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S3/Ep 12: When Foster Kids Turn 18, the System Abandons Them. So What Happens Next?
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Over 328,000 children are currently in the U.S. foster care system. In 2024 alone, more than 15,000 youth aged out without a permanent family—many walking out of the system on their 18th birthday with nothing but a trash bag of belongings and nowhere to go.
We don't expect our own 18-year-olds to be fully ready to live independently—they're still learning to navigate adulthood with family support, resources, and safety nets. So why do we expect foster youth, many of whom have experienced profound trauma, abuse, and instability, to instantly succeed the moment they turn 18?
Kym Renner, who co-founded the RennerVation Foundation alongside her brother, Academy Award-nominated actor Jeremy Renner, decided to create something different: programs that offer children in foster care and at-risk youth what every child deserves: a childhood filled with joy, growth, and belonging.
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Transcript
Introduction to Season Three
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to season three of the Guardians of Hope podcast. We are a community of parents, educators, health, legal, and tech experts dedicated to positively impacting children's lives. The thoughts and opinions of my guests are not my own. This is a platform for sharing. Welcome everyone. 328,000 children are currently in the U.S. foster care system.
00:00:22
Speaker
And in 2024, over 15,000 youth aged out without a permanent family. What happens to them next is heartbreaking.
Challenges Faced by Foster Youth
00:00:32
Speaker
Approximately 22 to 30% become homeless during the transition to adulthood.
00:00:39
Speaker
More than 40% are incarcerated by age 20. And according to the FBI, 60% of sex trafficking victims came from foster care or group homes.
00:00:51
Speaker
Less than 3% earn a college degree and just half are employed by age 24. Today, we're joined by Kim Renner, who co-founded Renervation Foundation, along with her brother, Academy Award-nominated actor Jeremy Renner,
00:01:08
Speaker
With decades of professional expertise in the child welfare system, Kim is on a mission to offer children in foster care and at-risk youth something every child deserves, a childhood filled with joy, growth, and belonging.
00:01:24
Speaker
Through programs for children ages 0 through 24, Renovation is working to change the trajectory for foster youth become before they become another statistic.
00:01:36
Speaker
Kim, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me and thank you for fighting for these kids. Oh, thanks so much. And I'm really happy to be here anyway to get the message out and really support our kids in in any format is really first and foremost my love and passion.
00:01:54
Speaker
um Thank you so much, Kim.
Kim Renner's Perspective on Child Welfare
00:01:56
Speaker
So you co-founded Renovation with your brother, Jeremy, but you're the one with decades of professional expertise in the child welfare system.
00:02:05
Speaker
What experiences in your career made you realize that you had to create something different? And what were you seeing that broke your heart and made you say, we have to do something better for these kids? Yeah, I really love the the question because the heart, I think, is the center of of all of all of this, right?
00:02:25
Speaker
And our passion. Many times we talk about what is our why um and why are we in this work? So my experience does go back several decades in working in the foster care system in California, my current role in Los Angeles County Child Welfare. ah And what I would say is that the system is designed to manage risk and protect children.
00:02:51
Speaker
But the system isn't necessarily designed to build futures. And many times as I sit here also as a parent, I always am thinking about how are they safe today and where are they going tomorrow, right? As a parent, we often think dual dually about where our kids are today and we want the best for them and we think the best for them. But the system isn't necessarily designed around what happens next.
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah. So can you help can you help us understand exactly what happens when a child ages out of foster care and what is broken exactly in the system that leads to these outcomes?
00:03:32
Speaker
Well, the system um really is often not always thinking about what happens after the legal requirements kind of terminate. There are some like local programs in some states that are really trying to get crafty around. the transition timeframe. But what I would say is at age 18, the system ends regardless of the emotional readiness of each individual child. Like you might have some that are really ready to kind of do their own thing.
00:04:04
Speaker
or they think they're ready. um And then they find out a year later, six months later, through ah mistakes or bad decisions that they really need that safety net.
00:04:15
Speaker
um I always like to say the trauma of a child in foster care, it doesn't end at 18, but the money does, right? Or the services end. But the trauma continues. um The readiness of some young people um I mean, I even liken it to myself. Was I ready at 18?
00:04:35
Speaker
we're Were we ready at 18 to have our own apartment, have our own job, just make decisions for ourselves and really stand up on our own? I'd like to say no, of course not. And I wasn't in foster care. I wasn't um ah dealing with often lifelong trauma that's impacted my ability to to move throughout ah those appropriate stages of development.
00:04:59
Speaker
And so we have to do better. we should We should never expect our children really to be self-sufficient at 18, but we demanded of foster kids and those that you know really weren't weren't set up for the most success, which is why we see the really terrible statistics about what happens after 18.
00:05:19
Speaker
And so as a system, that should be a requirement of all systems. I do think the movement is headed in that direction, but we're definitely not there yet.
Renovation Foundation's Approach to Support
00:05:31
Speaker
So your organization focuses on programs for kids and young adults ages zero through 24, aging out support, summer camps and tangible items for families. Can you walk us through why you chose these specific areas and what gaps you were seeing that were not being addressed by the existing systems or other organizations?
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah, there's a concept called ah positive childhood experiences. Often it's referred to as a PCE. um And it's pretty well known that normal childhood experiences, positive interactions with lifelong adults, having opportunities to engage in um fun and age appropriate extracurricular activities, being able to have successful milestones, ah social and emotional determinants of health, right? that Those are all um opportunities for our foster youth to have normal childhood experiences, to experience normalcy. And what it actually has been proven to do is erase elements of trauma in their life. And um these ACEs, as we call them, ah often create an impact on normal development. And so a lot of our programming really focuses on therapeutic, positive experiences for young people. So like our summer camps, while they're joyful experiences, aren't really extras, what they are is they're corrective measures. They're opportunities for
00:07:17
Speaker
our foster youth to get out of the house, meet other young people, feel seen and heard, not be rejected. a big part of our summer camp programs is we don't send kids home at all costs if we don't have to. um We accept all foster youth. There is no precursor to um acceptance or not acceptance because a lot of foster youth get rejected or get moved around a lot, right? And so our our goal is to ensure that anybody that comes to like our camp program or our housing program or our mentorship programs are trauma informed and understand to see kids where they are.
00:07:57
Speaker
And it's not about their behaviors. We have to see past the behaviors and what's underneath. And that's how we get to the root of some of these kids. And so what we have to say is if we wait until kids are in crisis,
00:08:09
Speaker
then we waited too long. What we need to do is get to them before, stay with them often, and and have like a system or a program that is agile enough to respond to like really what the kids are telling us and what the system is telling us that's needed. Yeah.
00:08:26
Speaker
So you talked about trauma and let's go um into the families now. You know, there's a reality that foster families face. They're opening their doors to traumatized children who've experienced abuse, neglect, some sort of instability.
00:08:47
Speaker
What kind of support do foster families need to help children heal and thrive? And how are you and your organization providing that support? I love our foster families. um I think that what I would love for others to understand is that foster parents are unsung heroes.
00:09:09
Speaker
um they um really show up, right? they They show up in a way that a lot of people just can't. It's one thing to ah love and appreciate all of kids and be a part of programs, but it's another open your home.
00:09:26
Speaker
And opening your home can really create an opportunity for a young person to feel loved, to to feel belong, a sense of belonging, And our foster parents really need the support, especially when times are tough. They need respite. They need breaks. They need to feel seen and not judged because oftentimes that, you know, they get into situations where um they have to make decisions that, you know, everyone might not agree with and they need to be supported in in every way possible in the system.
00:09:58
Speaker
When foster families are supported, then kids are supported. Then they feel seen and heard. And, um you know, a big part of this work is like the whole family and treating the whole family. I think um our foster parents ah need tangible goods. They don't always have the the money to pay for recreational activities for young people, right? Like um every kid deserves to be able to like go to the soccer team or, um you know, try out for basketball or be a part of cheerleading, but foster parents, you know, can't always bear the brunt of all of what that might cost or what that might look like. So I think it's really important that
00:10:36
Speaker
They're given tangible supports wherever possible. And so our foundation really tries to come forward with that. We're really building out, we're listening and adapting along the way.
00:10:47
Speaker
Fantastic.
Call to Action: Mentorship and Support
00:10:48
Speaker
So we talked about the feeling of belonging for children that is so important. And your mission says, you know, you want to help kids embrace a childhood filled with joy, growth, and belonging.
00:11:02
Speaker
How do you help create experiences for them who've learned not to trust adults, who've moved, like you mentioned, from home to home, or have never had stability, what does that actually look like for you, for your programs, for these children in your programs?
00:11:19
Speaker
So, I mean, it's really such an important question. It's one of the reasons why we started our Pave Your Way program, which is all about youth transitioning out of foster care, 16 to 24. That's the the key ages that a lot of programs have been developed throughout um the system. and It's really a matter of getting to our young people early and often. We actually have apartments now. We have four apartments. We would like that to expand ah because we have a waiting list. And um a big part of it isn't just the housing, but creating somewhat of like a bubble, like a lot of people call it wraparound, where all needs and are addressed on an individualized basis. And I think what really has to happen if if folks are are interested in supporting um is really looking at, ah could I be a mentor?
00:12:14
Speaker
um it It is hard for people ah to all see yeah, I'm going to open my home to foster, right? That's a big ask. And if folks can't do that, then mentorship is really what I like to promote. So like our young folks in Pave Your Way have a have have a counselor and have a team supporting them.
00:12:33
Speaker
And everybody shows up a little different. and um And so mentorships are really about having relationships with young people and guiding them in decision making, because you don't know when those decisions come up. Is it time to get a credit card? Is it is it time to get my paycheck?
00:12:51
Speaker
for the first time and see all these taxes taken out and try to figure out, hey, did these people cheat me? Why why aren't they paying me all my money? um Wait, I just got um a bigger heating bill. It's only been $20. And now that it's winter, it's $140. I wasn't expecting that. What the heck's going on? Are they are they trying to cheat me?
00:13:10
Speaker
ah Like these are like life skills that many of our young people don't have anyone to call or to talk to or maybe to prepare for. And so what I say is,
00:13:21
Speaker
is um the best way to support our young people transitioning out is to pick one and and mentor and be there for them or pick a few or if there's a local opportunity to get involved in any kind of activities, social activities, supporting maybe um their social and emotional well-being beyond just the surviving part, right?
00:13:45
Speaker
they Maybe they make enough money to be in their apartment, but do they ever get to go to the gym and exercise? Like, you know, maybe that would be super fulfilling for them. um So i always like to pick up on these elements because they're all just very important to having a fulfilling life um that our young people a really don't always have that opportunity. And so I always liken it to, I'm a mom. What would I want to make sure my young person has? What would I always be checking in Are they sleeping well? Are they eating well? Like all those great things, like let's not take for granted that, that our foster youth aging out have had any kind of support or thinking in that regard. And, and so for that, I always like to share with people, you probably are more helpful than you realize.
00:14:33
Speaker
Absolutely. Kim, thank you so much for your time and sharing your mission with us today. You really are a guardian of hope. So thank you.