On August 22, 2025, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County and University of Maryland’s School of Public Health Community Thrives Lab will co-host the first ever Emerging Adults Resource Summit.

Every year, children enter the foster care system due child abuse and neglect. While the goal is for families to receive appropriate supports so they can heal and successfully reunify or for youth to be placed in another safe, permanent home, too often youth remain in foster care until aging out, or emancipating, as adults.

A Chapin Hall study of permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care in Maryland found a lack of permanency planning resources which results in increased risk of youth running away, not experiencing successful reunion with their biological families nor being adopted, thus a large percentage simply age out of foster care at 18 or 21.According to the Prince George’s Model Court Team’s 2017 Foster Care Youth Symposium presentation (most recent available nationwide comparison), 34% of youth who exit foster care in Prince George’s County are emancipating (aging out of the system), the 10th highest rate of emancipated youth in the country.

Through CASA’s engagement with young people, we have learned that there is a need to improve communication, connectivity, and efficiency in systems’ responses. The summit will help to increase youth’s access to services and exposure to adults in the community who can support them; to ultimately improve their outcomes when they emancipate.

This summit will foster stronger relationships with key stakeholders, including the Prince George's County Circuit Court, Department of Social Services, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations and enhance communication channels and collaboration among stakeholders to ensure effective coordination and service delivery.

Funding for the Summit was provided by the Maryland Judiciary’s Juvenile and Family Services Foster Care Court Improvement Program’s Court Improvement Program (CIP) Grant bestowed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.

For more information and to register, go to https://pgcasa.org/event/emerging-adults-resource-summit/.

About Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)/Prince George’s County, Inc.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)/Prince George's County is a volunteer-based organization that partners with the juvenile court to improve the lives of children living in foster care who have suffered from abuse and neglect.  With a strong commitment to diversity, CASA trains and supervises volunteers from the community who advocate for the best interest of children, recognizing and respecting each child's individual needs.  By providing a voice to children in the foster care system, CASA’s goal is to help children and promote the timely placement of those we serve in safe, permanent homes.

To volunteer with CASA, call 301-209-0491 or go to www.pgcasa.org.