By Thomas G. Lee 

On their 18th birthday, thousands of young people in foster care receive a message they never asked for and were never prepared to hear: you’re on your own now. 

No housing. No-one pulling for them. Not because they’re ready — they’re not — but because the calendar said it was time. In too many states across this country, that is still the policy. A birthday becomes a deadline. A foster care system that was supposed to protect them walks away. 

That’s unacceptable. And I believe most people feel the same, when they really sit with it. 

Here’s what we know — and this is not a matter of emerging research or hopeful theory. The evidence is settled. Young people who actually remain in foster care through age 21 are more likely to have stable housing, more likely to finish school, more likely to be working, and significantly less likely to become involved in the criminal legal system than those who are pushed out at 18. Three more years of support. That’s the difference between a young person who makes it and one who doesn’t. 

We don’t get to look at that evidence and shrug. We don’t get to know what works and choose not to do it. Not when we’re talking about young people who were placed in our care — in the care of the state, of our communities, of all of us — and who are worthy of every reasonable chance to build a life. 

This is that chance. And the urgency is real, because somewhere tonight, a young person is counting down to a birthday they’re dreading.  

Consider what we are asking: The average young adult in the United States does not leave home until their mid-twenties—and some are saying that number is only growing. They rely on their family for rent, health insurance, advice, and fallback plans when things unravel. Foster youth—many of whom have experienced significant trauma and instability—are expected to achieve total independence overnight, with none of those supports. That is not a test of resilience. It is a policy failure. 

There are signs of progress. Just weeks ago, Oklahoma enacted legislation to extend foster care to age 21, with implementation beginning July 1. It is worth pausing on what that represents: a red state enacting bipartisan legislation grounded in a simple, shared truth—that most 18-year-olds are not prepared to navigate adulthood alone. Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, who authored the bill, put it bluntly: at 18, if a young person is “just turned loose on your own,” they are unlikely to find “a lot of great success.” That’s not a partisan statement. It’s a human one. 

At the federal level, momentum is building as well. The Fostering the Future Act (H.R. 7432), which passed the House unanimously in May, would modernize the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for the first time in more than two decades. Among other provisions, it would strengthen connections to housing assistance, significantly increase Education and Training Vouchers, and expand access to support during the most vulnerable years of early adulthood. 

Unanimous votes in Congress are rare. This one matters. It signals broad agreement that the current system is out of step with both research and reality. 

But federal policy can only go so far. States still have to act. And today, where a young person happens to grow up largely determines whether they receive continued support—or are cut off at 18 with little more than a deadline. That should be unacceptable. 

Foster youth did not choose the circumstances that brought them into care. The least we can do as a country is to ensure they are not set up to fail when they leave it. Extending foster care is not radical. It is aligned with how Americans already support most young people—and with what the evidence shows about how successful transitions to adulthood actually happen. 

The Senate should pass the Fostering the Future Act without delay. More states should follow Oklahoma’s lead. And the country should stop pretending that turning 18 is the same thing as being ready. Most families would not expect that of their own children. Public policy should not expect it of foster youth. 

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Thomas G. Lee is CEO of First Place for Youth. 

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