age out
v. phr.— «At least when it comes to the 9,000 children the government has taken into care on your behalf. They are children who have no one else capable of caring for them. So the government, acting for you, has stepped in to keep them safe and give them a chance. Until the minute they turn 19. Then they’re pretty much on their own.…A study released in 2005 found that about 60 per cent of the young people “aging out,” as it’s called, hadn’t finished high school.» —“So you’re 19. Here’s $700. Goodbye and good luck” by Paul Willcocks Vancouver Sun (British Columbia, Canada) Aug. 5, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...