For most young people, turning 18 is a milestone to celebrate, which can contrast what many youth in the foster system have to deal with. This same birthday marks a sudden countdown to finding a place to live. These individuals can suddenly find themselves responsible for rent, groceries, bills and their own survival within a day of turning 18. Legally, turning this age makes someone an adult, yet a calendar date cannot automatically prepare a young person for the realities of living on their own. Unlike many of their peers, youth leaving foster or group care must make this leap without a family safety net to fall back on. 

Unsurprisingly, research across Canada and the United States highlights that youth aging out of care face steep uphill battles when it comes to housing, education, employment and financial stability (Doucet et al., 2022). When stable housing and financial support vanish overnight, young people are immediately pushed toward housing instability, the critical first step towards homelessness. 

That vulnerability becomes clearer when we look at what happens after young people leave care. Data from Canada's National Youth Homelessness Survey found that many young people experiencing homelessness had previous involvement with child protection services. Their pathways into homelessness often involved multiple forms of childhood adversity rather than one isolated event (Bonakdar et al., 2023). Without stable family support, a young person may struggle to secure a rental deposit, maintain monthly rent, afford groceries, or manage unexpected expenses. If they cannot maintain their housing, they may move between friend’s homes, temporary accommodations, shelters, or eventually sleep without a place to stay. Homelessness, therefore, can emerge not from one decision, but from a series of housing and financial pressures that become increasingly difficult to overcome.

This is why support after leaving care is so vital. Research involving young people in Halifax found that trusted adults and community “champions’ provided emotional support and advocacy to those who had experienced both child welfare involvement and homelessness. Rather than acting as distant case managers, these champions provide a crucial combination of practical guidance, assistance in navigating legal fields, and reliable emotional support. They help youth navigate bureaucratic red tape like lease agreements and financial planning, step in during crises before housing is lost, and offer the enduring relational safety net that most people rely on family for, giving young people the stability and confidence needed to remain safely housed. (Doucet et al., 2025). 

Independence shouldn't mean isolation. If we genuinely want to prevent youth homelessness, transitioning out of care must offer a secure bridge to stable housing—not just an arbitrary deadline to pack up and leave. A young person can be legally recognized as an adult while still needing mentorship, stability, and someone in their corner.

References

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740922002663?via%3Dihub   

Independent living programs and services for youth 'aging out' of care in Canada and the U.S.: A systematic review.

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740923002839?via%3Dihub

Child protection services and youth experiencing homelessness: Findings of the 2019 national youth homelessness survey in Canada.

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193825001032?via%3Dihub

Finding our way home: Exploring the experiences of young people who have ‘aged out’ of care and experienced homelessness in Canada.