Objectives:- Identify common mental health challenges experienced by youth aging out of foster care.
- Discuss how trauma, instability, and loss impact long-term emotional wellness & describe relationship-centered and trauma-informed approaches that improve outcomes.
- Recognize practical ways healthcare providers, educators, and community organizations can support transition-age youth & apply lessons learned from community-based models and lived experience perspectives.
AbstractYouth aging out of foster care face significant mental health challenges that often continue long after leaving the system. This breakout session explores the emotional realities of transition-age youth, barriers to mental healthcare access, and the importance of relationship-centered, trauma-informed support systems. Attendees will hear directly from the mental health team at Thru Project and a youth speaker with lived experience to better understand what meaningful support truly looks like beyond the age of care.
