For decades, the child welfare system has worked on the assumption that legal permanency (through adoption, reunification or kinship care) was enough to ensure that children in foster care have a successfully transition to adulthood.
A new study by Upbring and the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing calls into question this assumption and suggests that, regardless of the permanency outcome, authentic relationships are key to feeling normal, which is essential to the well being of all youth. The study is the first to compare youth who aged out of care to youth who are adopted or reunified with family.