Teen Pregnancy in the Foster Care System
7 in 10 Girls in Foster Care Will be Pregnant by Age 21
The rate of foster teen pregnancy in the child welfare system shows a grim statistic. Nearly 20% of foster youth report having their first consensual sex at or before the age of 13. By contrast, only 8% of their peers in the United States general population report the same.
Accidental pregnancy is not unusual for young people in foster care. Health and Human Services recognizes the alarming rate of pregnancy. It creates significant consequences on the lives of everyone involved: parents, children, foster families, and their communities.
Social services have learned a lot about the impact of trauma on children in foster care. Foster kids need to have the promise of better outcomes than becoming part of a teen pregnancy or homeless statistic. Hope exists, but we need more action in the foster care system. Potential solutions are in play that will better support and improve outcomes for our foster children and families.
What Happens to Teenagers Who Age Out of Foster Care
Over 20,000 children age out of foster care every year at the time they become legal adults 18 years or older. Foster kids from group homes, in-home care, and foster programs enter adulthood without family or social support. Many also transition without having finished their high school education or the means to support themselves.
Without support, guidance, and care, imagining the adversity these young people face is hard. For foster girls, caring for children or their pregnancy, it's even harder. No high school diploma, and sometimes no access to their own proof of social security, make finding jobs difficult. Without guidance and support to make this transition, thousands experience homelessness and subsequent issues.
Statistics show that the top risk factors for homelessness are:
- Lacking a high school diploma or GED
- Having a child
- Earning low or no income
Nearly a third of homeless young adults have been in the foster care system. Foster kids are also more likely to face joblessness, juvenile detention, or jail. Foster kids who age out have high rates of substance abuse and mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Young women who age out also have a high chance of becoming pregnant. They are vulnerable to sexual abuse, including human trafficking. 49% of foster youth who age out of the system will have at least one child by the age of 21; 33% of boys report getting someone pregnant.
The majority of foster teenagers who are pregnant will end up giving birth. Less than 2% of teen mothers will earn a college degree by the age of 30 years. By contrast, 33% of their age and gender counterparts in the general U.S. population will earn a college degree.
Why is Teen Pregnancy So Common Among Foster Girls?
No single answer exists about why foster teen pregnancy rates are so high, and there is no simple solution. Many factors contribute to the high risk of pregnancy.
Most foster children experience trauma. They are more likely than children outside the foster system to have experienced some form of child abuse. This can cause a spectrum of physical and emotional issues as these child victims enter adolescence and young adulthood.
Teenagers and young women have a higher risk of being in an abusive relationship. Girls in foster care are more likely to experience dating violence, including sexual assault and rape, than other girls. Foster teen girls are also more likely to have experienced some kind of maltreatment and to struggle with substance abuse and symptoms of PTSD.
Experts note that foster kids often lack sex education and reproductive health information and education. 59% of child welfare workers reported that their programs did not specifically address the prevention of teen pregnancy. Foster teens who become pregnant on purpose sometimes imagine a better future with a family of their own. Without life experience or knowledge, they might believe that having a child will give them a stable life and the family they want.
Problems in the foster care system create gaps in access to forms of guidance, education, and medical care. These gaps create major consequences. Lower educational performance means a higher risk and rate of unwanted pregnancies among foster youth.
Specifically, we must teach foster teens how to prevent pregnancy and access healthcare. They also need to know how to recognize early signs of pregnancy and get home pregnancy tests. Foster teens who have symptoms of pregnancy or become pregnant need resources and guidance around pregnancy and childcare.
Foster care programs must provide education, guidance, and specialized support for teens in foster care.
Statistics Behind the Outcomes: Foster Youth Pregnancy
The cold, hard statistics are a lot for the mind to process. 7 out of 10 girls (70%) who leave foster care are pregnant by age 21, according to the National Foster Youth Institute. Research is clear that foster girls have significantly higher rates of pregnancy than those with a stable family life. This is true for those entering foster care and after aging out of the system.
The Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth followed foster 732 foster care youth between 17-26 years old in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. They reported that 71% of foster girls got pregnant by age 21, compared to 34% of girls in the general population.
A Utah study found similar troubling results about teenage pregnancy among girls who were previously in foster care. They concluded that 31% of women between 18-24 years old, who had aged out of foster care, had a baby within three years. This is nearly three times higher than in the general population.
Foster Youth Need More: Prevention Efforts and Next Steps
Some states are taking important action to help prevent unwanted teen pregnancies. Key among foster youth is teaching about sexual health and providing needed support resources. We must direct more help to prepare foster youth aged 18 or more who have aged out of the foster care system.
Power Through Choices (PTC), started in 2010, is a sex ed course for foster kids that encourages making wise decisions about sex.
The Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) targets high-risk youth ages 10-19. They provide grants to state agencies that teach adolescents about pregnancy prevention and sexually transmitted infections and diseases.
Child advocates call on child welfare agencies to invest more resources into sexual education. Guidance for youth entering and aging out of foster care will help them make informed decisions and lower pregnancy rates.
To do this, foster parents and child welfare workers themselves need training on how to teach foster girls and boys about sex. When formal training is not available, agencies, caseworkers, and foster parents can take the initiative to train themselves. Knowledge will make them more comfortable talking with adolescents about sexuality.
Access to health care is another part of the solution. Caseworkers must ensure that every foster child gets age-appropriate education about reproductive health and pregnancy prevention.
We Must Support Kids Coming of Age in Foster Care
Addressing the overall well-being of foster kids will lower the number of girls who become pregnant in foster care. Teen pregnancy statistics and outcomes tell us we need more effective action to address education, homelessness, and mental health. These are key contributing factors to the rates of teen pregnancy.
Without family support, girls and young women in foster care are more likely to get pregnant, both while in care and after leaving. Governing bodies must ensure child welfare organizations do more to support young people coming of age in foster care.
Learn more about foster care statistics and outcomes in the U.S. and your state.
