Research

“Aging Out” of Foster Care

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

25 is the New 21: The Costs and Benefits of Providing Extended Care and Maintenance to Ontario Youth in Care Until Age 25

The Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth
Canada – Ontario
2012

Seven cost-benefit analyses have been undertaken in the United States and Australia to examine the costs to society of providing extra supports to youth in care after the age of 18. The studies reveal vastly different approaches, assumptions, and data sources. Yet all reach the same conclusion: increased investment in services for youth transitioning from care yield benefits in the long term.

This is the first such study to be done in Canada. The analysis is based on the best and most promising aspects of the seven cost-benefit analyses mentioned above. The report examines available Ontario data, as well as Canadian and international sources, to estimate the cost of a program extension in Ontario. It also estimates the savings that could be achieved by bettering the lives of youth aging out of care.

(Requires a SCRIBD account to view; free 30 day trial available)

My Real Life Book. Report From the Youth Leaving Care Hearings

The Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth
Canada – Ontario
2012

For some time now, across the province, youth in and from care have been speaking out about the many issues now contained in this report. After voicing those concerns to Irwin Elman, the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, we decided to plan and hold two days of public hearings on the issues facing youth as we age out of care. On November 18th and 25th, 2011, the Youth Leaving Care Hearings took place at Queen’s Park, home of the Ontario Legislature. This is the report that came out of the submissions we received.

The purpose of this report is to improve the experiences and lives of youth in and leaving care. It includes a deeply personal glimpse into our lives. It provides decision-makers with one key recommendation designed to trigger fundamental change. It also gives six more recommendations for what could be done right now to better the lives of youth in and leaving care. This report is meant for everyone. Change is needed and we need your help to get there; no one can do it alone.

Academic Articles

Independent living programs and services for youth ‘aging out’ of care in Canada and the U.S.: A systematic review

Melanie M. Doucet, Johanna K.P. Greeson, & Nehal Eldeeb
USA & Canada
2022

Evidence from American and Canadian studies over the last three decades demonstrates that youth exiting foster care are at a much higher risk to face a multiplicity of challenges than their peers who are not in care. These challenges result in negative outcomes, such as high rates of homelessness, under-education, unemployment or under-employment, poverty, mental health issues and post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and early pregnancy or parenthood. This systematic review addresses Independent Living Program (ILP) and Independent Living Services (ILS) studies in the U.S. and Canada published between 2000 and 2018. In order to compile a list of relevant ILP and ILS impact studies, a bibliographic search of six databases was conducted for the peer-reviewed literature, and the grey literature was searched using Google and expert consultation. The search yielded a total of 64 studies after applying our study selection protocol, with 50 from the peer review literature and 14 from the grey literature. The clear majority of studies originated from the U.S., with only three Canadian studies emerging from the grey literature. This is most likely due to differences in mandated data collection and reporting. In the U.S., data collection and reporting is mandatory under the Foster Care Independence Act in 1999. In Canada, there is no such mandatory reporting as child welfare services are under the sole jurisdiction of the provinces, with no Federal government involvement aside from First Nations children and youth. Studies to date suggest that ILP and ILS are not producing the intended outcomes, with limited to no impact demonstrated on youth leaving care wellbeing outcomes. In fact, some of the studies found a negative impact, especially related to social support. Much of the ILP and ILS studies did not incorporate the voices of youth in care, but rather focused on program process and components, staff experiences, and outcome measures such as social support, employment, income, housing and self-sufficiency. Of the limited ILP and ILS studies incorporating youth perspectives, youth in care often indicated that emotional support and mentoring are crucial needs during the transition to adulthood, which are often not the focus of ILP or ILS. Moreover, compared to the U.S., program impact studies in Canada are sorely lacking; more research needs to be done in this area to build our knowledge of evidence-based and best practices. This systematic review highlights two main conclusions: (1) Both the U.S. and Canada sorely need innovation with respect to preparing youth in care for the transition to adulthood; and (2) We also must commit to using rigorous research designs with such programming to determine the impact of such new approaches. In sum, we must reconceptualize our investment in youth in care and focus on their interdependence in order to realize their potential.

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Exploring Support for LGBTQ Youth Transitioning from Foster Care to Emerging Adulthood

June C. Paul
USA
2020

Former foster youth are often uniquely disenfranchised, as many suffer from a lack of support (e.g., financial, informational, emotional) resulting from their involvement in foster care. Although all youth who exit foster care as adults may have difficulty accessing the support they need to become healthy-functioning adults, these issues may be exacerbated for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning) youth who face added health and wellbeing challenges associated with their sexual and/or gender minority statuses. This study used face-to-face, qualitative interviewing and eco-mapping techniques to explore the experiences and perspectives of 21 LGBTQ foster youth, ages 17–21, to identify and describe who provides them with support, the kinds of support they have received, and whether there were any specific support-related needs and challenges they may be experiencing during this critical time. Results revealed that although many LGBTQ foster youth included a variety of child welfare professionals (e.g., caseworkers, foster parents) and other service providers (e.g., teachers, therapists) within their support networks, the majority experienced several unmet needs and challenges—most of which were associated with their sexual and/or gender minority statuses. Multiple themes were identified, including a lack of attention to safety and protection from risks of harm and access to essential care and services (e.g., LGBTQ affirming health care, safe and supportive housing, LGBTQ community-based resources, guidance related to LGBTQ identity development). Results provide initial understanding and awareness of some of the support-related issues and challenges faced by these youth, and help to build a framework of knowledge from which to develop further hypotheses regarding how LGBTQ youth are faring in our nation’s child welfare system. Implications for child welfare policy, practice, and research are discussed.

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The Obligation to Support Adult Children: When Does “Childhood” End?

Nicholas Bala, Brittany Chaput
Canada
2015

This paper examines the provisions of the federal Divorce Act and Ontario’s Family Law Act that impose an obligation on parents to support adult children, and reviews leading cases interpreting this legislation. While this remains a contentious and discretionary area, there are some clear trends in the case law. Social and economic changes have resulted in “delayed adulthood;” young adults are living with their parents longer as well as looking to parents for financial support for increasingly long periods of post-secondary education. These changes are reflected in changing judicial attitudes to support of adult children whose parents have separated or divorced: compared to two decades ago, the courts are recognizing a greater and longer obligation to provide support for adult children. For higher income payors, this may extend to support for a professional degree or further education after an undergraduate degree, with support until the mid-twenties. When an adult child has a disability and continues to reside with one parent and receive care and support from that parent, the courts may extend the support obligation into the late 20’s and beyond, though social assistance and disability pensions will be taken into account in setting the amount of this obligation.

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Emerging Versus Emancipating. The Transition to Adulthood for Youth in Foster Care

Stephanie Cosner Berzin, Erin Singer, Kimberly Hokanson
USA
2014

Emerging adulthood has been defined as a distinct developmental stage in which youth experience opportunities for identity development and transition toward independence. While this period has been examined for youth in the general population, less is known about how foster youth experience this transition. This study uses qualitative interviews with 20 foster youth to understand their experiences during emerging adulthood. Consensual qualitative research is used to analyze data and develop core themes around youth experiences. Foster youth not only report sharing many characteristics with youth in the general population during this stage but also have experiences that are uniquely tied to their foster care history. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

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Emerging Adulthood Among Former System Youth: The Ideal Versus the Real

Michelle R. Munson, Brittany R. Lee, David Miller, Andrea Cole, Cristina Nedelcu
USA
2013

Recent research has indicated that emerging adulthood, the late teen years and early twenties, is a distinct developmental period, which occurs gradually and is often filled with exploration, stress, uncertainty and a lack of a distinct role in life. Few studies, however, have examined how emerging adulthood tenets are experienced by young people involved with social service systems. With this in mind, 59 young adults, ages 18 to 25, participated in in-depth interviews regarding their perspectives on transitioning to adulthood and adulthood. Participants were struggling with emotional difficulties, and shared a childhood history, which included a mood disorder diagnosis and utilization of public mental health and social services (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or public welfare). The study sought to understand whether or not young adults with mental health and social service histories experience similar (or different) dimensions of mainstream emerging adulthood developmental theory during the late teens and early twenties. Theoretical thematic analysis indicated support not only for the theory of emerging adulthood, but also aspects unique to this sub-population. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed.

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Why Youth Leave Care: Understandings of Adulthood and Transition Successes and Challenges Among Youth Aging Out of Child Welfare

Sara Goodkind, Lisa A. Schelbe, Jeffrey J. Shook
USA
2011

Child welfare policies and practices are changing to allow more youth to remain in care beyond age 18. Yet, the majority of youth do not stay. Given recent evidence suggesting that remaining in care may be beneficial, there is a need to understand why youth leave. Using data gathered from in-depth interviews with young people aging out of care, this paper explores this question, relating it to youths’ understandings of adulthood and the successes and challenges they face during their transitions. We find that youth leave care because of misunderstanding and misinformation about the requirements for remaining in care, as well as because of a desire for autonomy and independence. Specifically, many youth equated adulthood with independence, and thus felt that they needed to leave care to achieve adulthood. Unfortunately, these efforts to be independent often hinder youths’ development of supportive relationships, which they reported to be one of the greatest challenges in their transitions. Based on these findings, we conclude by challenging the conflation of adulthood and independence, as well as of childhood and dependence, calling for connected autonomy as a goal for child welfare involved young people of all ages.

Afterword: Aging Out of Care – Toward Realizing the Possibilities of Emerging Adulthood

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
USA
2007

In terms of normative development, emerging adulthood has five features that distinguish it from the adolescence that proceeds it or the young adulthood that follows it. Emerging adulthood is the age of identity explorations, the age of instability, the self-focused age, the age of feeling in between, and the age of possibilities. These are not features that exist only in emerging adulthood, but they are more pronounced in emerging adulthood than at other ages.

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Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development From the Late Teens Through the Twenties

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett
USA
2000

Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new conception of development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, with a focus on ages 18-25. A theoretical background is presented. Then evidence is provided to support the idea that emerging adulthood is a distinct period demographically, subjectively, and in terms of identity explorations. How emerging adulthood differs from adolescence and young adulthood is explained. Finally, a cultural context for the idea of emerging adulthood is outlined, and it is specified that emerging adulthood exists only in cultures that allow young people a prolonged period of independent role exploration during the late teens and twenties.

Books

In the Media (News & Magazines)

Criminal Justice System

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

Academic Articles

Punitive Justice: When Race and Mental Illness Collide in the Early Stages of the Criminal Justice System

Marsha Rampersaud
Canada
2022

Youths in care are among the most vulnerable youths in our society. All youths in care have experienced trauma and sometimes exhibit trauma-induced behaviours which are perceived by others as disruptive or dangerous. The police are frequently called, which begins a cycle of criminalization for many youths, with racialized youths overrepresented in this group. Using an intersectional theoretical framework, this article shows how discriminatory perceptions of race and mental health influence justice system actors’ decision-making, from arrest to bail. Drawing on data from qualitative interviews with twenty-five young adults (ages 18 to 24) who have had contact with the child welfare and criminal justice systems and ten practicing lawyers in Ontario, the analysis reveals race-based differences in justice system actors’ responses to mental illness. Discriminatory views function as a lens through which racialized and mentally ill youths leaving care are perceived as threats and met with more punitive responses.

“Crossover Young Adults”: The Case for a Neurodevelopmentally-Aware, Trauma-Informed Approach to Sentencing Young Adults with Criminal Justice and Care and Protection Involvement

Sarah Watt
Australia
2022

“Crossover young adults”, that is, 18 to 25 year olds with criminal justice and care and protection involvement, are overlooked in research and policy. There is general acceptance that “crossover youth” up to 17 years with care and youth justice involvement are a complex group facing multiple challenges often rooted in childhood trauma. They are the most likely group to offend as adults. However, beyond the youth justice stage, limited attention is paid to the care-crime connection. Young adults in the criminal justice system more broadly are increasingly acknowledged as a distinct group given their developmental stage. Neuroscience shows that the human brain develops into the mid-twenties. Notably neuroscience also shows that childhood trauma disrupts development. Accordingly, considering crossover young adults from a purely age-related perspective leaves a gap in understanding.

The aim of this thesis is to draw upon neurodevelopmental and trauma research to critique the current approach to sentencing crossover young adults in Aotearoa New Zealand and to pave the way towards more effective, fair and just outcomes for this vulnerable group. Neuroscience shows childhood trauma can cause significant maladaptation, including reactive behaviours which amount to offending. Importantly, childhood trauma can be resolved through positive experiences and relationships. Young adulthood offers an “age of opportunity” for healing and intercepting the care to custody pipeline given heightened neuroplasticity and susceptibility to change. Sentencing for crossover young adults currently fails to reflect these insights. An offence-focused approach responds to behavioural manifestations of trauma rather than underlying causes. Acknowledgement of distinctions of crossover young adults is limited to deficit-based sentencing discounts.

By drawing on trauma-informed practice, a values-based approach for service delivery, this thesis provides four guiding principles and four proposals for neurodevelopmentally-aware, trauma-informed sentencing for crossover young adults. Sentencing must be grounded in an understanding of the prevalence of childhood trauma amongst crossover young adults and its neurodevelopmental impacts. Responses must be strengths-based and healing- focused, prioritising safety and connections. Education ought to support the necessary shift in perspective. At sentencing, rehabilitation must be prioritised, consideration of trauma must be mandated and imprisonment must be a measure of last resort.

To Protect or To Punish: Illuminating Pathways from Care to Criminalization

Marsha Rampersaud
Ontario
2021

This dissertation undertakes an in-depth analysis of the compounding effects of the child welfare and criminal justice systems on young adults (ages 18 to 24) in Ontario. The research is informed by qualitative, critical race methodologies, including semi-structured interviews with 25 young adults who have been involved in both systems; 10 practicing lawyers in Ontario; and 10 Youth- in-Transition Workers. The analysis and findings are presented in two academic papers and one public policy report.
The first manuscript uses an intersectional framework to uncover reasons why racialized children and youth are overrepresented in the child welfare and criminal justice systems; findings reveal race-based differences exist in the treatment of accused individuals who have been in care and experience mental illness in the early stages of the legal process, from arrest to bail. The second manuscript explores understandings of risk in bail courts and uncovers ways this concept functions as an organizing principal. This analysis illustrates how care status comes to be identified as a risk factor. Together these manuscripts demonstrate ways that risk-thinking fails to account for the particular conditions, circumstances, and contexts of youth leaving care, to youths’ disadvantage. The third manuscript is a public policy report that addresses gaps in public knowledge by synthesizing existing information about the adverse outcomes experienced by youth leaving care in five areas: education; employment, poverty, and income support; housing and homelessness; criminalization; and mental and physical health and wellbeing. Using this information, recommendations focus on ways to disrupt pathways from care to criminalization. As a complete work, this dissertation analyzes ways that race impacts the experiences of youth leaving care in the criminal justice system, examines understandings of risk in bail courts, and highlights pathways from care to criminalization.

How Do Childhood Conduct Problems, Callousness and Anxiety Relate to Later Offending and Adult Mental Disorder?

Jean-Marie Bamvita, Peter Larm, Frank Vitaro, Richard Tremblay, Gilles Cote, Sheilagh Hodgins
Quebec
2019

Background: Various combinations of childhood conduct problems, callous traits and anxiety may confer increased risk of offending, psychopathic traits and mental disorders. Knowledge of these outcomes in adulthood is limited.

Aims: To compare adult criminal convictions, psychopathy checklist scores and mental disorders between five groups of men, variously defined in childhood by: (1) callous traits, (2) conduct problems, (3) conduct problems and callous traits, (4) conduct problems and callous traits and anxiety or (5) developing typically.

Method: Teachers rated conduct problems, callous traits and anxiety at ages 6, 10 and 12 years. Criminal convictions from age 12 to 24 were extracted from official records. The Psychopathy Checklist‐Revised (PCL-R) and diagnostic in- terviews were completed at age 33.

Results: Relative to the typically developing group, the groups with conduct problems, with and without callous traits and anxiety, showed 5‐fold elevations in risks of vi- olent convictions and 3 to 4‐fold elevations in risk for antisocial personality disorder, while the groups with conduct problems only and with conduct problems plus callous traits plus anxiety were at increased risk for borderline personality disorder. All risk groups obtained higher PCL‐R total scores than the typically developing childhood group. Conclusions and implications: It is widely accepted that childhood conduct problems in boys are associated with increased risks of criminal convictions and poorer mental health, but our findings suggest that teachers can identify different subgroups and these have different trajectories. As some subgroups were small, replication is recom- mended, but our findings offer preliminary support for trialling specific interventions for at risk boys.

Examining the Needs of Crossover Youth: Individual and System Level Factors

Marcia A. Gordeyko
Canada
2017

Crossover youth are broadly defined as youth who have had contact with both the child welfare and youth justice systems. Although there has been increased research on crossover youth, including the numerous negative outcomes they experience (e.g., high rates of recidivism, multiple out-of-home placements; Herz, Ryan, Bilchik, 2010), much of this research has been based on data drawn from large child welfare and youth justice administrative databases. This approach may limit our understanding of crossover youth in other domains in which they also experience difficulties (e.g., mental health and substance use), as well as limit our understanding of these youth from a variety of perspectives (e.g., community service providers). Given that high rates of mental health and substance use difficulties are of concern for crossover youth (Turpel-Lafond Kendall, 2009), we need more specific information on their mental health needs, how these needs are met, and how service providers conceptualize the needs of crossover youth. To begin to address these questions, the two papers that make up my dissertation examined the mental health needs of crossover youth and service providers’ perspectives on those needs, respectively.

Leaving the Bank of Mum and Dad: Independence and Delinquency Destance in Emerging Adulthood

Jessica M. Hill, Victor R. van der Geest, Arjan A. J. Blokland
Netherlands
2017

Purpose: Traditional markers of adulthood, such as marriage and parenthood, are being increasingly postponed by young adults in their 20s. Consequently, young people cite different criteria for achieving an adult status (Arnett in Youth and Society, 29:3–23). In this study, we focus on one of these, financial independence, examining how it relates to delinquency. We hypothesize that gaining financial independence, i.e., no longer receiving financial support from parents, will lead to a decrease in delinquent behavior but that other factors may play a moderating role in this.

Methods: Using longitudinal data from a general population sample of Dutch emerging adults, aged 18–24 years, fixed effects models were run examining the effect of within-person changes in financial independence on self-reported delinquent behavior.

Results: Using lagged models, we found that when participants were financially independent, they reported committing fewer delinquent offences in the subsequent 6-month period compared to when they were financially dependent. This effect was not moderated by individuals’ education or employment status or their living situation.

Conclusions: These results indicate that young people today desist from delinquency in response to gaining financial independence from parents. We discuss the role of financial independence as an important marker of adulthood.

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Juvenile Incarceration, Human Capital, and Future Crime: Evidence from Randomly-Assigned Judges

Anna Aizer, Joseph J. Doyle, Jr.
USA
2015

Over 130,000 juveniles are detained in the United States each year with 70,000 in detention on any given day, yet little is known about whether such a penalty deters future crime or interrupts social and human capital formation in a way that increases the likelihood of later criminal behavior. This article uses the incarceration tendency of randomly assigned judges as an instrumental variable to estimate causal effects of juvenile incarceration on high school completion and adult recidivism. Estimates based on over 35,000 juvenile offenders over a 10-year period from a large urban county in the United States suggest that juvenile incarceration results in substantially lower high school completion rates and higher adult incarceration rates, including for violent crimes. In an attempt to understand the large effects, we found that incarceration for this population could be very disruptive, greatly reducing the likelihood of ever returning to school and, for those who do return, significantly increasing the likelihood of being classified as having an emotional or behavioral disorder.

Child Welfare Adolescents and the Youth Justice System: Failing to Respond Effectively to Crossover Youth

Nicholas Bala, Judy Finlay, Rebecca DeFelippis, Katie Hunter
Ontario
2015

Adolescents under the supervision of the provincial child welfare agencies are overrepresented in the youth criminal justice system. There are currently no policies in Ontario or most other Canadian jurisdictions to specifically address the unique needs of these highly vulnerable “crossover youth.” This article reviews literature and reports on a study of interviews with 22 Ontario professionals. Recommendations are made for improving outcomes for these youth: (1) improve preventive interventions; (2) establish mentorship programs; (3) restrict charging of youth in child welfare group homes; (4) involve youth more in decision-making; (5) have one lawyer for a youth for both proceedings; (6) establish better integrated court processes; (7) improve collaboration between agencies and professionals; (8) increase advocacy by child welfare agencies; (9) improve case management; and (10) expand programs for youth aging out of care. Underlying these recommendations is the recognition of the need for an integrated, holistic approach for dealing with the challenging issues faced by these youth.

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Extended Foster Care Support During the Transition to Adulthood: Effect on the Risk of Arrest

JoAnn S. Lee, Mark E. Courtney, Emiko Tajima
USA
2014

Youth aging out of the foster care system are at high risk for adult arrests, but providing extended foster care support during the early years of their transition from adolescence to independent adulthood may reduce this risk. This study used survey data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (N = 732) matched with official arrest data to estimate the potential benefit of providing extended foster care support in reducing the risk of arrest in the early transition period. In addition, other factors related to the risk of arrest for these former foster youth were explored. Event history modeling techniques were used to estimate the impact of extended care on the risk of a first adult arrest. Models were estimated for men and women separately, and for all non-procedural arrests and violent arrests only. Extended care is associated with a lower risk of arrest in the first year, but appears to have a declining effect over time.

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Closing the Crossover Gap: Amending Foster Connections to Provide Independent Living Services for Foster Youth who Crossover to the Justice System

Lauren Wylie
USA
2014

In the last three decades, Congress has enacted a series of amendments to the Social Security Act to address the growing number of youth who “age out” of the foster care system. The most recent and, arguably, the most notable of these programs was The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (“Fostering Connections”). Fostering Connections provides funding for states to extend federally supported foster care services to youth beyond their eighteenth birthdays. The Act also requires state agencies to work with each emancipating youth to write a personalized and comprehensive plan for his or her transition to independent living. While this is a huge achievement for the aging-out population, the language of legislation excludes many foster youth who are arrested and committed to a detention facility. Current legislation dose not ensure that independent living services and opportunities for support under Fostering Connections are extended to foster youth who crossover to the justice system. This Note proposes that the Fostering Connections to Success Act be amended to require that states provide for continuous and coordinated independent living services when a youth in foster care enters the justice system. These services must include ongoing access to contact with child welfare professionals, family members, and mentors who may help the youth to draft a detailed independent living plan.

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Extended Foster Care Support During the Transition to Adulthood: Effect on the Risk of Arrest

JoAnn S. Lee, Mark E. Courtney, Emiko Tajima
USA
2014

Youth aging out of the foster care system are at high risk for adult arrests, but providing extended foster care support during the early years of their transition from adolescence to independent adulthood may reduce this risk. This study used survey data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth (N = 732) matched with official arrest data to estimate the potential benefit of providing extended foster care support in reducing the risk of arrest in the early transition period. In addition, other factors related to the risk of arrest for these former foster youth were explored. Event history modeling techniques were used to estimate the impact of extended care on the risk of a first adult arrest. Models were estimated for men and women separately, and for all non-procedural arrests and violent arrests only. Extended care is associated with a lower risk of arrest in the first year, but appears to have a declining effect over time.

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Child Protection and Adult Crime: Using Investigator Assignment to Estimate Causal Effects of Foster Care

Joseph J. Doyle, Jr.
USA
2008

This paper uses the randomization of families to child protection investigators to estimate causal effects of foster care on adult crime. The analysis uses a new data set that links criminal justice data to child protection data in Illinois, and I find that investigators affect foster care placement. Children on the margin of placement are found to be two to three times more likely to enter the criminal justice system as adults if they were placed in foster care. One innovation describes the types of children on the margin of placement, a group that is more likely to include African Americans, girls, and young adolescents.

In the Media (News & Magazines)

Child Welfare in Ontario & Canada

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

Legal Age for Leaving Children Unsupervised Across Canada

Mónica Ruiz-Casares, Deniz Kilinc
Canada
2021

This updated study reviewed Canadian (a) statutory norms and jurisprudence to determine age at which children can be left unsupervised and (b) safety, child self-care and babysitting programs. Only three provinces establish a minimum age (12 or 16 years) at which children can be left alone or in charge of other children. Quebec is the only province with an age limit for leaving children unsupervised in a vehicle (seven years). Age is only one of the child factors generally considered by the courts in assessing adequate care and supervision. Canadian social services organizations advise that children under 12 years should not be left at home alone. Policy and advocacy efforts should provide accurate information and support to caregivers and children. This information sheet is an update of the 2015 information sheet with the same title (Ruiz-Casares & Radic, 2015).

An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, Youth and Families. Technical Information Package

Indigenous Services Canada
Canada
2020

Thanks to the efforts of people working across Canada, the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act), became law on June 21, 2019, and will come into effect as of January 1, 2020. This document is intended to serve as an implementation guide for the Act. This guide is not intended as, and does not provide, legal advice on the Act.

A Long Road Paved with Solutions: ‘Aging Out’ of Care Reports in Canada

Melanie Doucet
Canada
2020

This summary document highlights key recurring recommendations on ‘aging out’ of care that have been put forward by youth in and from care, advocates and researchers from across the country since the late 1980s. Since 1987, 75 reports centered on youth in care and the ‘aging out’ of care process have been published across Canada, amounting to over 435 concrete recommendations for change to child protection policy and practice targeted to the transition to adulthood for youth in care. The authors of these reports range from national, provincial and territorial youth in care networks, provincial and territorial child and youth advocates, private foundations and university researchers in partnership with community-based organizations.

Provincial and Territorial Child Protection Legislation and Policy in Canada 2018

Public Health Agency of Canada
Canada
2018

The objective of this project is to document the legislation, policies, and practices of each province and territory in the context of child protection. This report can be used as a reference tool to provide context for researchers and policy- makers who are interpreting child protection data.

Provincial/Territorial Protocol on Children, Youth and Families Moving Between Provinces and Territories

Canada
2016

The purpose of the Provincial/Territorial Protocol on Children and Families Moving between Provinces and Territories (Protocol) is to outline the roles and responsibilities of statutory child welfare organizations (including government ministries, agencies, boards and societies and may include First Nations, Inuit and Métis child welfare organizations) when working together to provide child welfare services to children and families moving between provinces and territories (PTs). In this document these entities will be referred to as “the child welfare organizations”.

Academic Articles

Children in Out-of-Home Care in Canada in 2019

Marie Saint-Girons, Nico Trocmé, Tonino Esposito, Barbara Fallon
Canada
2020

When child welfare authorities deem it unsafe for a child to remain in their home because of concerns related to abuse, neglect, or child/youth behaviours a parent cannot manage, they may place the child in out-of-home care. Nation-wide information on the number of children in out-of-home care is lacking in Canada – which largely stems from the fact that child welfare falls under the jurisdiction of provinces, territories, and First Nations. As a result, there is no centralized system for tracking the number of children in care, and reporting methods as well as inclusion criteria vary considerably across provinces, territories, and reserve boundaries. Although out-of-home placements are often necessary to ensure a child’s wellbeing or safety, high rates of placements can be an indication of a lack of access to support services and socio-economic conditions that impact a family’s ability to meet their children’s needs.

The American Child Welfare System: The Inconspicuous Vehicle for Social Exclusion

Zachary Auspitz
USA
2017

Abstract

This article addresses the potential causes of the extensive racial disproportionality that has plagued the American foster care system. The analysis in Part II begins with a comprehensive dissection of the ASFA and its potential correlation to racial disproportionality. In section B of the analysis, the article then proceeds to argue that the failure of multiple states to provide adequate prevention services and programs likely contributes to the race gap in regard to lengths of stay in foster care. In section C, the third and final contention asserts that the consideration of race in the child placement process, specifically private adoptions, hinders the child’s ability to achieve permanency. In Part III, after a thorough analysis of the potential sources of the deeply-engrained racial disproportionality experienced by children of ethnic minorities in the current foster care system, this article provides several policy recommendations directed towards both the federal and state governments to alleviate this widespread racial disproportionality. The conclusion then recapitulates and reemphasizes the major points of this note.

Why Youth Leave Care: Understandings of Adulthood and Transition Successes and Challenges Among Youth Aging Out of Child Welfare

Sara Goodkind, Lisa A. Schelbe, Jeffrey J. Shook
USA
2011

Child welfare policies and practices are changing to allow more youth to remain in care beyond age 18. Yet, the majority of youth do not stay. Given recent evidence suggesting that remaining in care may be beneficial, there is a need to understand why youth leave. Using data gathered from in-depth interviews with young people aging out of care, this paper explores this question, relating it to youths’ understandings of adulthood and the successes and challenges they face during their transitions. We find that youth leave care because of misunderstanding and misinformation about the requirements for remaining in care, as well as because of a desire for autonomy and independence. Specifically, many youth equated adulthood with independence, and thus felt that they needed to leave care to achieve adulthood. Unfortunately, these efforts to be independent often hinder youths’ development of supportive relationships, which they reported to be one of the greatest challenges in their transitions. Based on these findings, we conclude by challenging the conflation of adulthood and independence, as well as of childhood and dependence, calling for connected autonomy as a goal for child welfare involved young people of all ages.

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Recognizing and Responding to Child Maltreatment

Ruth Gilbert, Alison Kemp, June Thoburn, Peter Sidebotham, Lorraine Radford, Dayna Glaser, Harriet L. MacMillan
United Kingdom
2009

Professionals in child health, primary care, mental health, schools, social services, and law-enforcement services all contribute to the recognition of and response to child maltreatment. In all sectors, children suspected of being maltreated are under-reported to child-protection agencies. Lack of awareness of the signs of child maltreatment and processes for reporting to child-protection agencies, and a perception that reporting might do more harm than good, are among the reasons for not reporting. Strategies to improve recognition, mainly used in paediatric practice, include training, use of questionnaires for asking children and parents about maltreatment, and evidence-based guidelines for who should be assessed by child-protection specialists. Internationally, studies suggest that policies emphasising substantiation of maltreatment without concomitant attention to welfare needs lead to less service provision for maltreated children than do those in systems for which child maltreatment is part of a broad child and family welfare response.

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Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care

Joseph J. Doyle Jr.
USA
2007

The child welfare system investigates over 2 million children each year for parental abuse or neglect, yet little is known about the effects of removing children from home and placing them in foster care. Long-term outcomes are rarely observed, and children placed in foster care likely differ from those not placed, making comparisons difficult. This paper uses the removal tendency of investigators as an instrumental variable to identify causal effects of foster care placement on a range of outcomes for school-age children and youth. A rotational assignment process effectively randomizes families to these investigators. The results suggest that children assigned to investigators with higher removal rates are more likely to be placed in foster care themselves, and they have higher delinquency rates, teen birth rates, and lower earnings. Large marginal treatment effect estimates suggest caution in the interpretation, but the results suggest that children on the margin of placement tend to have better outcomes when they remain at home, especially for older children.

Books

Child Protection Systems. International Trends and Orientations

Neil Gilbert, Nigel Parton, Marit Skivenes
International
2011

This volume builds upon and advances the comparative analysis of child protection systems that was conducted in the mid-1990s and presented in Combatting Child Abuse: International Perspectives and Trends (Gilbert, 1997). Prompted by the rapid increase in reports of child maltreatment from 1980 to the early 1990s, that study compared social policies and professional practices in nine countries, examining differences as well as common problems and policy orientations. … Since the mid-1990s, however, much has changed in the realm of child welfare and how states define and deal with their responsibilities for children at risk. This book sets out to identify and analyze these changes and their implications, with a particular focus on assessing the extent to which the child protection and family service orientation continue to provide a helpful framework for understanding and comparing systems in different countries.

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Child Welfare. Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice Second Edition

Kathleen Kufeldt, B. D. McKenzie
Canada
2011

In 1994 a group of researchers and decision makers met to discuss the state of child welfare. Also present were a few practitioners and two youth in care. Six years later, when they met again, the number of practitioners and youth had grown considerably and were joined by a strong contingent of foster parents. Thus the findings and insights presented were affirmed or challenged by those most affected OCo those on the front line. It was an exciting event, worth capturing in book form.

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The Welfare of Children

Duncan Lindsey
USA
2004

According to the United Nations’ latest data, the United States has more children living in poverty than any other industrialized nation in the world. More than a fifth of all children grow up in poverty. The poverty rates for African-American and Latino children often exceeds 40 percent.

Furthermore, the United States–a country that once pioneered strategies to prevent child abuse and that now spends more money fighting child abuse than any other industrialized country–also has the highest rate of child abuse in the industrialized world.

Against this background, Duncan Lindsey, a leading authority on child welfare, takes a critical look at the current welfare system. He traces the transformation of child welfare into child protective services, arguing that the current focus on abuse has produced a system that is designed to protect children from physical and sexual abuse and therefore functions as a last resort for only the worst and most dramatic cases in child welfare. In a close analysis of the process of investigating child abuse, Lindsey finds that there is no evidence that the transformation into protective services has reduced child abuse fatalities or provided a safer environment for children. He makes a compelling argument for the criminal justice system to assume responsibility for the problem of child abuse in order for the child welfare system to be able to adequately address the well-being of a much larger number of children now growing up in poverty.

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Child Welfare. England 1872 – 1989

Harry Hendrick
United Kingdom
2003

Child Welfare 1872-1989 is the first comprehensive book on the history of social policy and child welfare from the 1870s to the present. It offers a full narrative of the development of social services for children, covering a range of topics including infant life protection and welfare, sexuality, child guidance, medical treatment, war time evacuation, and child poverty. Equally importantly the book studies the attitudes [of] policy-makers towards children. It reveals the way in which children have been viewed both as victims of and threats to the society in which they lived.

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Educational Outcome

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

Leaving Care in Quebec: The EDJEP Longitudinal Study

Martin Goyette, Alexandre Blanchet
Canada – Quebec
2022

This article reports results from the first longitudinal and representative study of a cohort of youth leaving care in Quebec (EDJeP study). Focusing on education and residential stability, we show that youths from youth protection services accumulate important vulnerabilities that make their transition out of youth protection services very challenging. In particular, compared to their peers in the general population, youth leaving care have significant educational delays that complicate their integration into the labor market. Our data suggest that a system that better encourages school perseverance and success would limit these academic delays and promote graduation. We also find that nearly half of the youths from the protection system experienced residential instability in the months following their release from placement and that 20% of them experienced at least one episode of homelessness. These last elements clearly show the extent of the vulnerability of youth leaving the protection system. We suggest some areas of reflection to improve this situation.

National Fact Sheet on the Educational Outcomes of Children in Foster Care

CHAMPS Children Need Amazing Parents
United States
2018

See this data-rich publication, compiled by the Legal Center for Foster Care and Education (a project of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law) in partnership with the Education Law Center and Juvenile Law Center for up-to-date statistics and a review of policy, practice, laws and promising programs impacting the success of children in foster care. This publication consists of four sections that can individually or collectively inform advocates, policymakers, agency leaders, and other key stakeholders. These four sections are: A brief data at a glance summary about the educational outcomes of students in foster care; A summary of select federal policies that support educational stability and success and increased data collection and reporting; A comprehensive review of the studies and research related to the education of students in foster care, with accompanying citations; and An overview of some promising data-supported programs or interventions around the country designed to benefit students in foster care.

What is the Relationship Between Being in Care and the Educational Outcomes of Children? An International Systematic Review

Aoife O’Higgins, Judy Sebba, Nikki Luke
United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia
2015

Electronic databases and websites were used to identify 28 studies including two reviews/meta-analyses from the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Comparisons across countries are subject to limitations of different cultures and services. Studies identified for the review were published after 1990 and were all in English. All but two studies (Barber & Delfabbro, 2005; Conger & Rebeck, 2001) employed comparison groups or compared children in care to the general population. Study samples ranged from 107 to over 222,000 young people.

Academic Articles

Connected after care: Characteristics, Policy, and Programs Associated with Postsecondary Education and Employment for Youth with Foster Care Histories

Jennifer M. Geiger, & Nathanael J. Okpych
United States
2022

Recent federal laws and state policies reflect the government’s investment in improving education and employment outcomes for youth with foster care histories. However, little research has assessed the roles of these programs using national data. Drawing on data from the National Youth in Transitions Database (NYTD) (n = 7797), this study examines the roles that state-level policies and programs, youth-level participation in programs and services, and youth characteristics play in youths’ connection to employment and education (“connectedness”) at age 21. Results from multilevel regression analyses find that foster youth in states with widely available tuition waiver programs increases the odds of connectedness to school. The amount of time youth spend in extended foster care, as well as receipt of postsecondary education aid and services, also increases connectedness. Study findings underscore the importance of material and relational supports in supporting foster youths’ connection to employment and education in early adulthood.

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The Impact of Independent Living Programs on Foster Youths’ Educational Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Chun Liu, Christian Vasquez, Kristian Jones, Rowena Fong
United States
2019

Independent living programs (ILP) are designed to increase positive outcomes for foster youth aging out of care in the various aspects of life such as education, employment, and housing. The purpose of this scoping review is to assess the effectiveness of independent living programs on educational outcomes among youths aging out of the foster care system in United States. A literature search was conducted among databases and dissertation abstracts. Publication dates of studies were restricted to 2005 to 2018. Language was restricted to English. Eleven articles were included in this review. Thematic findings included constant placement changes impacted educational outcomes, housing considerations should be paired with education, acknowledging individual youth characteristics is important as well as encouraging youth to participate as early as possible. The implications for agency practices and policies are also discussed in the study.

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A Descriptive Analysis of Programs Serving Foster Care Alumni in Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Jennifer M. Geiger, Megan Hayes Piel, Angelique Day, Lisa Schelbe
United States
2018

Foster care alumni experience a number of challenges related to accessing and completing postsecondary education, however little is known about the programs that currently exist in the United States that support this group of students in college. This study sought to build on previous work that calls for the need to develop programs to support foster care alumni in higher education and to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics of existing programs and the perceived programmatic and student challenges as reported by program directors and staff, faculty, and researchers. Eight-one program directors, staff, and researchers in 22 states participated in an online survey about their perceptions of challenges related to programs supporting foster care alumni in college and challenges students experienced. The survey also elicited information about program and student characteristics. Results indicate several challenges related to financial support, student engagement, student housing, and helping students manage family and personal issues. This information created the foundation for a discussion about implications for future research, programs, practice, and policy related to foster care alumni in higher education.

The Grip of Trauma: How Trauma Disrupts the Academic Aspirations of Foster Youth

Brenda M. Morton
United States
2018

The academic challenges foster youth encounter during their P-12 education have been widely reported. Yet, despite these challenges, the majority of foster youth desire postsecondary education. What is less known is the reason why so few foster youth alumni who desire a four-year college degree, achieve this goal. For the participants in this four-year longitudinal study, maltreatment, resulting in foster care placement, and the ensuing exposure to the foster care system, resulted in trauma histories and mental health diagnoses. Anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were the most common diagnosis. The participants shared the ways in which these mental health challenges manifested throughout their college education. Of those in the study, almost half successfully graduated from college, a third dropped out, and only two remain enrolled. This study provides a unique and critical insight into the experiences of foster youth, enrolled in a four-year university, by sharing their stories.

The Potential Educational Benefits of Extending Foster Care to Young Adults: Findings from a Natural Experiment

Mark E. Courtney, Jennifer L. Hook
United States
2017

Research has demonstrated the employment and earnings benefits accompanying educational attainment, and the relatively poor educational attainment and economic well-being of young people who transition to adulthood from foster care. Policymakers’ concern over these poor outcomes has long been reflected in U.S. child welfare policy, most recently in the provisions of the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success Act allowing states to claim federal reimbursement for extending foster care from age 18 to age 21. While the policy of allowing youth to remain in foster care past age 18 has promise as a strategy for helping them continue their education, empirical evidence of its impact is lacking. Using data from a longitudinal study of youth (n = 732) who transitioned to adulthood from foster care, this study takes advantage of between-state policy variation in the age at which youth are required to leave care to assess the relationship between extended foster care and educational attainment at age 26. Distinguishing between not having obtained a high school diploma or GED, having only a high school diploma or GED, and having obtained at least one year of college, each additional year in care is associated with a 46% increase in the estimated odds that former foster youth will progress to the next level of educational attainment, controlling for a range of youth characteristics measured at ages 17–18. Background characteristics including youth’s gender, race, employment, parenting, educational performance and aspirations, and indicators of behavioral health problems are also associated with educational attainment in early adulthood.

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Barriers to Academic Achievement for Foster Youth: The Story Behind the Statistics

Brenda M. Morton
United States
2015

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of former and current foster youth about the barriers they encountered during their K-12 education, and to learn how they overcame these obstacles and achieved academic success. The study included in-depth interviews of 11 participants, all of whom were current or former foster youth who were enrolled or had plans to enroll in a community college or 4-year university. The results of this study indicated that previously identified barriers to academic achievement were true for this group of participants, but that these topics or themes represented the effects of the deeper issues of anger, abuse, and disempowerment. This anger, abuse, and disempowerment touched every aspect of their lives, resulting in high mobility, Individualized Education Plans for emotional/behavioral issues, and difficulty transitioning from care to independence.

The Impact of Placing Adolescent Males in Foster Care on Education, Income Assistance, and Convictions

William P. Warburton, Rebecca N. Warburton, Arthur Sweetman, Clyde Hertzman
Canada
2018

Understanding the causal impacts of taking at-risk youth into government care is part of the evidence base for policy. Two sources of exogenous variation affecting alternative subsets of the at-risk population provide causal impacts interpreted as local average treatment effects. Placing 16- to 18-year-old males into care decreases or delays high school graduation, increases income assistance receipt, and has alternative effects on criminal convictions depending upon the instrument employed. This suggests that asking whether more or fewer children should be taken into care is insufficient; it also matters which, and how, children are taken into care.

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“I am a Voyager”: From Aspirations to Belonging

Kim Snow
Canada
2013

The Voyager Project is a social innovation strategy that unfolded over a five-year period to redress educational disruption and disadvantage faced by children in State care. This article describes a demonstration project aimed at identifying and attempting to alleviate obstacles faced by Toronto care leavers. The need for educational intervention on behalf of this population is explained and the lessons learned from such an undertaking are described. A refocusing of practice efforts to support interconnectedness and interdependence is indicated. Investment in supporting youth in care having opportunities for network bridging is a promising approach to improve outcomes.

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The Case for Enhanced Educational Supports for Children in Public Care: An Integrative Literature Review of the Educational Pathway of Children in Care

Kim Snow
Canada
2009

For many years, the adult outcomes of young people who have grown up in foster care have been an object of broad concern. Numerous studies show that young adults who were former foster children lagged behind their community peers on a number of socioeconomic indicators. Educational attainment is seen as a key developmental outcome and one that is highly associated with positive adult adjustment. Most young people today undertake a gradual process of becoming independent, but this emancipation process is very different and often traumatic for young people who age out of child protection care. This review considers the published literature that explores the educational and associated outcomes of children who leave the care of child protective services.

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In the Media (News and Magazines)

Employment Outcomes

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

How Employment Programs Can Support Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care. Formative Evaluation Findings of Two Employment Programs

Jiffy Lansing, Hannah Daly, Michael Pergamit,
USA
2021

Learning how to succeed in the world of work during the transition to adulthood is a universal need, and young people aging out of foster care are no exception. But research consistently finds that compared with other young people, those aging out of foster care have less stable employment, work fewer hours and earn lower wages as they enter adulthood (Courtney et al. 2001; Hook and Courtney 2011; Dworsky 2005; Goerge et al. 2002), while often having greater demands to support themselves financially (Berzin et. al 2011; Dworsky, Napolitano, and Courtney 2013; Havlicek, Garcia, and Smith 2013; Keller et al. 2010; Pecora et al. 2003; Dworsky and Gitlow 2017). This report examines two employment programs that focus explicitly on young people transitioning to adulthood from foster care and purposefully address this population’s unique experiences and needs.

Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care Through Their Middle Twenties

Urban Institute, University of California Berkley, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
USA
2008

Studies of former foster youth who age out of care find that these youth generally experience high unemployment, unstable employment patterns, and earn very low incomes in the period between ages 18 and 21 (Cook, 1991; Courtney et al., 2001; Dworsky and Courtney, 2001; Goerge, Bilaver, Lee, Needell, Brookhart and Jackman, 2002). The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) requested this study to examine employment and earnings outcomes for youth, through their mid-twenties, who age out of foster care. The key question and focus of the study is whether foster youth catch up or continue to experience less employment and significantly lower earnings than their peers even into their mid-twenties.

Employment Outcomes for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

Robert M. George, Lucy Bilaver, Barbara Needell, Alan Brookhart, William Jackman
USA
2002

The purpose of this report is to provide information on the employment outcomes of children exiting foster care near their eighteenth birthdays in California, Illinois, and South Carolina during the mid-1990s. We report when they begin to have earnings, in how many quarters over a 13-quarter time period they had earned income, and the amount of earned income they received over that time period. We compare these outcomes to those for youth who were reunified with their parents prior to their eighteenth birthday and to low-income youth.

Academic Articles

The Role of Placement Instability on Employment and Educational Outcomes Among Adolescents Leaving Care

Martin Goyette, Alexandre Blanchet, Tonino Esposito, Ashleigh Delaye
Canada
2021

Placement instability negatively impacts the lives of youth placed in out-of-home care, and research on the topic indicates that it is related to negative long-term outcomes for youth in care. This study uses information gathered from two waves of interviews conducted with a representative sample of 1136 Quebec youths who were first met at around 16 years of age when they were still in out of home placement, and at around age 18 when most of them had left placement. The youths’ associated administrative child welfare data were also used to examine the relationships between placement instability, education outcomes, and occupational status. We find that youth who experience more placement instability have a much higher probability of dropping out of school early, and not to be acquiring work experience. Our results also indicated that these youths have a much lower probability to receive a high school degree.

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A Multi-Level Analysis of the Effects of Independent Living Programs on Educational Attainment, Employment, and Housing Outcomes of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

Chun Liu
USA
2020

Youth aging out of foster care system normally face multiple disadvantages in terms of educational attainment, employment, housing, financial stability, and life skills compared with children in the general population. About two-thirds of eligible youth in care receive Independent Living Programs (ILPs), which are designed to support youth and ensure a successful transition to adulthood. The objective of this paper is to examine whether ILPs are effectively promoting better outcomes (e.g., educational attainment, employment, housing) for youth aging out of foster care. Using data from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), this study used Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models (HGLM) to investigate how different services from ILPs impact the educational attainment, employment, and homelessness of youth aging out of foster care across all 50 states in the United States. The study sample included youth in foster care from a FY 2014 cohort (N = 5633) on Wave 3 at age 21. Controlling for all the covariates, youth who received post-secondary educational support, budget and financial management, and financial assistance for education were more likely to achieve higher educational attainment. Youth who received post-secondary educational support and supervised independent living were more likely to get employed. The results indicated that certain types of ILPs services were associated with positive outcomes in terms of education, employment and housing. Post-secondary educational support service was found to be the most effective type of service for improving all the outcomes. The findings suggest the importance of providing ILPs to youth aging out of foster care. In addition, variation in service delivery and implementation fidelity across states must be taken into consideration.

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Making the Transition: How Asset Building Services Can Promote Positive Adult Outcomes for Foster Youth

Melanie L. Nadon
USA
2020

Foster youth in the U.S. often face a multitude of adverse outcomes, including low educational attainment, elevated rates of adult poverty, and disproportionately high levels of adult homelessness. One newer area of social policy research and advocacy, asset building, may help explain some of these disparities. Foster youth face several barriers to asset building. For example, many youth have several placements during their stay in care, resulting in youth receiving inconsistent schooling, mentoring, and support, and facing limited opportunities to work, save money, or build academic and professional networks. This paper examines the frequency with which transition-age foster youth receive asset building services and whether the youth who receive services experience improved outcomes compared to those who do not. Analyzing data from the National Youth in Transition Database and using a Propensity Score Matching methodology, this study finds that youth receiving Budgeting and Financial Education Services and Post-Secondary Education Services experience significantly improved outcomes, including reduced likelihood of homelessness and increased likelihood of employment and educational enrollment. However, only 29% of youth receive Budgeting and Financial Education Services, and only 19% of youth receive Post-Secondary Education Services. Service receipt also covaries with demographics, including race/ethnicity and education level. These findings have noteworthy implications for both policy and practice as asset building for foster youth is a potentially promising realm for public service expansion.

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Does Education Pay for Youth Formerly in Foster Care? Comparison of Employment Outcomes with a National Sample

Nathanael J. Okpych, Mark E. Courtney
USA
2014

Each year tens of millions of federal dollars are invested to promote secondary and postsecondary educational attainment among older youth in foster care. Despite the presumption that this is a sound investment, as indicated by copious research from studies of the general U.S. population, research examining the payoff among youth transitioning to adulthood from state care has been sparse. In the present study, we analyze the relationship between educational attainment and employment outcomes among youth exiting care. Drawing on data from a large, multi-state study of youth transitioning from foster care, findings indicate that increased education, and particularly degree completion, is associated with greater earnings and lower employment rates. Compared to young adults matched on educational attainment from a nationally representative study, youth formerly in foster care earn about half and the employment rate is 20 points lower. However, increased levels of education have larger benefits for youth who exited care than youth from the general population, and at higher levels of attainment the two groups have similar employment rates and earnings gaps become less pronounced. Among youth formerly in care, results from regression analyses indicate that, compared to individuals with no high school credential, a GED or certificate of completion predicts no benefits in earnings or likelihood of being employed; a diploma predicts an earnings benefit; and some college, a two-year degree, and a four-year degree or greater predict large benefits in earnings and likelihood of employment. We conclude by briefly discussing implications for policy, practice, and future research.

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Former Foster Youth: Employment Outcomes Up to Age 30

C. Joy Stewart, Hye-Chung Kum, Richard P. Barth, Dean F. Duncan
USA
2014

A youth’s departure from home marks the beginning of adulthood. Studies of former foster youth who aged out of care showed that these youth generally had poor employment outcomes in the period between ages 18 and 21. Using linked child welfare, wage and public assistance administrative data from three states (California, Minnesota and North Carolina), we investigated whether or not age-out youth continue to experience less employment and significantly lower earnings compared to their peers even into their mid-twenties in all three states and through the late twenties in North Carolina. The current study is the first to follow employment outcomes for age-out youth longitudinally up to age 30. We also assessed the significance of demographic, placement history and other factors on the employment and earnings of youth who aged out of foster care.

Study findings showed that low rates of employment and earnings persisted for age-out youth compared to the low-income and national samples through age 24 in all three states and age 30 for North Carolina. Further, we found that work experience prior to age 18 improved employment outcomes in the mid to late twenties in all three states and longer stays in care improved employment outcomes in two of the study states. The primary implication of the study is that former foster youth need assistance well into adulthood. Federal and state initiatives have focused on extending foster care to age 21. However, our findings suggest that these youth continue to struggle even up to age 30.

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Effective Services for Improving Education and Employment Outcomes for Children and Alumni of Foster Care Service: Correlates and Educational and Employment Outcomes

Burt S. Marnow, Amy Buck, Kirk O’Brien, Peter Pecora, Mel Ling Ellis, Eric Steiner
USA
2013

Outcomes for youth from foster care have been found to be poor. The education and employment outcomes of youth and alumni of foster care served by transition programmes located in five major US cities were examined. Data were collected by case managers and reported to evaluators quarterly on 1058 youth from foster care for over 2 years. Job preparation, transportation, child care, education support services and life skills were the most common services provided to youth. During the 2-year study period, 35% of participants obtained employment, 23% obtained a General Education Development or diploma, and 17% enrolled in post-secondary education. It was found that the longer the youth were enrolled, the more education and employment outcomes they achieved. Further, job preparation and income support services were associated significantly with achieving any positive education or employment outcome. Results indicated that certain services provided over an extended period of time can improve outcomes for youth placed in foster care. For youth to achieve positive outcomes as they transition to adulthood, additional services are necessary. Other implications are discussed.

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Employment Outcomes of Former Foster Youth as Young Adults: The Importance of Human, Personal, and Social Capital

Jennifer L. Hook, Mark E. Courtney
USA
2011

In spite of a prevailing policy focus, little is known about the employment outcomes of former foster youth during early adulthood and the factors associated with those outcomes. We explore how former foster youth who aged out of care in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa are faring in the labor market at age 24 and what explains variability in employment and wages for these youth. We utilize multilevel models to analyze youth’s employment using four waves of the Midwest Study. Our findings point to a critical need to better understand and address barriers to education, causes of substantial racial disparities, and characteristics of family foster homes that facilitate youths’ employment. We find that youth who remain in care past age 18 attain higher educational credentials which translate into better employment outcomes. This research also highlights the need for policies directed at current and former foster youth who become early parents.

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Educational and Employment Outcomes of Adults Formerly Placed in Foster Care: Results from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

Peter J. Pecora, Ronald C. Kessler, Kirk O’Brien, Catherine Roller White, Jason Williams, Eva Hiripi, Diana English, James White, Mary Anne Herrick
USA
2006

This study evaluated the intermediate and long-term effects of family foster care on adult functioning using a sample of 659 young adults from two public and one private child welfare agencies, case record reviews, structured interviews, and a survey response rate of 76%. Foster care alumni completed high school at a rate comparable to the general population, but a disproportionately high number of them completed high school via a GED. Alumni completion rates for postsecondary education were low. Consequently, many alumni were in fragile economic situations: one-third of the alumni had household incomes at or below the poverty level, one-third had no health insurance, and more than one in five experienced homelessness after leaving foster care. Two foster care experience areas were estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes in the Education outcome domain: positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications), and having broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care). For the Employment and Finances outcome domain, receiving broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care) was estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes.

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Books

Health Outcomes

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

Academic Articles

Identifying gaps in training on sexual health for caregivers of adolescents in foster care

Julia Brasileiro, Laura Widman, Sunshine Spiva, & Kate Norwalk
USA
2021

Youth in foster care are a vulnerable group of adolescents that experience worse sexual health outcomes, including higher rates of STIs, HIV, and early and repeat pregnancy, compared to youth not in foster care. Caregivers of youth in foster care may play a critical role in improving the sexual health of youth in their care. However, many caregivers of youth in foster care do not talk to youth about sexual health, and few studies have directly asked caregivers about the trainings they may need to provide better sex education to youth. This exploratory study examined the training needs of caregivers of youth in foster care. Participants were a state-wide sample of 347 caregivers of youth in foster care in North Carolina, United States, who completed an online survey that asked about training needs. Almost half (49.0%) of participants state that they do not feel fully prepared to parent youth in foster care. Seventy-two percent of participants indicated they would like to receive more training on at least one of the three topics relevant to adolescent relationships and sexual health. By topic, the percentage of participants who desired more information included: peer pressure and friendships (48.1%); sexuality and sexual risk reduction (e.g. healthy relationships, pregnancy, STIs) (43.8%); and puberty and physical development (40.3%). Another area that most participants expressed a desire for more training was adolescent technology use (56.2%) – which is relevant to adolescent relationships and sexuality given a rise in the use of technology-based platforms to meet relationship partners, look at pornography, and share sexual messages and photos. Many caregivers desire additional training on how to engage with youth about sexuality and sexual risk reduction. Training caregivers of youth in foster care may be an effective strategy for improving the sexual health outcomes of this vulnerable population of youth.

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Shifting from Receiver to Provider: Aging Out of Semi-Institutional Child Welfare Settings with Serious Mental Health Diagnoses

Vanessa V. Klodnick, Rebecca P. Johnson, Cory Morris, Deborah A. Cohen, Beth Sapiro, Ava Schneider, Marc A. Fagan
USA
2021

Youth who age out of group homes and transitional living programs with serious mental health needs can abruptly lose critical supports, including housing and mental health treatment access. Little is known about how these particularly vulnerable youth navigate these large shifts in support. Twenty youth diagnosed with serious mental health conditions completed three in-depth interviews (within four-months of planned emancipation and at six- and 12-months post-emancipation). Brief monthly check-ins prevented attrition. Participants transitioned from a receiver/complier role in a mental health treatment context pre-emancipation to a provider/exchanger role in a poverty context post-emancipation. Independence was short-lived post-emancipation; temporary emancipation funds and disability benefits provided a brief cushion. Participants were unprepared for navigation of mutual social support exchanges. Child welfare providers who aim to prepare youth for independence post-emancipation must better understand the social context youth age into, as well as youth’s desired and required resource exchanges.

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Experience of Child Welfare Services and Long-Term Adult Mental Health Outcomes

Sarah McKenna, Michael Donnelly, Ifeoma N. Onyeka, Dermot O’Reilly, Aideen Maguire
United Kingdom
2021

Purpose: This is the first comprehensive review of empirical research that investigated the association between receipt of child welfare services and adult mental health outcomes. The review summarised the results of studies about mental health outcomes of adults with a history of child welfare involvement.

Methods: A scoping review methodology was used to search five electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, IBSS, Social Policy and Practice). Studies were included if they examined any child welfare exposure (including receipt of services while remaining at home/being placed in care) and adult mental health status.

Results: In total 4591 records were retrieved, of which 55 met the eligibility criteria. Overall, receipt of child welfare services was associated with an increased risk of adult mental ill-health, suicide attempt and completed suicide. Results regarding potential moderating factors, such as gender and care-related experiences, were mixed. Relatively few studies investigated the reasons for requiring child welfare services, the experience of abuse or neglect or the adult outcomes of child welfare service users who remained in their own homes. Mental ill-health was defined and measured heterogeneously and details about the nature and type of welfare service utilisation were lacking.

Conclusion: There is a need for detailed, longitudinal studies to better understand the relative contribution of pre-existing adversity versus experiences during and after exposure to child welfare services on adult mental health outcomes. More standardised measures of mental ill-health and greater detail from authors on specific care exposure are also needed.

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Comparing Outcomes of Children and Youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in the Child Welfare System to Those in Other Living Situations in Canada: Results from the Canadian National FASD Database

Jessica Burns, Dorothy E. Badry, Kelly D. Harding, Nicole Roberts, Kathy Unsworth and Jocelyn L. Cook
Canada
2020

Aims: The current study aimed to explore differences in adverse outcomes between youth and adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) living in child welfare care (i.e., foster care or group home) with those living with their biological parent(s) or with adoptive or other family member(s) in Canada.

Methods: Data gathered from the Canadian National FASD Database were used for analysis. A total of 665 youth and adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of FASD under the age of 18 living in child welfare care, with biological, adoptive or other family members, were included in the sample. Key areas examined included living situation, legal problems, experience of sexual or physical abuse, mental health (anxiety, conduct disorder, mood disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder) and suicidal ideation. Descriptive statistics and chi-square comparisons were utilized to explore these differences.

Results: Results revealed a significantly higher rate of reported sexual and physical abuse among individuals in child welfare care compared with those living with biological parents or with adoptive or other family member(s). Rates of difficulty with the law were also higher among those in child welfare care compared with adoptive/ other family members. Conversely, the rate of mood disorders was significantly higher among those living with adoptive/other family members compared with child welfare care. Results highlight similar rates of reported suicidal ideation/attempts across all living situations, as well as mental health concerns.

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The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Sexual Well-Being Among Youth Formerly in the Foster Care System

Richard A. Brandon-Friedman, J. Dennis Fortenberry
USA
2019

This study evaluates the impact of broad and singular measures of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and severity of sexual abuse on sexual well-being among youth formerly in the foster care system (YFFC). Divorce, alcohol/drug use within the home, the presence of mental illness or a family member suicide attempt, and sexual abuse severity increased odds of negative sexual outcomes and predicted lower sexual well-being. Overall ACE levels negative impacted outcomes, but positively impacted sexual well-being. Research must move beyond summative ACE measures to examine impact of types of ACEs and sexual abuse severity on sexual well- being and sexual health outcomes for YFFC.

The Relationship Between Child Protection Contact and Mental Health Outcomes Among Canadian Adults With a Child Abuse History

Tracie O. Afifi, Jill McTavish, Sarah Turner, Harriet L. MacMillan, C. Nadine Wathen
Canada
2018

Despite being a primary response to child abuse, it is currently unknown whether contact with child protection services (CPS) does more good than harm. The aim of the current study was to examine whether contact with CPS is associated with improved mental health outcomes among adult respondents who reported experiencing child abuse, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and abuse severity. The data were drawn from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health (CCHS-2012), which used a multistage stratified cluster design (household-level response rate = 79.8%). Included in this study were individuals aged 18 years and older living in the 10 Canadian provinces (N = 23,395). Child abuse included physical abuse, sexual abuse, and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). Mental health outcomes included lifetime mental disorders, lifetime and past year suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts, and current psychological well-being and functioning and distress. All models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors and severity of child abuse. For the majority of outcomes, there were no statistically significant differences between adults with a child abuse history who had CPS contact compared to those without CPS contact. However, those with CPS contact were more likely to report lifetime suicide attempts. These findings suggest that CPS contact is not associated with improved mental health outcomes. Implications are discussed.

Examining the Association Between Suicidal Behaviours and Referral for Mental Health Services Among Children Involved in the Child Welfare System in Ontario, Canada

Philip Baiden, Barbara Fallon
Ontario
2018

Although various studies have investigated factors associated with mental health service utilization, few studies have examined factors associated with referral for mental health services among maltreated children. The objective of this study was to examine the association between suicidal thoughts and self-harming behavior and referral for mental health services among children involved in the Child Welfare System in Ontario, Canada. Data for this study were obtained from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2013. An estimate 57,798 child maltreatment investigations was analyzed using binary logistic regression with referral for mental health service as the outcome variable. Of the 57,798 cases, 4709 (8.1%), were referred for mental health services. More than seven out of ten maltreated children who engaged in self-harming behavior and two out of three maltreated children who expressed suicidal thoughts were not referred for mental health services. In the multivariate logistic regression model, children who expressed suicidal thoughts had 2.39 times higher odds of being referred for mental health services compared to children with no suicidal thoughts (AOR = 2.39, 99% C.I. 2.05–2.77) and children who engaged in self-harming behavior had 1.44 times higher odds of being referred for mental health services compared to children who did not engage in self-harming behavior (AOR = 1.44, 99% C.I. 1.24–1.67), both after controlling for child demographic characteristics, maltreatment characteristics, and child functioning concerns. Given that referral is the initial step towards mental health service utilization, it is important that child welfare workers receive the necessary training so as to carefully assess and refer children in care who expressed suicidal thoughts or engaged in self-harming behavior for appropriate mental health services. The paper discusses the results and their implications for child welfare policy and practice.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Young Adult Health Outcomes Among Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

Rebecca Rebbe, Paula S. Nurius, Mark E. Courtney, Kym R. Ahrens
USA
2018

Objective: Former youth in foster care (YFC) are at greater risk of chronic health conditions than their peers. Although research in general population samples has shown a dose-response relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adult health outcomes, few studies have conducted similar analyses in highly stress-exposed populations such as YFC. In this study we used person-centered latent class analysis methods to examine the relationship between different profiles of ACE exposures and divergent health trajectories among this high-risk population.

Methods: Data are from longitudinal research that followed transition-age YFC from age 17 to 26 (N = 732). Using 3 subgroups previously identified by their ACEs histories-complex, environmental, and lower adversity groups-we applied group mean statistics to test for differences between the groups for physical and sexual health outcomes in young adulthood.

Results: In contrast to previous research that showed that the environmental group was at the highest risk of criminal behavior outcomes, for most of the physical and sexual health risk outcomes evaluated in this study, the complex adversity group had the highest risk.

Conclusions: This study shows that there are subgroups of YFC, which each have a distinct profile of risk in young adulthood, with the complex group being at highest risk of the physical and sexual health risk outcomes evaluated. Findings strongly suggest the need for targeted strategies to promote screening for ACEs and chronic health conditions, linkage to adult health care, and continuity of care for adolescents and young adults in foster care to offset these trajectories.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Children Placed in and Adopted From Foster Care: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey

Kristin Turney, Christopher Wildeman
USA
2017

Despite good reason to believe that children in foster care are disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), relatively little research considers exposure to ACEs among this group of vulnerable children. In this article, we use data from the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized children ages 0–17 in the United States, to estimate the association between foster care placement and exposure to an array of ACEs. In adjusted logistic regression models, we find that children placed in foster care or adopted from foster care, compared to their counterparts, were more likely to experience parental divorce or separation, parental death, parental incarceration, parental abuse, violence exposure, household member mental illness, and household member substance abuse. These children were also more likely to experience ACEs than children across different thresholds of socioeconomic disadvantage (e.g., children in households with incomes below the poverty line) and across different family structures (e.g., children in single-mother families). These results advance our understanding of how children in foster care, an already vulnerable population, are disproportionately exposed to ACEs. This exposure, given the link between ACEs and health, may have implications for children’s health and wellbeing throughout the life course.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: A Latent Class Analysis

Rebecca Rebbe, Paula S. Nurius, Kym R. Ahrens, Mark E. Courtney
USA
2017

Research has demonstrated that youth who age out, or emancipate, from foster care face deleterious outcomes across a variety of domains in early adulthood. This article builds on this knowledge base by investigating the role of adverse childhood experience accumulation and composition on these outcomes. A latent class analysis was performed to identify three subgroups: Complex Adversity, Environmental Adversity, and Lower Adversity. Differences are found amongst the classes in terms of young adult outcomes in terms of socio-economic outcomes, psychosocial problems, and criminal behaviors. The results indicate that not only does the accumulation of adversity matter, but so does the composition of the adversity. These results have implications for policymakers, the numerous service providers and systems that interact with foster youth, and for future research.

Mental and Physical Health of Children in Foster Care

Kristin Turney, Christopher Wildeman
USA
2016

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Each year, nearly 1% of US children spend time in foster care, with 6% of US children placed in foster care at least once between their birth and 18th birthday. Although a large literature considers the consequences of foster care placement for children’s wellbeing, no study has used a nationally representative sample of US children to compare the mental and physical health of children placed in foster care to the health of children not placed in foster care.

METHODS: We used data from the 2011–2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, a nationally representative sample of noninstitutionalized children in the United States, and logistic regression models to compare parent-reported mental and physical health outcomes of children placed in foster care to outcomes of children not placed in foster care, children adopted from foster care, children across specific family types (eg, single-mother households), and children in economically disadvantaged families.

RESULTS: We find that children in foster care are in poor mental and physical health relative to children in the general population, children across specific family types, and children in economically disadvantaged families. Some differences are explained by adjusting for children’s demographic characteristics, and nearly all differences are explained by also adjusting for the current home environment. Additionally, children adopted from foster care, compared with children in foster care, have significantly higher odds of having some health problems.

CONCLUSIONS: Children in foster care are a vulnerable population in poor health, partially as a result of their early life circumstances.

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Developmental Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Current Symptoms and Impairment in Youth Referred for Trauma-Specific Services

Damion J. Grasso, Carly B. Dierkhising, Christopher E. Branson, Julian D. Ford, Robert Lee
USA
2016

By the time children reach adolescence, most have experienced at least one type of severe adversity and many have been exposed to multiple types. However, whether patterns of adverse childhood experiences are consistent or change across developmental epochs in childhood is not known. Retrospective reports of adverse potentially traumatic childhood experiences in 3 distinct developmental epochs (early childhood, 0- to 5-years-old; middle childhood, 6- to 12-years-old; and adolescence, 13- to 18-years-old) were obtained from adolescents (N = 3485) referred to providers in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) for trauma-focused assessment and treatment. Results from latent class analysis (LCA) revealed increasingly complex patterns of adverse/traumatic experiences in middle childhood and adolescence compared to early childhood. Depending upon the specific developmental epoch assessed, different patterns of adverse/traumatic experiences were associated with gender and with adolescent psychopathology (e.g., internalizing/externalizing behavior problems), and juvenile justice involvement. A multiply exposed subgroup that had severe problems in adolescence was evident in each of the 3 epochs, but their specific types of adverse/traumatic experiences differed depending upon the developmental epoch. Implications for research and clinical practice are identified.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma Informed Care: The Future of Health Care

Resmiye Oral, Marizen Ramirez, Carol Coohey, Stephanie Nakada, Amy Walz, Angela Kuntz, Jenna Benoit, Corinne Peek-Asa
USA
2016

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are related to short- and long-term negative physical and mental health consequences among children and adults. Studies of the last three decades on ACEs and traumatic stress have emphasized their impact and the importance of preventing and addressing trauma across all service systems utilizing universal systemic approaches. Current developments on the implementation of trauma informed care (TIC) in a variety of service systems call for the surveillance of trauma, resiliency, functional capacity, and health impact of ACEs. Despite such efforts in adult medical care, early identification of childhood trauma in children still remains a significant public health need. This article reviews childhood adversity and traumatic toxic stress, presents epidemiologic data on the prevalence of ACEs and their physical and mental health impacts, and discusses intervention modalities for prevention.

Adverse Chilldhood Experiences and Psychosocial Well-Being of Women Who Were in Foster Care as Children

Delilah Bruskas, Dale H. Tessin
USA
2013

Background and Objective: Research has shown that many children in foster care later have psychosocial problems as adults; this is often attributed to cumulative adversities and a lack of supportive caregivers. The risk factors associated with foster care, such as maternal separation and multiple placements, often counteract many protective factors that can ameliorate the effects of childhood adversities. This study assessed the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and psychosocial well-being in women who were in foster care as children.

Methods: A total of 101 women aged 18–71 years (mean, 36.83 [12.95] years) completed an anonymous online survey based on the 10-item ACE Questionnaire, the Sense of Coherence questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire.

Results: More than 56% of respondents were identified as experiencing current psychological distress. Sense of coherence scores (mean, 54.26 [15.35]) showed a significant inverse association with both General Health Questionnaire (mean, 14.83 [5.88]) and ACE (mean, 5.68 [2.90]) scores (r = −0.64 and −0.31, respectively) and 97% reported at least 1 ACE, 70% reported ≥ 5 and 33% reported ≥ 8. Linear regressions indicated that ACEs reported to occur before foster care were associated with lower levels of sense of coherence (8%) and higher levels of psychological distress (6%). Physical neglect and living in a dysfunctional household (parental loss, maternal abuse, or household member associated with substance abuse or prison) significantly decreased during foster care by 16 and 19 percentage points, respectively. Rates of emotional and physical abuse did not change.

Conclusion: The number of ACEs was associated with the level of psychological distress. Our findings suggest that children entering the foster care system are already vulnerable and at risk of experiencing ACEs during foster care and psychological distress during adulthood. Measures implemented to protect children must not cause more harm than good. Social services that preserve and strengthen the family unit and reduce the number of ACEs both before and during foster care are recommended. Social workers and clinicians who are trained to address and manage the unique developmental needs of children in foster care may help reduce the effects of ACEs and optimize developmental health.

Life Course Outcomes on Mental and Physical Health: The Impact of Foster Care on Adulthood

Cheryl Zlotnick, Tammy W. Tam, Laurie A. Soman
USA
2012

Objective: We compared the prevalence rates of mental health and physical health problems between adults with histories of childhood foster care and those without.

Methods: We used 2003–2005 California Health Interview Survey data (n=70456) to test our hypothesis that adults with childhood histories of foster care will report higher rates of mental and physical health concerns, including those that affect the ability to work, than will those without.

Results: Adults with a history of childhood foster care had more than twice the odds of receiving Social Security Disability Insurance because they were unable to work owing to mental or physical health problems for the past year, even after stratifying by age and adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Conclusions: Childhood foster care may be a sentinel event, signaling the increased risk of adulthood mental and physical health problems. A mental and physical health care delivery program that includes screening and treatment and ensures follow-up for children and youths who have had contact with the foster care system may decrease these individuals’ disproportionately high prevalence of poor outcomes throughout their adulthood.

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Renewal and Risk: The Dual Experience of Young Motherhood and Aging out of the Child Welfare System

Julia M. Pryce, Gina Miranda Samuels
USA
2010

This interpretive study examines how childhood history and the personal experience of being mothered impact the meaning attributed to motherhood among young mothers aging out of the child welfare system. Through the use of an interpretive approach, findings are derived from interviews with 15 females who reported an experience of pregnancy or parenting at the time of the interview. In the midst of the strain and challenge of motherhood, these young women report that motherhood has the potential to provide opportunities relevant to their own identity as well as to healing from their pasts. Findings aim to inform ways of understanding and responding to the unique and dual experience of mothering and aging out of the child welfare system.

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Comparing Developmental Outcomes for Children in Care Outcomes for Children in Care with Those for Other Children in Canada

Robert J. Flynn, Chantal Biro
Canada
1998

This study assessed the test±retest reliability and convergent validity of single items from the Assessment and Action Record (AAR), from Looking After Children (Ward, 1995). It also compared developmental outcomes of 43 children cared for by a Canadian child welfare agency and those of an approximate comparison group of 1,600 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (Statistics Canada, 1995). High and low reliability and validity were found for different AAR items. The children in care had worse outcomes than the comparison children on indicators of educational success and negative behaviour, but not on measures of identity, social and family relationships, or prosocial behaviour.

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Books

Housing and Homelessness

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

New Housing Models for Youth Transitioning Out of Care

CMHC Solutions Lab | WoodGreen | PARTISANS | Process
Canada
2021

The Roadmap Report is a culmination of WoodGreen’s CMHC Solutions Lab on Modelling Transitional Housing for Vulnerable Youth. Funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), in partnership with WoodGreen Community Services, PARTISANS, and PROCESS, this Solutions Lab aimed to develop a set of key architectural design principles and solutions that could inform future built-for-purpose transitional housing sites for youth who are homeless or at risk of being homeless, with a focus on youth aging out of the child welfare system.

Adopting a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research to explore potential solutions in social programming, architecture, and design, the culminating Roadmap Report provides a path forward for innovative approaches to innovative short, medium, and long-term housing models to support youth transitioning out of care.

Transition Supports to Prevent Homelessness for Youth Leaving Out-of-Home Care

Samantha Shewchuk, Stephen Gaetz, David French
Canada
2020

This report was produced as part of the Transition Supports to Prevent Homelessness for Youth Leaving Out-of-Home Care Study, conducted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and A Way Home, Canada. As part of the study, the research team conducted a review of the literature (N=137), profiled 275 national and international programs and policies, and interviewed 22 stakeholders (i.e., program providers, policymakers, advocates, and researchers) whose work focuses on supporting young people transitioning out of care. Captured within this report and its related supplemental files are the foundational components of promising practices and policies that exist across jurisdictions to support youths’ transitions out of care.

Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey

Kaitlin Schwan, Stephen Gaetz, Sean A. Kidd, Bill O’Grady
Canada
2016

The Without a Home study is the first pan-Canadian study of young people who experience homelessness. With 1,103 respondents from 47 different communities across 10 provinces and territories, this study’s sample size has enabled us to conduct detailed analyses and to draw important conclusions.

Without a Home demonstrates that with respect to youth homelessness, we are waiting much too long to intervene. In many jurisdictions, services for young people who experience homelessness are not available until they are 16 or even 18. The evidence presented here suggests that by that time, a lot of damage has already occurred.

Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness in Canada. A Proposal for Action

Naomi Nichols, Kaitlin Schwan, Stephen Gaetz, Melanie Redman, David French, Sean A. Kidd, Bill O’Grady
Canada
2017

With the release of Without a Home: The National Youth Homelessness Survey (2016), we now have robust national data on the links between youth homelessness and child welfare involvement. Without a Home, conducted by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness in partnership with A Way Home Canada, surveyed 1,103 youth experiencing homelessness across Canada. Youth in 42 different communities and nine of the 10 Canadian provinces, as well as Nunavut Territory, completed the self-report survey. The results provide the first national picture of youth homelessness in Canada.

Without a Home’s findings on child welfare involvement were striking. Almost sixty percent (57.8%) of homeless youth in Canada report involvement with the child welfare system at some point in their lives. In comparison, among the general population in Canada, roughly 0.3% of youth have child welfare involvement. This suggests that youth experiencing homelessness are 193 times more likely than youth in the general population to report involvement with the child welfare system.

The results of Without a Home indicate that young people who have been involved in the child welfare system are vulnerable to homelessness and housing insecurity. To address this important finding, we have proposed a number of evidence-based recommendations that reflect our commitment to human rights and equity. These recommendations are intended to provide better support for young people in care, and to ensure that they are able to successfully transition from care in ways that ensure housing stability, access to supports, and well-being. The recommendations are directed at the Government of Canada, provincial and territorial governments, and child protection services and workers. The content of the recommendations are drawn from and build upon a broad range of resources from Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario) and Europe (Scotland, FEANTSA).

All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness: Homelessness Prevention for Care Leavers,Prison Leavers, and Survivors of Domestic Violence

All-Party Parliamentary Group – Great Britain
United Kingdom
2017

Homelessness should be rare, brief and non-recurrent. In our first Parliamentary year we have developed strong cross-party support and provided a platform for homeless people to engage with Parliamentarians and inform the political dialogue surrounding homelessness. Alongside MPs and Peers, the APPGEH works with a wide range of homelessness organisations to enable the group to be fully informed on the debate and understand the diverse homeless population. Our goal from inception was to develop robust policy solutions to prevent and end homelessness.

Academic Articles

Nowhere to go: Housing pathways of college students with foster care and homelessness experience

Kim Skobba, Diann Moorman, David Meyers, Kenneth White, and Lori Tiller
2023

This study builds on previous research to understand longer term housing experi- ences in late adolescence and early adulthood for vulnerable college students. Using a biographical, qualitative method, we study high school and college housing and family circumstances for 27 students with homelessness or foster care experience enrolled in 4-year colleges in Georgia. We identified three different housing pathway types in high school—family homelessness, unaccompanied youth and foster care. Housing instability and frequent moves were common in high school among all hous- ing pathway types. In college, students who were able to find low or no-cost housing and those who identified a foster care pathway in high school achieved greater hous- ing stability. Others students experienced a continuation of housing instability that began in high school. Additional funding to cover the cost of on-campus housing would likely contribute to increased stability. Additional strategies, such as rental assistance programmes tailored for college students, may be needed to address hous- ing instability for vulnerable college students. More research on the unmet housing needs and the consequences of housing instability during college for homeless and foster youth is needed to further a housing policy agenda that focuses on practical solutions.

Risk and resilience factors for youth homelenssness in western countries: A systematic review

Rebecca E. Grattan, Valerie L. Tryon, Natalie Lara, Sonya E. Gabrielian, Joy Melnikow, & Tara A. Niendam
2021

Objectives:

The experience of homelessness for young people can affect social, emotional, and physical development, resulting in poorer physical and mental health outcomes. To reduce rates of youth homelessness, a better understanding of both risk and resilience is needed to inform future intervention development. This article presents a systematic review of published research reporting risk or resilience factors related to homelessness among young people in Western countries.

Methods:

After thorough examination for inclusion criteria, 665 abstracts of peer-reviewed quantitative studies of risk or resilience factors for homelessness among young people (ages 0–25) that included an adequate comparison group (e.g., not homeless) were selected. After abstract and full-text screening, 16 articles were reviewed. A primary prevention framework was used to create an explanatory model for the onset of homelessness using risk and resilience factors.

Results:

Common risk factors for youth homelessness included difficulties with family, mental health or substance use problems, a history of problem behaviors, a history of foster care, homelessness as a child, and running away. Common protective factors included a supportive family, a college education, and high socioeconomic status. Findings were integrated into a provisional developmental model of youth homelessness risk. Clinical implications of the model for service development are discussed, and a model for monitoring homelessness risk and resilience factors is proposed.

Conclusions:

Factors affecting homelessness risk among youths and adults differ, with family, foster care, and schooling playing a much more important role among youths. Findings highlight opportunities for youth homelessness prevention strategies and monitoring.

Predictors and Correlates of Unstable Housing Experiences Among a Child Welfare-Involved Sample

Janet U. Schneiderman, Andrea K. Kennedy, Theresa A. Granger, Sonya Negriff
USA
2020

The study examined whether youth demographics, family factors, and maltreatment type were related to unstable housing and whether unstable housing predicted delinquency and marijuana use. Participants included 216 child welfare-affiliated adolescents (mean age = 18.2 years). Youth with more lifetime residences were more likely to experience unstable housing although Latino youth (compared to White, Black, or multiethnic/biracial) were less likely to experience unstable housing. Unstable housing was associated with subsequent delinquency. Caregiver type (parent vs. relative/unrelated caregiver) was not related to unstable housing, thus homelessness prevention programs should include youth who remain with their parents and those with non-parent caregivers.

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Risk and Protective Factors Contributing to Homelessness Among Foster Care Youth: An Analysis of the National Youth in Transition Database

Peggy Kelly
USA
2020

Homelessness is a pervasive problem among youth aging out of the foster care system. Many of these youth exit the system without any concrete plans for their future and wind up suffering bouts of homelessness. Although a growing body of literature has begun to look at the factors that contribute to homelessness among this population, less has been written about the factors that guard against homelessness. Furthermore, most of the studies have been confined to a particular geographic area. Using data from the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD), combined with the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS), the present study provides an analysis of the risk and protective factors contributing to homelessness among a nationwide sample of foster care youth at age 21, 29% of whom had experienced homelessness. The findings indicate that the strongest protective factors against homelessness were having a connection to an adult and remaining in foster care until age 21. Other protective factors included having at least a high school education, being currently enrolled in school, and having a full-time job. On the other hand, the strongest risk factors contributing to homelessness were having been incarcerated, as well as having been referred for substance abuse. Other significant risk factors were having a runaway history, having received public food assistance, and being emotionally disturbed. Given these findings, child welfare agencies should make greater efforts to ensure that youth have an adult in their life whom they can trust and turn to for help, as well as encourage youth to remain in care until they are better prepared for life on their own.

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Predicting Homelessness Among Emerging Adults Aging Out of Foster Care

Melissa Ford Shah, Qinghua Liu, J. Mark Eddy, Susan Barkan, David Marshall, David Mancuso, Barbara Lucenko, Alice Huber
USA
2017

This study examines risk and protective factors associated with experiencing homelessness in the year after “aging out” of foster care. Using a state-level integrated administrative database, we identified 1,202 emerging adults in Washington State who exited foster care between July 2010 and June 2012. Initial bivariate analyses were conducted to assess the association between candidate predictive factors and an indicator of homelessness in a 12-month follow-up period. After deploying a stepwise regression process, the final logistic regression model included 15 predictive factors. Youth who were parents, who had recently experienced housing instability, or who were African American had approximately twice the odds of experiencing homelessness in the year after exiting foster care. In addition, youth who had experienced disrupted adoptions, had multiple foster care placements (especially in congregate care settings), or had been involved with the juvenile justice system were more likely to become homeless. In contrast, youth were less likely to experience homelessness if they had ever been placed with a relative while in foster care or had a high cumulative grade point average relative to their peers.

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Homelessness and Aging Out of Foster Care: A National Comparison of Child Welfare-Involved Adolescents

Patrick J. Fowler, Katherine E. Marcal, Jinjin Zhang, Orin Day, John Landsverk
USA
2017

The present study represents the first large-scale, prospective comparison to test whether aging out of foster care contributes to homelessness risk in emerging adulthood. A nationally representative sample of adolescents investigated by the child welfare system in 2008 to 2009 from the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being Study (NSCAW II) reported experiences of housing problems at 18- and 36-month follow-ups. Latent class analyses identified subtypes of housing problems, including literal homelessness, housing instability, and stable housing. Regressions predicted subgroup membership based on aging out experiences, receipt of foster care services, and youth and county characteristics. Youth who reunified after out-of-home placement in adolescence exhibited the lowest probability of literal homelessness, while youth who aged out experienced similar rates of literal homelessness as youth investigated by child welfare but never placed out of home. No differences existed between groups on prevalence of unstable housing. Exposure to independent living services and extended foster care did not relate with homelessness prevention. Findings emphasize the developmental importance of families in promoting housing stability in the transition to adulthood, while questioning child welfare current focus on preparing foster youth to live.

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A Systematic Review of Cognitive Functioning Among Young People Who Have Experienced Homelessness, Foster Care, or Poverty

Charlotte E. Fry, Kate Langley, Katherine H. Shelton
United Kingdom
2016

Young people who have experienced homelessness, foster care, or poverty are among the most disadvantaged in society. This review examines whether young people who have these experiences differ from their non-disadvantaged peers with respect to their cognitive skills and abilities, and whether cognitive profiles differ between these three groups. Three electronic databases were systematically searched for articles published between 1 January 1995 and 1 February 2015 on cognitive functioning among young people aged 15 to 24 years who have experienced homelessness, foster care, or poverty. Articles were screened using pre-determined inclusion criteria, then the data were extracted, and its quality assessed. A total of 31 studies were included. Compared to non-disadvantaged youth or published norms, cognitive performance was generally found to be impaired in young people who had experienced homelessness, foster care, or poverty. A common area of difficulty across all groups is working memory. General cognitive functioning, attention, and executive function deficits are shared by the homeless and poverty groups. Creativity emerges as a potential strength for homeless young people. The cognitive functioning of young people with experiences of impermanent housing and poverty has been relatively neglected and more research is needed to further establish cognitive profiles and replicate the findings reviewed here. As some aspects of cognitive functioning may show improvement with training, these could represent a target for intervention.

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Experiences and Needs of Homeless Youth with a History of Foster Care

Kimberly Bender, Jessica Yang, Kristin Ferguson, Sanna Thompson
USA
2015

Youth exiting the foster care system through emancipation are at an increased risk for homelessness and adverse social, health, and financial outcomes. However, because youth exiting foster care are difficult to locate once homeless, few studies have examined their needs and experiences on the streets. Quantitative interviews were conducted in a large multi-site pilot study of youth (N = 601) seeking homeless services in Denver (n = 201), Austin (n = 200) and Los Angeles (n = 200). Over one-third of the sample (n = 221) included youth who reported a history of foster care involvement. The study aimed to 1) describe youth with a history of foster care in terms of their homeless contexts (primary living situations, time homeless, peer substance use, transience, and victimization) and areas of need (education, income generation, mental health, and substance use); 2) determine how homeless youth with foster care history differ from their non-foster care homeless counterparts; and 3) identify factors associated with longer duration of homelessness among youth with a history of foster care. Findings suggest that youth with a history of foster care were generally living in precarious situations, characterized as dangerous and unstable, and they had significant needs in regards to education, income generation, mental health, and substance use treatment. Although few differences were observed between youth who reported a history of foster care and those who did not, foster youth reported greater childhood maltreatment and longer duration of homelessness. Foster care youth who reported greater transience and childhood physical neglect, as well as those who were living with relatives, friends, foster parents, or in facilities in the 6 months preceding the interview reported a longer duration of homelessness. Implications are discussed for child welfare and homeless youth service organizations regarding the unique needs of foster care youth who become homeless.

Factors Influencing Risk of Homelessness Among Youth in Transition from Foster Care in Oklahoma: Implications for Reforming Independent Living Services and Opportunities

Brandon L. Crawford, Jacqueline McDaniel, David Moxley, Zohre Salehezadeh, Alisa West Cahill
USA
2015

Research suggests that youth aging out of foster care may be at higher risk of experiencing homelessness than other youth. Among this already at-risk population there may be certain characteristics that further exacerbate the risk. This paper uses data collected from various local and state agencies to further examine significant predictors of homelessness among youth who have aged out of foster care.

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History of Foster Care Among Homeless Adults With Mental Illness in Vancouver, British Columbia: A Precursor to Trajectories of Risk

Michelle L. Patterson, Akm Moniruzzaman, Julia M. Somers
British Columbia
2015

Background: It is well documented that a disproportionate number of homeless adults have childhood histories of foster care placement(s). This study examines the relationship between foster care placement as a predictor of adult substance use disorders (including frequency, severity and type), mental illness, vocational functioning, service use and duration of homelessness among a sample of homeless adults with mental illness. We hypothesize that a history of foster care predicts earlier, more severe and more frequent substance use, multiple mental disorder diagnoses, discontinuous work history, and longer durations of homelessness.

Methods: This study was conducted using baseline data from two randomized controlled trials in Vancouver, British Columbia for participants who responded to a series of questions pertaining to out-of-home care at 12 months follow-up (n = 442). Primary outcomes included current mental disorders; substance use including type, frequency and severity; physical health; duration of homelessness; vocational functioning; and service use.

Results: In multivariable regression models, a history of foster care placement independently predicted incomplete high school, duration of homelessness, discontinuous work history, less severe types of mental illness, multiple mental disorders, early initiation of drug and/or alcohol use, and daily drug use.

Conclusions: This is the first Canadian study to investigate the relationship between a history of foster care and current substance use among homeless adults with mental illness, controlling for several other potential confounding factors. It is important to screen homeless youth who exit foster care for substance use, and to provide integrated treatment for concurrent disorders to homeless youth and adults who have both psychiatric and substance use problems.

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Housing and Social Support for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: State of the Research Literature and Directions for Future Inquiry

Susanna R. Curry, Laura S. Abrams
USA
2014

Youth who age out of the foster care system often experience a difficult transition to adulthood in several important domains, including housing. Although high rates of homelessness are well documented, scant research has examined how youth navigate housing and living arrangements in the immediate years following emancipation. In addition, little is known about the relationship between social support and housing stability for this population. In this paper, we argue that in policy and practice regarding emancipated foster youth there is a central tension between the goal of “self-sufficiency” and the practical need to maintain and create supportive social connections. We suggest that programs for emancipated youth could benefit from more research and policy attention on this tension and how it may play a role in housing outcomes. In building our argument, we first review the literature on housing and emancipated foster youth in the transition to adulthood period. Next, we discuss the body of research literature exploring the role and function of social support for youth who have aged out of care. We highlight how policies appear to favor the development of self-sufficiency for aged-out youth over the development of a social support network and suggest key directions for future research, policy and practice concerning emancipated foster youth and housing.

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Homelessness During the Transition from Foster Care to Adulthood

Amy Dworsky, Laura Napolitano, Mark Courtney
USA
2013

Objectives: We estimated the incidence of homelessness during the transition to adulthood and identified the risk and protective factors that predict homelessness during this transition.

Methods: Using data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, a longitudinal study of youths aging out of foster care in 3 Midwestern states, and a bounds approach, we estimated the cumulative percentage of youths who become homeless during the transition to adulthood. We also estimated a discrete time hazard model that predicted first reported episode of homelessness.

Results: Youths aging out of foster care are at high risk for becoming homeless during the transition to adulthood. Between 31% and 46% of our study participants had been homeless at least once by age 26 years. Running away while in foster care, greater placement instability, being male, having a history of physical abuse, engaging in more delinquent behaviors, and having symptoms of a mental health disorder were associated with an increase in the relative risk of becoming homeless.

Conclusions: Policy and practice changes are needed to reduce the risk that youths in foster care will become homeless after aging out.

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Homelessness and the Transition from Foster Care to Adulthood

Amy Dworsky, Mark E. Courtney
USA
2009

Prior research suggests that homelessness is a significant problem among young people aging out of foster care. However, these studies have not attempted to identify potential risk or protective factors that might affect the likelihood of becoming homeless during the transition to adulthood. This paper uses data from a longitudinal study to examine both the occurrence and predictors of homelessness among a sample of young people from three Midwestern states who recently aged out of foster care.

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Interdependence vs Independence

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

Family Finding Evaluations: A Summary of Recent Findings

Sharon Vandivere, Karin Malm
USA
2015

This brief reviews the results from 13 evaluations of Family Finding that have been released over the past two years. Overall, the evidence available from the recent evaluations is not sufficient to conclude that Family Finding improves youth outcomes above and beyond existing, traditional services. At the same time, the evidence is not sufficient to conclude that Family Finding does not improve outcomes.

We identify three hypotheses regarding the lack of consistently positive impacts, which are not mutually exclusive, and explore the implications of each: 1) Family Finding may not have been completely and consistently implemented, 2) study parameters may not have been sufficient to detect impacts, and 3) assumptions regarding how intervention activities and outputs will result in outcomes are flawed.

A Rigorous Evaluation of Family Finding in North Carolina

Karin Malm, Sharon Vandivere, Tiffany Allen, Sarah Catherine Williams, Amy McKlindon
USA
2014

Child Trends evaluated Family Finding services in nine North Carolina counties through a rigorous impact evaluation and an accompanying process study. The impact evaluation involved random assignment of eligible children to a treatment or control group. The treatment group received Family Finding services in addition to traditional child welfare services, whereas the control group received traditional child welfare services only. Eligible children were in foster care; were 10 or older at the time of referral; did not have a goal of reunification; and lacked an identified permanent placement. The accompanying process study examined program outputs, outcomes, and linkages between the project components and other contextual factors.

Family Finding for Children and Families New to Out-of-Home Care: A Rigorous Evaluation of Family Finding in San Francisco

Karin Malm, Tiffany Allen, Amy McKlindon, Sharon Vandivere
USA
2013

A rigorous evaluation was designed to examine the impact of Family Finding on these “front end” cases and an accompanying process study examined outputs and linkages between the program components and other contextual factors. Random assignment of cases began in September 2008 and ended in February 2011, comprising a 25-month total intake period. During this period, children were randomly assigned from a waitlist of eligible children recently detained by the court, i.e., removed from home, either to receive Family Finding services (the treatment group) or to receive “services as usual” (the control group) prior to the beginning of treatment. The evaluation included 239 children in total; 123 in the control group, and 116 children in the treatment group. The evaluation sought to investigate how Family Finding services impact the likelihood of achieving reunification, and of a child’s goal being changed to something other than reunification.

Piecing Together the Puzzle: Tips and Techniques for Effective Discovery in Family Finding

Tiffany Allen, Karin Malm, Sarah Catherine Williams, Raquel Ellis
USA
2011

The purpose of the family finding model is to provide child welfare practitioners with intensive relative search and engagement techniques to identify family and other close adults for children in foster care, and to involve them in developing and carrying out a plan for the emotional and legal permanency of a child. This brief examines the discovery component of the model (see description of Family Finding model on page 7) and identifies promising techniques and tools that family finding workers reported using to help facilitate the discovery of family members or other important people in the child’s life. This is the second brief in a series summarizing findings from Child Trends’ evaluations of the family finding model. The first family finding brief, Family Finding: Does Implementation Differ When Serving Different Child Welfare Populations?, can be found in the resources section, under Family Finding Model in General.

Promising Approaches in Child Welfare: Helping Connect Children and Youth in Foster Care to Permanent Family and Relationships Through Family Finding and Engagement

Children’s Defense Fund
USA
2010

30 Days to Family Study. Achieving Results for Children, Families, and Child Welfare

Foster to Adopt
USA

30 Days to Family® is an intense, short-term intervention developed by the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition to: 1) increase the number of children placed with relatives/kin at the time they enter the foster care system; and 2) ensure natural and community supports are in place to promote stability for the child. The program model features two major elements: family finding and family support interventions.

Opinion Pieces

Academic Articles

Not Independent Enough: Exploring the Tension Between Independence and Interdependence Among Former Foster Youth in Foster Care Who are Emerging Adults.

Kim Hokanson, Kate E. Golden, Erin Singer, Stephanie Cosner Berzin
USA
2020

A long-standing belief in the value of independence has led to an emphasis on self-sufficiency in our programming, policy, and practice responses toward youth aging out of the foster care system—an ideal that often is difficult for young people to achieve. However, a growing body of research on interdependence suggests that healthy connections to trusted adults may better help youth navigate the transition to adulthood. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 youth explored conceptualizations of independence in the context of emancipation. Using thematic content analysis, themes indicate contradictory and deterministic ideas about self-sufficiency and adulthood. Findings imply tensions between independence and a developmentally normative need for interdependence during the period of emerging adulthood.

Growing up Fast: Implications for Foster Youth When Independence and Early Adulthood Collide

Brenda M. Morton
USA
2017

Foster care alumni face overwhelming challenges as they transition from care to independence. Torn between their desire to be independent, yet acknowledging they need support, they struggle to find their footing. Adopting a survivor self-reliance mind-set, they set out to earn a bachelor’s degree on their own. As they struggle, they compare themselves to non-foster peers who, by enlarge, have a support system enabling them a prolonged entrance to adulthood, which provides a safety net. Without a safety net, and with a focus on independence, decisions youth from foster care make, result in few alumni earning a bachelor’s degree.

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Voices of Former Foster Youth: Supportive Relationships in the Transition to Adulthood

E. R. Singer, S. Berzin, K. Hokanson
USA
2013

As the adolescent development literature has recognized the importance of social supports in the transition to adulthood, child welfare research, policies, and programs have turned their attention to the relational needs of youth emancipating from the foster care system. This study builds on the extant literature on social support among transitioning foster care youth; it goes beyond the sole identification of relational networks, to explore how youth actually utilize their network members, and the overall quality of their support system. This study collects data from twenty qualitative interviews with foster youth, ages 18–21. We analyze the data using consensual qualitative research methods in order to develop core themes around shared youth experiences. We found that while foster youth did identify a wide network of both formal and informal supports during their transition to adulthood, there were “holes” in the form of support, especially appraisal and instrumental support, provided by informal network members. Additionally, an unrealistic perception of supportive and permanent relationships may be contributing to poor outcomes in emerging adulthood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

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Aging Out: Youths’ Perspectives on Foster Care and the Transition to Independence

Miranda J. Cunningham, Marcelo Diversi
USA
2012

Foster youth in the United States face significant barriers in a transition to independence which is markedly abrupt compared to the ‘emerging adulthood’ that is expected of most young adults. While many of the difficulties that foster youth face in this transition are known at the larger demographic level, first-person narratives of the process of ‘aging out’ of foster care are largely missing from academic literature. To date, most qualitative studies rely on methods that are not grounded in trust-based relationships between researchers and youth (e.g. hit-and-run focus groups, interviews conducted by research assistants unknown to youth, indirect assessment of youths’ emotional states). In an attempt to advance youths’ own narratives, we used critical ethnography to engage youth in sharing their perspectives on the process of ‘aging out’ of foster care. Youths expressed anxiety about their subjective experiences of ‘aging out’, including economic challenges and housing instability, loss of social support, and pressure to be self-reliant. Youths’ narratives during the early stages of transition from foster care provide insights for professionals, policy makers, and future research.

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Ambiguous Loss of Home: The Experience of Familial (im)Permanence Among Young Adults With Foster Care Backgrounds

G. M. Samuels
USA
2009

Achieving a stable family context for foster children—permanence—is the philosophy within which nearly all child welfare policy and practice is embedded. Although debates endure over defining permanence and the ideal pathways through which it should be achieved, this discourse rarely includes foster youth perspectives. This article presents findings from an interpretive study of 29 young adults who transitioned from foster care into adulthood without legal permanence. Findings extend ambiguous loss theory to conceptualize participants’ experiences as an ambiguous loss of home, highlighting three patterns in the strategies used to manage familial impermanence: (1) creating a self-defined permanence, (2) rejecting adoption—navigating multifamilial memberships and allegiances, and (3) building permanence after foster care. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are offered, including a shift toward a multisystemic framework of permanence attending to both legal and relational definitions of family among youth in foster care.

Independence or Interdependence: Rethinking the Transition from “Ward of the Court” to Adulthood

Jennifer Propp, Debora M. Ortega, Forest NewHeart
USA
2003

Youth who transition out of foster care are often overlooked and unprepared for a life outside of the child welfare system. As youth begin to grow up in the foster care system, they are encouraged to move toward the goal of self-sufficiency. This article examines the idea of self-sufficiency as it relates to youth transitioning from the foster care system and proposes a different approach to the state of transition, an approach called interdependent living. Through this examination, the authors suggest a way to reshape practice approaches by emphasizing the values of interdependence, connection, and collaboration. Together these values lead to an empowerment model of practice for youth who transition from foster care.

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Interdependence, Interaction, and Relationships

Caryl E. Rusbult, Paul A. M. Van Lange
USA, Netherlands
2003

Interdependence theory presents a logical analysis of the structure of interpersonal situations, offering a conceptual framework in which interdependence situations can be analyzed in terms of six dimensions. Specific situations present specific problems and opportunities, logically implying the relevance of specific motives and permitting their expression. Via the concept of transformation, the theory explains how interaction is shaped by broader considerations such as long-term goals and concern for a partner’s welfare. The theory illuminates our understanding of social-cognitive processes that are of longstanding interest to psychologists such as cognition and affect, attribution, and self-presentation. The theory also explains adaptation to repeatedly encountered interdependence patterns, as well as the embodiment of such adaptations in interpersonal dispositions, relationship-specific motives, and social norms.

The Child and the Family: Interdependence in Developmental Pathways

Kurt Kreppner
Germany
2000

This contribution focuses on the family as the major context for children’s development, it includes con- cepts of the family as an institution for the transmission of meaning on the one hand, and it formulates implications for new theoretical and methodological approaches in the field of family research on the other. The idea of transmission of a society’s meaning system via the family is discussed under the perspective that the socialization of children in the family provides a continuous basis for the aggregation of common knowledge over generations. The systems approach is taken as a promising model for dealing with the complex continuity and change issues during development. Data will be presented from two longitudinal studies, in which parent-child communication behavior was analyzed over time during two critical developmental periods, during the first two years after the birth of a second child and during the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Mentorship Models

Academic Articles

Informal Mentoring Among Foster Youth Entering Higher Education

Grace Growdy, Sean Hogan
USA
2021

Informal mentoring, naturally-occurring caring relationship with a non-parental adult, has been shown to promote positive outcomes for young people, including youth transitioning out of the foster care system. Although we often talk about mentoring as one homogenous experience, recent research has demonstrated there are important variations in who mentors are and what supports they offer. Using survey data provided on youths’ social networks, this study identified 378 informal mentoring relationships provided to 113 former and current foster youth preparing to enter a four-year university. Cluster analysis identified two primary types of mentoring relationships in accordance with previous literature: core and capital mentoring. Following the cluster analysis, type of mentoring relationship was examined across various types of support (instrumental, informational, and emotional support). Findings indicated core mentoring relationships were more predominantly associated with instrumental support, while capital mentoring related more closely with informational support. There were no significant differences between mentoring type and emotional support or youth-rated closeness to mentor. The implications for facilitating socio-emotional support for foster youth are discussed.

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A Positive Guiding Hand: A Qualitative Examination of Youth-Initiated Mentoring and the Promotion of Interdependence Among Foster Care Youth

Renée Spencer, Alison L. Drew, Grace Gowdy, John Paul Horn
USA
2018

This qualitative interview study examined experiences of youth-initiated mentoring relationships (YIM) among youth transitioning out of the foster care system. YIM is an innovative approach wherein programs work with youth to identify adults within their existing social networks to serve as their mentors in the formal program. Participants were 13 mentor-youth dyads involved in a pilot trial of YIM in a mid-western city. Youth and mentors completed one-time, in-depth individual interviews. Narrative thematic analysis of the interview data yielded the following major findings: (a) youth overwhelmingly reported having a strong or very strong relationship with their mentor, (b) these relationships offered a number of forms of social support to the youth (i.e., appraisal, companionship, emotional, informational, and instrumental), and (c) the mentor was perceived to have positively impacted the youth during the course of the relationship in multiple ways, including the youth’s psychological well-being, relationships with others, and beliefs about and orientation toward the future. These findings suggest that YIM is a promising approach for establishing meaningful and impactful connections that may promote interdependence for older foster care youth as they make the transition to adulthood.

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“Who Knows Me the Best and Can Encourage Me the Most?”: Matching and Early Relationship Development in Youth-Initiated Mentoring Relationships with System-Involved Youth

Renée Spencer, Grace Gowdy, Alison L. Drew, Jean E. Rhodes
USA
2018

Youth-initiated mentoring (YIM), in which youth select adults from within their communities to serve as mentors in relationships that are formalized through mentoring programs, has the potential to redress problems faced by many mentoring programs that could adversely affect system-involved youth, such as volunteer attrition and premature match closures. However, only a few programs have implemented YIM, and there is little research on this approach. This qualitative interview study examines the formation of YIM relationships and how they are experienced by mentors (n = 14), youth (n = 17), and the youths’ parent/guardian (n = 6). Youth tended to select adults whom they had encountered through school or social services. Findings indicate that the YIM selection process contributed to mentor, youth, and parent/guardian investment in the mentoring relationship and to the youth’s rapid development of feelings of closeness and trust in the mentor. Knowing that mentors would be nonjudgmental, trustworthy, and dedicated appeared to facilitate positive relationship development, which is important given the difficulty of engaging and serving system-involved youth in mentoring programs.

Development, Feasibility, and Piloting of a Novel Natural Mentoring Intervention for Older Youth in Foster Care

Johanna K. P. Greeson, Allison E. Thompson
USA
2017

Aging out of foster care is associated with deleterious emerging adulthood outcomes. The enduring presence of a caring adult, such as a natural mentor, can improve outcomes for emancipating foster youth. Caring Adults ‘R’ Everywhere (C.A.R.E.) is a novel, child welfare-based intervention designed to facilitate natural mentor relationships among aging-out youth. Our aims were to test the feasibility of implementing C.A.R.E. and the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled study with older foster youth. Twenty-four foster youth aged 18–20.5 years were recruited and randomly assigned to the intervention (n D 12) or control groups (n D 12). Ten natural mentors were identified and contacted for participation in the intervention and study. Process-oriented qualitative data and quantitative pre- and postintervention outcome data were collected and analyzed. Utilizing a controlled rigorous design, the findings highlight the positive experience of both the intervention youth and their natural mentors with C.A.R.E. Overall, results support the continued refinement, delivery, and rigorous testing of C.A.R.E. with great promise for programmatically supporting natural mentor relationships among youth aging out of foster care.

Prosocial Activities and Natural Mentoring Among Youth at Risk of Aging Out of Foster Care

Allison E. Thompson, Johanna K. P. Greeson
USA
2017

Objective: Research suggests that the presence of natural mentors may ameliorate the risk associated with emancipating from foster care, though only half of foster youth have natural mentors. This study investigated the extent to which involvement in prosocial activities is associated with natural mentoring among youth at risk of emancipation.

Method: Using data from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs, we applied multinomial logistic regression to test the association between involvement in prosocial activities and natural mentoring among 720 foster youths, ages 14–17, who were at risk of emancipation.

Results: Controlling for demographic and child-welfare characteristics, foster-youth participation in hobbies/activities decreased the likelihood of having no natural mentors and no supportive adults by 57%, having only formal mentors by 60%, and having only foster parents by 49%. Participation in organizations/clubs decreased the likelihood of having no natural mentors and no supportive adults by 42%, and having only foster parents by 42%. Participation in religious services decreased the likelihood of having no natural mentors and no supportive adults by 43%, and having only foster parents by 37%.

Conclusion: This study contributes to our understanding of modifiable environmental factors that policymakers and practitioners may promote to facilitate natural mentoring relationships among foster youth at risk of emancipation.

Predictors of Natural Mentoring Relationships Among Former Foster Youth

Andrew Zinn
USA
2017

Based on a panel survey of 683 foster youth, the current study examined the respective relationships between the characteristics of former foster youth and various attributes of natural mentoring relationships, including the (1) likelihood that youth have a natural mentor, (2) relationship role (e.g., family member, non-family acquaintance) of mentors vis-à-vis youth, (3) frequency of contact between youth and natural mentors, and (4) emotional closeness of the youth-mentor relationship. Study results suggest that a combination of factors, including youths’ social-emotional competencies and participation in social institutions (e.g., religious or service organizations) play very different roles in the development and maintenance of positive natural mentoring relationships. Collectively, the findings suggest several potentially important implications for foster youth and natural mentoring policy, practice, and research.

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A First Look at Natural Mentoring Among Preadolescent Foster Children

Johanna K. P. Greeson, Lindsey M. Weiler, Allison E. Thompson, Heather N. Taussig
USA
2016

This study describes natural mentoring among preadolescent children placed in out-of-home care and examines the association between natural mentoring and demographic, maltreatment, placement, and psychosocial characteristics. Cross-sectional data from a sample of 263 children and their out-of-home caregivers were analyzed. Caregivers rated children’s social skills, and children reported on their perceived opportunities and attachment to peers and adults, including natural mentors. About half the sample endorsed having natural mentors, with school personnel being the most common type of mentor. Children with natural mentors were older, more likely to be living in congregate care, and had stronger attachment to friends. Marginally significant findings suggested that children with natural mentors had been in out-of-home care for fewer months, and children who were sexually abused were less likely to have natural mentors with whom they had current contact. Future research is needed that examines the longitudinal course of natural mentoring among this population.

Natural Mentoring Among Older Youth In and Aging Out of Foster Care: A Systematic Review

Allison E. Thompson, Johanna K. P. Greeson, Ashleigh M. Brunsink
USA
2016

Due to their histories of caregiver maltreatment, living instability, and potential attachment challenges associated with out-of-home care, older foster youth represent a particularly vulnerable group of adolescents at increased risk for a number of poor well-being outcomes. However, research supports the notion that a relationship with a competent, caring adult, such as a mentor, may serve protectively for vulnerable youth, and a nascent yet growing body of literature suggests that naturally occurring mentoring relationships from within youth’s social networks are associated with improved outcomes among young people in foster care during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. This systematic review is the first to comprehensively identify, synthesize, and summarize what we currently know from nearly a decade of theories, concepts, and research findings pertaining to natural mentoring among adolescent youth in foster care. A bibliographic search of seven databases and personal outreach to mentoring researchers and practitioners through a national listserv yielded 38 English-language documents from academic sources and the gray literature pertaining to natural mentoring among older foster youth. We identified quantitative studies that have been conducted to test the theories and hypotheses that have emerged from the qualitative studies of natural mentoring among youth in foster care. Together, this literature suggests that natural mentoring is a promising practice for youth in foster care. Based on our findings from the systematic review, we make practice recommendations to encourage the facilitation of natural mentoring within child welfare contexts and outline an agenda for future research that more rigorously investigates natural mentoring among older youth in foster care.

Child Welfare Professionals’ Attitudes and Beliefs About Child-Welfare Based Natural Mentoring for Older Youth In Foster Care

Johanna K. P. Greeson, Allison E. Thompson, Michelle Evans-Chase, Samira Ali
USA
2014

This qualitative study is the first to explore child welfare professionals’ attitudes and beliefs about implementing natural mentoring as a promising way to smooth the road to independence for older foster youth. The term “natural mentor” refers to a nonparental, caring adult whom a youth identifies in his/her existing social network (e.g., teachers, coaches, adult relatives). Five focus groups were conducted with 20 child welfare professionals from a Department of Human Services (DHS) located in a large urban city in the Northeastern United States. This study used the exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment (EPIS) framework to explicate the organizational challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention. The following significant themes emerged related to natural mentoring for older foster youth emancipating from care: a) the strengths and gaps of DHS service, b) the importance of youth perspective, c) the appropriate vetting of supportive adults as natural mentors, d) the benefits of natural mentoring, and e) the relevance of DHS’s climate and culture for implementation. Future studies are needed to build upon these initial findings to better understand the organizational contexts in which natural mentoring can be implemented for older foster youth preparing for emancipation.

It’s Good to Know That You Got Somebody That’s Not Going Anywhere: Attitudes and Beliefs of Older Youth in Foster Care About Child Welfare-Based Natural Mentoring

Johanna K. P. Greeson, Allison E. Thompson, Samira Ali, Rebecca Stern Wenger
USA
2014

This exploratory study is the first to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of older adolescents in foster care toward the implementation of a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention designed to promote enduring, growth-fostering relationships between youth at risk of emancipation and caring, supportive nonparental adults from within the youth’s existing social network. Six focus groups were conducted with 17 older youth in foster care attending a specialized charter high school for young people in out-of-home care in a large, urban city in the Northeast United States. Focus group data were transcribed and analyzed using a conventional content analysis approach. The following significant themes emerged related to natural mentoring for older foster youth emancipating from care: (1) need for permanent relationships with caring adults, (2) youth conceptions of natural mentoring, (3) unique challenges related to natural mentoring for youth in foster care, (4) role of a natural mentoring intervention in child welfare, and (5) challenges for implementing a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention. Overall, our findings suggest that these young people are cautiously optimistic about the potential of a child welfare-based natural mentoring intervention to promote their social and emotional wellbeing. Future studies are needed to better understand the experiences of older foster youth with an actual natural mentoring intervention, including challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.

Youth in Foster Care with Adult Mentors During Adolescence Have Improved Adult Outcomes

Kym R. Ahrens, David Lane DuBois, Laura P. Richardson, Ming-Yu Fan, Paula Lozano
USA
2008

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine whether youth in foster care with natural mentors during adolescence have improved young adult outcomes.

Methods: We used data from waves I to III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994-2002). Individuals who reported that they had ever been in foster care at wave III were included. Youth were considered mentored when they reported the presence of a nonparental adult mentor in their life after they were 14 years of age and reported that the relationship began before 18 years of age and had lasted for at least 2 years. Outcomes were assessed at wave III and included measures of education/employment, psychological well-being, physical health, and participation in unhealthy behaviors as well as a summary measure representing the total number of positive outcomes.

Results: A total of 310 youth met the inclusion criteria; 160 youth were mentored, and 150 youth were nonmentored. Demographic characteristics were similar for mentored and nonmentored youth. Mentored youth were more likely to report favorable overall health and were less likely to report suicidal ideation, having received a diagnosis of a sexually transmitted infection, and having hurt someone in a fight in the past year. There was also a borderline significant trend toward more participation in higher education among mentored youth. On the summary measure, mentored youth had, on average, a significantly greater number of positive outcomes than nonmentored youth.

Conclusions: Mentoring relationships are associated with positive adjustment during the transition to adulthood for youth in foster care. Strategies to support natural mentoring relationships for this population should be developed and evaluated.

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“It’s Not What I Expected”: A Qualitative Study of Youth Mentoring Relationship Failures

Renée Spencer
USA
2007

Although estimates are that only about half of youth mentoring relationships established through formal programs last beyond a few months, almost no attention has been paid to understanding mentoring relationship failures. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 adult and 11 adolescent male and female participants in a community-based one-to-one mentoring program whose relationships ended early. Line-by-line coding and a narrative approach to a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts yielded six salient factors that contributed to the demise of these mentoring relationships: (a) mentor or protégé abandonment, (b) perceived lack of protégé motivation, (c) unfulfilled expectations, (d) deficiencies in mentor relational skills, including the inability to bridge cultural divides, (e) family interference, and (f) inadequate agency support.

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Books

Youth Outcomes

Overview of the Issue (Reports & Policy Briefs)

A Long Road Paved with Solutions: Key Recommendations and Timelines (1987-2020)

Melanie Doucet, National Council of Youth in Care Advocates
Canada
2020

This summary document highlights key recurring recommendations on ‘aging out’ of care that have been put forward by youth in and from care, advocates and researchers from across the country since the late 1980s. Since 1987, 75 reports centered on youth in care and the ‘aging out’ of care process have been published across Canada, amounting to over 435 concrete recommendations for change to child protection policy and practice targeted to the transition to adulthood for youth in care. The authors of these reports range from national, provincial and territorial youth in care networks, provincial and territorial child and youth advocates, private foundations and university researchers in partnership with community-based organizations.

Exploring Youth Outcomes After Aging-Out of Care

Jane Kovarikova
Canada
2017

This exploratory research was undertaken to review outcomes for youth who have transitioned or “aged-out” of the child protection system in Ontario. The purpose is to better understand the lasting impact of growing up in the child protection system. The analysis sought to synthesize data from selected academic and “gray literature” (media stories or articles written by professionals in the field) and supplement it with information obtained from 17 informal interviews with staff at Ontario stakeholder organizations serving youth in care. The data overwhelmingly show compromised life outcomes for youth who age-out of care compared to peers who were not involved in care. Typical outcomes for youth who age out of care include: low academic achievement; unemployment or underemployment; homelessness and housing insecurity; criminal justice system involvement; early parenthood; poor physical and mental health; and loneliness. These outcomes persist across decades, countries, varied policy approaches and the research methodology used in the studies. It is tempting to suggest that traumatic backgrounds and personal characteristics of youth are the “cause” of these poor outcomes; however, the findings from this study suggest structural factors and professional practices inherent in the child protection system may contribute significantly to poor outcomes for youth aging-out of care. Both policies and systemic practices must be examined so they are more informed and able to meet the needs of young people leaving care. As such, it is recommended that a longitudinal study of youth outcomes after aging-out of Ontario’s systems of care be undertaken to improve institutional responses. Future research should: ask Ontario youth about their experiences with aging-out; explore differences between sub-groups of youth after leaving care; and undertake to identify key structural and service barriers inherent to the present system that compromise youth outcomes. An evidence-based child protection system focused on youth outcomes is essential for effective intervention in the lives of vulnerable children and families.

Blueprint for Fundamental Change to Ontario’s Child Welfare System

Youth Leaving Care Working Group
Ontario
2013

The Working Group was established to build on the goals and recommendations from My REAL Life Book to prepare an action plan that included strategies, timeframes, and the relevant parties required for implementation. The Working Group recognized that it would be the responsibility of the Ministry, working with other Ministries, Children’s Aid Societies, youth and a wide range of other community stakeholders to implement the Blueprint. It therefore focused on naming the areas of the child welfare system that needed to change and on providing guidance to the Ministry on the critical components of that change. The Blueprint can be seen as a map that shows the destinations; the Ministry’s task, with its partners, is to choose the right vehicles to reach those destinations.

The Blueprint is organized under the following themes:

RELATIONSHIPS
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT
TRANSITION SUPPORT
YOUTH JUSTICE
GROUP CARE
MINISTRY POLICY

When Youth Age Out of Care – Where to From There?

Deborah Rutman, Carol Hubberstey, April Feduniw, with assistance from Erinn Brown
British Columbia
2007

The Promoting Positive Outcomes for Youth From Care project was a prospective, British Columbia study designed to examine what happened to youth following their exit from government care. The project followed 37 youth over a 2.5 year period between 2003 and 2006; data were collected through a series of four face to face interviews, scheduled 6-9 months apart, using both an open-ended and fixed choice interview format. As another aspect of the research, the project provided “peer support” to the youth.

This paper reports on the life circumstances of the youth participants from Time 1 to Time 4. As with the two previous reports (Baseline Report on Findings; Bulletin of Time 2 Findings), findings presented in this Final Report continue to present a disquieting picture of youths’ life circumstances. Not unlike existing North American literature on youth from care, youth from this study were found to: have a lower level of education; be more likely to rely on income assistance as their main source of income; have a more fragile social support network; experience considerable transience and housing instability; and be parenting. In relation to criminal activities, youths’ involvement with the criminal justice system declined over time. However, subsequent to leaving care, they continued to be victimized in various ways.

Youth Leaving Care – How Do They Fare?

Anne Tweddle
Ontario
2005

In September 2005, the Toronto-based Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working Age Adults (MISWAA) examined Canada’s income security system and presented proposals to improve the economic security of low-income, working-age adults. Former youth in care, with their poor outcomes and limited prospects for self-sufficiency as they progress through adulthood, are a small but important part of this population. In Canada, provincial and territorial governments have the jurisdictional responsibility for child welfare. In all provinces and territories, this responsibility ends when the youth reaches the age of majority, generally eighteen. Youth in care may receive extended services past age eighteen, subject to certain requirements. This article examines recent Canadian, American, and international research on what happens to youth who age out of the child welfare system. The findings show a consistently disturbing pattern of poor outcomes for youth leaving foster care. The article describes what governments should do to promote more successful transition and to improve the outcomes for youth as they leave the child welfare system for independent living.

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Academic Articles

Transition to Adult Life of Young People Leaving Foster Care: A Qualitative Systematic Review

Arja Häggman-Laitila
Finland
2018

The transition to adult life of looked-after young people depends on a combination and interaction of multiple contributing factors such as past experiences, challenges faced by the young people in their current life situation, the support they have received and their personal strengths. Several reviews and studies have reported of poor outcomes for care leavers and indicate that this is a worldwide phenomenon. A lower level of support in the transition process increases the risk for social exclusion, homelessness, unemployment, low education, financial difficulties and behavioral problems. The aim of this review was to gather, assess and synthesize the current empirical evidence of transition to adult life from the perspective of young people leaving foster care. A systematic review was conducted in six scientific databases to identify relevant qualitative studies published from 2010 to 2017, and 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the checklist for qualitative studies of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (2017). Data were analyzed using a narrative method. Care leavers had two views of their transition to adult life. The views differed clearly based on the care leavers’ experiences of their capabilities, emotions and identity. The care leaving process was described as an unprepared and unfocused process which provided the care leavers no opportunities for participating in the decision-making concerning their future. The young people had acquired few survival skills for independent living in aftercare. Care leavers often lacked the support of family members, former care providers and institutional bodies. The challenges young people often faced during the transition to independent living were concerned with academic qualifications, housing problems, employment and financial instability, building relationships and assimilating to cultural norms, and access to health care. The results of the review can be utilized in the development of services and in designing future studies.

Outcomes of Children Who Grew Up in Foster Care: Systematic-Review

Laura Gypen, Johan Vanderfaeillie, Skrallan De Maeyer, Laurence Belenger, Frank Van Holen
Belgium
2017

Foster care is one of the most far-reaching interventions targeted at children who are abused or neglected by their parents, or who are engaged in anti-social behavior (Lindquist & Santavirta, 2014). The large number of children in foster care and the high cost of child welfare, makes the outcomes of former foster youth a trending topic in research. However, research that combines results on different extents (education, employment, wages, housing, mental health, substance abuse and criminality) is sparse. Using the PRISMA method, the outcomes of 32 original quantitative studies were compared. The studies were categorized into two groups reflecting on the child welfare orientation of the country: child protection vs. family service (Gilbert, Parton, & Skivenes, 2011). The results are clear as well as troubling. In both systems, children who leave care continue to struggle on all areas (education, employment, income, housing, health, substance abuse and criminal involvement) compared to their peers from the general population. A stable foster care placement, establishing a foothold in education and having a steady figure (mentor) who supports youth after they age out of care seem to be important factors to improve the outcomes.

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Do They Get What They Expect? The Connection Between Young Adults’ Future Expectations Before Leaving Care and Outcomes After Leaving Care

Yafit Sulimani-Aidan
USA
2015

This study examines the future expectations of young people in out-of-home placements in the last year before leaving care and the association between those expectations and their outcomes after leaving care. The study examines the hypothesis that care leavers with higher future expectations will have better outcomes in the areas of housing, educational achievements, economic status, adjustment to military service, and life satisfaction. The study was conducted through 277 interviews with the young adults at their last year in care and 236 interviews a year after they left care. Higher future expectations while in care were positively correlated with satisfaction in accommodation, economic status and educational achievements and adjustment to required military service after leaving care. These findings emphasize the role of future expectations as a source of resilience and motivation. They also illustrate the importance of designing programs that address care leavers’ self-perception and future outlook and offer preparation in concrete areas as the youth transition to adult life.

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Vulnerable Populations and Transition

D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Mark E. Courtney
USA
2010

D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, and Mark E. Courtney examine the transition to adult-hood for youth involved in social service and justice systems during childhood and adolescence. They survey the challenges faced by youth in the mental health system, the foster care system, the juvenile justice system, the criminal justice system, and special education, and by youth with physical disabilities and chronic illness, as well as runaway and homeless youth.

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Resilience of Youth in Transition From Out-of-Home Care to Adulthood

Clara Daining, Diane DePanfilis
USA
2007

Youth in transition from out-of-home care to adulthood are a vulnerable sub-population of the foster care system. In addition to the trauma of maltreatment, and challenges associated with out-of-home care, these youth face the premature and abrupt responsibility of self-sufficiency as they leave care for independent living. The purpose of this study was to identify personal and interpersonal factors that contribute to resilience of young adults who left out-of-home care of a large urban child welfare system during a one year period. Sixty percent of the eligible young adults participated in a computer-assisted self-administered interview about their self-sufficiency including: educational attainment, employment, housing, parenthood, health risk behavior, criminal activity, and perceived levels of social support, spiritual support, community support, and global life stress. This study explored the relationship between support systems, life stress, and the young adults’ resilience reflecting key outcomes. The study’s findings indicated that females, older youth, and youth with lower perceived life stress had higher resilience scores. Implications for child welfare practice, policy, theory, and research advance knowledge about young adults in transition from out-of-home care.

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Child Protection and Child Outcomes: Measuring the Effects of Foster Care

Joseph J. Doyle, Jr.
USA
2007

Little is known about the effects of placing children who are abused or neglected into foster care. This paper uses the placement tendency of child protection investigators as an instrumental variable to identify causal effects of foster care on long-term outcomes–including juvenile delinquency, teen motherhood, and employment–among children in Illinois where a rotational assignment process effectively randomizes families to investigators. Large marginal treatment effect estimates suggest caution in the interpretation, but the results suggest that children on the margin of placement tend to have better outcomes when they remain at home, especially older children.

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“Tomorrow is Another Problem”: The Experiences of Youth in Foster Care During Their Transition to Adulthood

Sarah Geenen, Laurie E. Powers
USA
2007

This study gathered qualitative information about the experiences of youth transitioning out of foster care into adulthood, from the perspectives of youth themselves, as well as foster parents and professionals. Data was gathered from 10 focus groups comprised of a total of 88 participants, including youth currently in foster care (n = 19), foster care alumni (n = 8), foster parents (n = 21), child welfare professionals (n = 20), education professionals (n = 9), Independent Living Program staff (n = 9) and other key professionals (n = 2). Findings of key themes included: (a) self-determination; (b) coordination/collaboration (c) importance of relationships; (d) importance of family; (e) normalizing the foster care experience; (f) the Independent Living Program and (g) issues related to disability.

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Annotation: Outcomes in Long-Term Foster Family Care

Brian Minty
USA, United Kingdom, Canada, France
1999

This annotation focuses on outcomes for long-term foster care in the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, and France. It has benefited from a number of previous reviews: e.g. of foster care outcomes by Prosser (1978) and Triseliotis (1989), the overview of all state-provided care in the U.K., including residential care, undertaken by Wolkind and Rushton (1994), and of foster care in general by Berridge (1997). Berridge’s review examines all aspects of foster care, but does not focus specifically on outcomes. However, it strongly implies throughout that outcomes are dependent on the context and supports for foster care practice. In particular, Berridge points out that there has been a shortage of foster carers in the U.K. for some time. A shortage of foster carers reduces the possibilities for matching between foster family and foster child. It also increases the dangers of ‘‘stretching’’, that is, persuading foster carers to accept children outside the categories they have committed themselves to take. Barth and Berry (1988), in a study of the adoption of older children, found there was a tendency for stretching to be associated with placement disruption. The chances of disruption became even greater if social workers also failed to provide adequate information about the child to be placed. There seems no reason why the same should not apply to foster care.

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