“Kid Prisons” is what Jacob calls the foster homes he lived in. Jacob is 21 now and has been homeless ever since he aged out of foster care. Just imagine it’s your 18th birthday and that is the day you are kicked out into the streets with only the clothes on your back. Well, according to the California Progress Report, 65% of youth in foster care emancipate without a place to live. 40% of persons living in homeless shelters are former foster children. A similarly disproportionate percentage of the nation’s prison population is comprised of former foster youth. Less than 3% go to college and 51% are unemployed.
I met Jacob in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jacob is a smart young man, yet he says he was never taught the life skills needed to step into adulthood.
We will never end homelessness until we fix our broken foster care system.
This Invisible People road trip is made possible by Sevenly and Virgin Mobile USA, who are partnering to end youth homelessness through Virgin Mobile USA’s initiative, RE*Generation. For more information please click here.
