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The transition to adulthood during the past 40 years has become more protracted and difficult for most youth, who continue to depend on their parents for financial help, health insurance, or a place to live between jobs, well into their twenties. Yet, not all parents have the resources to offer these supports, and still others face even greater demands because their children have physical, mental, or behavioral problems. More striking, some youth have no families at all to fall back on. These vulnerable youth—those with mental or physical disabilities, those with pasts in the juvenile justice or criminal justice systems, those leaving special education programs, those aging out of foster care, and those young adults who are homeless—are often on their own without a safety net.

Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood: Rethinking the Safety Net for Vulnerable Young Adults, which builds on the 2004 research and public policy conference co-sponsored by Chapin Hall and the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy, will bring together researchers, practitioners, and the policy community to offer a comprehensive picture of early adulthood for those without family support or for those whose physical, mental, or behavioral problems create special barriers to independence. It will draw on the framework and ideas contained in the recent book, On Your Own without a Net, edited by Network researchers D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan, and Gretchen Ruth.

All facilities at the Gleacher Center are in compliance with accessibility requirements in Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. For more information on accessibility at the Gleacher Center, please call 312-464-8787.

This conference is generously supported by:

• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative
• William T. Grant Foundation
• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation