NO 1827
The Transition to Independent Living
It is well documented in the human development literature that the transition to independence is one of the most significant and ambivalent achievements of the life span (Kroger, 1996). At the same time, it is a critical transition that has been shown to exert lifelong influence on the quality of adult life (Graber, Brooks-Gunn, & Petersen, 1996).
Well-adjusted youth who grow up in a family setting may often make multiple attempts at moving out before finally settling on their own. Upheaval and decreased self-evaluations are common among all adolescents in the midst of this transition, as it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the many new demands and pressures of independent living (Graber et aI., 1996).
Youth in care take on this difficult transition with added emotional burdens. They often face severance from their workers and cannot always rely on having support once they are on their own (Algate, 1994). Independent living is not necessarily sought out by clients, yet becomes, at times, the only discharge option (often, ironically, for our most disadvantaged adolescents). Thus, steps toward independence stimulate memories of initial placement experiences and rekindle rage and confusion.
Unresolved emotional issues block the learning of necessary life skills (Iglehart, 1994), making apartment hunting and job applications extremely daunting because of the painful separation issues they represent. Professionals working directly with youth in the transition to independent living may have difficulty helping clients to work through their anger and fear, as they themselves may lose hope if they see independent living as loss rather than as achievement. Paradoxically, adolescents leaving care often refuse or resist follow-up services so that scarce resources are usually allocated elsewhere. However, it is known that timing and the manner in which services are withdrawn has a huge impact on the level of adjustment to independent living (Thompson, 1996).
Although recent child welfare literature has increasingly stressed the importance of supporting the transition to independent living (Meeh, 1994), both the programs that are documented and the research that is published emphasize the teaching and learning of "life skills" or "skills for self-sufficiency" (Scannapieco & Schagrin, 1995) such as budgeting, cooking, job hunting, and so on, and fail to acknowledge the importance of working with the internal issues at the same time.
VARDA MANN-FEDER and TRISH WHITE
Mann-Feder, V. and White, T. (1999). Investing in Termination: Intervening with Youth in the Transition to Independent Living. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 13,1. pp.87-88
REFERENCES
Algate, J. (1994). Graduating from care: A missed opportunity for
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Graber, J.A, Brooks-Gunn, J., & Petersen, AC. (1996). Adolescent transitions
in context. In J.A Graber, J. Brooks-Gunn, & AC. Petersen (Eds.),
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369-383). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum Associates.
Iglehart, A (1994). Adolescents in foster care: Predicting readiness for
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Kroger, J. (1996). Identity in adolescence (2nd ed.). London:
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Mech, E.V. (1994). Foster youths in transition: research perspectives on
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Scannapieco, M., & Schagrin, J. (1995). Independent living programs: Do they
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Thompson, G. (1996). Graduation from child welfare: A potentially life
threatening transition. Canada's Children, 3(1), 13-14.
