life skills, more stable environments with ties to the local community, and contact with as many birth-family or clan members as possible, they conclude. It makes no sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars to care for young people during childhood, only to ignore their developmental needs and abandon them as young adults.

(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(10):1006-1008. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)

Editors Note: Please see the article for additional information, including author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

'/>"/>