A Tennessee foster care program has done something never before documented by researchers: made life better, at least a little bit, for a group of foster children who turned 18 and left state care.

The new findings give credit to some parts of a program run by Memphis-based Youth Villages. The non-profit’s services helped “aged out” former foster children transition into adult lives — a notoriously challenging time for kids who grew up abused or in legal trouble and who often end up unemployed, homeless or jailed at rates high above their peers.

Those who accepted Youth Villages services, including routine weekly counseling on many aspects of daily life, had higher income, more stable housing, better overall economic well-being and some health improvements — all firsts in such a study.....

.....“Until now, research on programs for young people aging out of foster care or juvenile justice systems has shown just how difficult it is to make a positive difference,” said Gordon Berlin, president of MDRC, the nonpartisan research group that led the study. “The Youth Villages intervention stands out as one program that demonstrably improves these young people’s well-being.”

The results also back a broader investment by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, which in 2013 agreed to split a $6 million cost with Youth Villages to offer assistance to all of Tennessee’s aging out foster youth.....

.....There’s still more to come in 2016, when MDRC and nationally known researcher Mark Courtney, of the University of Chicago, will examine longer-term impacts and perform a cost-benefit analysis of the funding and outcomes.....

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