
Yahniie Bridges, Lucero Noyola, Patty Cabanillas, Gabby Hendriksen and Jesse Aguiar are all former foster youth who’ve found a new beginning at Journey House, a nonprofit that supports emancipated youth who have aged out of the foster care system.
For many foster youth, emancipation signifies freedom from years of displacement, confusion, confinement and often trauma. This freedom is short-lived, however, when emancipated foster youth face the reality that with it comes the loss of any structure or support, however scant, on which they previously relied. While some assistance is available after emancipation, after the age of 18, resources become few and far between as former foster youth “age out” of the system. By 24, emancipated fosters are more or less on their own, tossed out by a system that has taught them little about surviving, let alone succeeding, in the real world. Continue reading “After Foster Care, Youths’ Journey Starts Here”