Washington Post Thursday, May 8, 2008; Page B01 | [May require login] After Years in a System Offering Support Networks, A Young Woman Learns Skills to Thrive Independently.

In many ways, Marie Willis, 21, is like most students working their way through college: juggling two jobs, a full course load, bills and roommate problems. But for the junior at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, the exhausting, fast-paced schedule was part of the preparation for one of the biggest challenges of her young life: discharge from foster care to life on her own.

Willis is one of the approximately 24,000 young people nationwide ages 18 to 21 who leave foster care each year, children who were never adopted or returned to their parents or guardians. For many, it is a time of mixed emotions and uncertainty. Some are relieved to be out of the system, but they also are worried about whether they are ready to negotiate life's challenges alone. Willis appears to be better prepared than most, but she still faces many obstacles.

A recent study by the Pew Charitable Trust [1] found that an increasing number of young people are "aging out" of foster care, even as research shows that many are ill-prepared for life after the system. Many have not finished high school or college and have limited employment and job skills. A 2005 study by researchers at the University of Chicago found they have higher rates of homelessness and incarceration than their peers.