Aging Out (DVD)

Artfully directed by award-winning filmmakers Roger Weisberg and Vanessa Roth, AGING OUT chronicles the daunting obstacles that three young people in foster care encounter as they "age out" of the system and are suddenly on their own for the first time. Navigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood is challenging for even the most mature and privileged youth. For three teens in urban New York and Los Angeles, however, making the transition to independent living is considerably more difficult. Lacking family support, they are suddenly forced to fend for themselves with no job skills, meager financial resources, and little preparation to survive on their own. Following them as they become parents, battle drug addiction, cope with homelessness, and even end up in jail, Weisberg and Roth show how three teenagers use the resiliency they developed "in the system" to retake control of their lives. AGING OUT is more than a dark chronicle of young people who move from foster care into the welfare, mental health, and criminal justice systems. This emotionally complex film is also a portrait of young adults struggling to overcome the scars of their troubled childhood in order to realize their dreams of independence and fulfillment.