On Your Own without a Net

The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations

Edited by D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen R

Edited by D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen R

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Mental Health and Development

Cloth $45.00 ISBN: 9780226637839 Published November 2005

Paper $25.00 ISBN: 9780226637846 Published August 2007

E-book $7.00 to $25.00 About E-books ISBN: 9780226637853 Published September 2008

In the decade after high school, young people continue to rely on their families in many ways-sometimes for financial support, sometimes for help with childcare, and sometimes for continued shelter. But what about those young people who confront special difficulties during this period, many of whom can count on little help from their families?

On Your Own Without a Net documents the special challenges facing seven vulnerable populations during the transition to adulthood: former foster care youth, youth formerly involved in the juvenile justice system, youth in the criminal justice system, runaway and homeless youth, former special education students, young people in the mental health system, and youth with physical disabilities. During adolescence, government programs have been a major part of their lives, yet eligibility for most programs typically ends between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. This critical volume shows the unfortunate repercussions of this termination of support and points out the issues that must be addressed to improve these young people's chances of becoming successful adults.

Review Quotes
Contents

“On Your Own Without a Net brings to light those many issues facing vulnerable youths as they transition to adulthood. The contributors to this ambitious and important volume focus specifically on those youths that have come in contact with mental health, juvenile justice, criminal, foster care, and special educational systems. It reflects a very innovative and interesting approach to linking research with policy and practice.”--Jane Knitzer, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University

“On Your Own Without a Net picks up where The Forgotten Half left off in the 1980s. This volume has been produced to warn policy makers and academics that the increasingly prolonged transition to adulthood presents special challenges to many socially excluded young people. It goes beyond the rhetoric of greater ‘freedom of self-determination’ to alert opinion leaders that millions of young Americans need support, guidance, and assistance in becoming productive, contributing members of society.”--James Côté, University of Western Ontario

“As parents whose children live at home after college know all too well, the transition to adulthood is difficult. But the transition is much tougher for youth who suffer disadvantages such as living in foster care or in juvenile facilities or who have mental or physical disabilities. This volume is the definitive overview of the problems faced by these troubled youth and the support they need and deserve from a largely indifferent government.”--Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution

“A fruitful, well-defended study of how lifelong disadvantage becomes solidified in the transition from childhood to adulthood. The works all show quite clearly that unless social services and justice bureaucracies recapture their mandate of caring and concern, a socially identifiable proportion of the population will remain chronically disadvantaged. For researchers and practitioners who are concerned with young peoples' development, especially young people who live on the margins of the society, this book is a valuable reference.”—Bernard Schissel, Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

"As a researcher in the field, I found the book inspiring. . . . As someone who works with practitioners and policy makers, I found that this book laid out the basic issues facing these vulnerable populations in logical and clearly compelling ways."—Maryann Davis, Psychiatric Services

"A useful reference for those who study policy as well as those who serve youth and their families. The chapters that discuss the challenges faced by vulnerable youth are quite comprehensive, and the editors conclude the work with a summary chapter calling for ways to improve the chances of success for this group as well as for all adolescents."

"This well-written compendium thoroughly and comprehensively documents the odyssey and challenges that face seven vulnerable and at-risk populations as they make the precipitous transition from adolescence to young adulthood. . . . This is an offering that belongs on the desk of . . . mental health personnel, special education administrators, juvenile justice personnel, and ancillary health care personnel."—Francis D. Kelly, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

Contents

Foreword
Michael S. Wald
Acknowledgments

1 Introduction: Why Focus on The Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations?
D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen R. Ruth

2 The Transition to Adulthood for Youth “Aging Out” of the Foster Care System
Mark E. Courtney and Darcy Hughes Heuring

3 The Transition to Adulthood for Adolescents in the Juvenile Justice System: A Developmental Perspective
He Len Chung, Michelle Little, and Laurence Steinberg

4 Policy and Program Perspectives on the Transition to Adulthood for Adolescents in the Juvenile Justice System
David M. Altschuler

5 Young Adults Reentering the Community from the Criminal Justice System: The Challenge of Becoming an Adult
Christopher Uggen and Sara Wakefield

6 Prisoner Reentry and the Pathways to Adulthood: Policy Perspectives
Jeremy Travis and Christy A. Visher

7 Homeless Youth and the Perilous Passage to Adulthood
John Hagan and Bill McCarthy

8 Transition for Young Adults Who Received Special Education Services as Adolescents: A Time of Challenge and Change
Phyllis Levine and Mary Wagner

9 Transition Experiences of Young Adults Who Received Special Education Services as Adolescents: A Matter of Policy
Phyllis Levine and Mary Wagner
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10 Risks along the Road to Adulthood: Challenges Faced by Youth with Serious Mental Disorders
J. Heidi Gralinski-Bakker, Stuart T. Hauser, Rebecca L. Billings, and Joseph P. Allen

11 Coping with Mental Health Problems in Young Adulthood: Diversity of Need and Uniformity of Programs
Phillip M. Lyons, Jr., and Gary B. Melton

12 Adolescents with Disabilities in Transition to Adulthood
Robert Wm. Blum

13 Youth with Special Health Care Needs and Disabilities in Transition to Adulthood
Patience Haydock White and Leslie Gallay

14 The Transition to Adulthood for Troubled Youth and Families: Common Themes and Future Directions
E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, D. Wayne Osgood, and Gretchen R. Ruth
List of Contributors
Index

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