Youth In Foster Care Research Articles

Career readiness programming for youth in foster care

Career readiness preparation is essential to successful employment outcomes for young people in foster care who are often disrupted in their vocational development as a consequence of their challenging life circumstances. Efforts by social service providers, however, to prepare young people in foster care for economic self-sufficiency have met with varying success. The purpose of this paper is to offer findings from a formative evaluation of Works Wonders, a career readiness program for young people in care, that contribute to the understanding of the factors that affect their career preparation, self-determination and work outcomes as they transition from foster care to the adult world of work. Works Wonders included a career club that provided the skills and knowledge to explore career options, prepare for a job search (e.g., preparing a resume, learning how to interview, drafting cover letter), conduct a job search and retain the job once secured (e.g., relational competencies important for being effective in the workplace.) The program also provided individual support around career planning, and hands-on work experiences. One hundred and eighty randomly selected young people between the ages of 14 and 21 who were in Rhode Island's foster care system or alumni of care were enrolled over five years. Interviews with young people and staff service records provided information about program engagement, career readiness, self-determination, and work status. Data were collected at enrollment, after completion of career club (about six months following enrollment) and 12 months following enrollment. Results support a significant relationship between career readiness and employment. Young people who completed the career club and participated in a hands-on work experience while in enrolled in the program were more likely to be working at follow-up compared to those that dropped out. Self-determination also increased for young people who completed the group compared to those who did not.

Professional dilemmas and occupational constraints in child welfare workers' relationships with children and youth in foster care

At the same time as the number of child and youth placements in foster care is increasing in Sweden, some serious deficiencies have been highlighted, such as instability in placements and shortcomings in the social services' monitoring. Because the child welfare workers are ultimately responsible for these children's situation, understanding how they handle their multi-dimensional occupational role is crucial. The aim of this article is to study child welfare workers' individual and collective experiences of and expectations about their occupational role and responsibilities in their administrative and relational work with children and youth in foster care. Individual interviews with child welfare workers from a previous evaluation of a national pilot project, and two focus groups with child welfare workers, constitute the empirical basis. Theoretically the article explores central concepts such as sub-roles, dilemmas, professionalism, and functional specificity. The results show that the child welfare workers are burdened by a heavy workload, but that the prerequisites and the obstacles they face also must be understood in relation to prevailing contradictions and dilemmas in their occupational role. Even though the child welfare workers stress that professionalism is about putting relational work first, their activity is dominated by administrative tasks and functional specificity.

Educational attainment for youth who were maltreated in adolescence: Investigating the influence of maltreatment type and foster care placement

Decades of research have consistently shown a link between foster care and low rates of high school completion. Despite the overwhelming knowledge surrounding this association, it remains unclear whether the low rates of high school completion are due to placement in foster care or the maltreatment and other contextual factors that foster care youth have experienced. This study examined the extent to which (a) maltreatment type and (b) foster care placement were associated with the educational attainment of 337 maltreated adolescents. Logistic regression analyses were conducted using two waves of data and the ACR dataset of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW). After controlling for academic risk factors related to the adolescents (age, race, and gender), their family (household poverty and parental education), and their environment (community environment), neither maltreatment type nor foster care placement status were associated with subsequent high school completion.Overall, only 58% of the maltreated adolescents reported completing their education. That is about 15% less than the national average at the time data were collected for this study. Results, overall, suggest a need for educational supports and interventions for youth who experience maltreatment during their adolescent years, regardless of maltreatment type and foster care placement.

Stakeholder perceptions of barriers and facilitators to sexual health discussions between foster and kinship caregivers and youth in foster care: A qualitative study

PurposeYouth in foster care are more likely to contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and become pregnant than other youth, who have not been in foster care. This study explored stakeholder perceptions of barriers and facilitators to conversations about sexual health between foster/kinship caregivers and youth in foster care, with the goal of developing a brief, scalable sexual health training for caregivers. MethodsWe conducted individual phone interviews with twenty stakeholders from a variety of occupations that work closely with foster and kinship caregivers in New York, NY, Seattle, WA and Los Angeles, CA. Stakeholders were asked semi-structured open-ended questions regarding their thoughts on a caregiver's role in discussing sexual health, barriers and facilitators in having these conversations, and staff members' comfort level in having these discussions with youth in foster care. We coded and analyzed transcripts using Thematic Analysis technique. ResultsThemes emerged around three main categories: 1) barriers to sexual health conversations with youth in their care, including caregivers' religious and personal beliefs impeding youth access to accurate sexual health information and crucial medical services, staff and caregiver lack of sexual heath knowledge, caregiver and/or youth discomfort in engaging in sexual health conversations, and a lack of mandatory training for caregivers and staff on sexual health; 2) facilitators to sexual health conversations with youth, including open and nonjudgmental communication between youth in foster care and caregivers, and engagement in deliberate relationship-building activities with the youth; and 3) recommendations for content and format of a training for caregivers and agency staff to address barriers to conversations, such as making trainings mandatory and in-person. ConclusionsStakeholders identified several barriers and facilitators to sexual health conversations and viewed conversations between caregiver and the youth in foster care as essential to the youth's wellbeing. Clear guidance from child welfare agencies and caregiver-oriented trainings that include straightforward information and skill-building strategies could help to mitigate these barriers and related health disparities.

Improving the Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Youth in Foster Care

AbstractThis chapter examines what we know about the disparity in postsecondary educational attainment between youth in foster care and their non‐foster care peers, the reasons for it, and the policies and programs that have been developed to address that disparity. It also discusses the unique role that community colleges can play in reducing this disparity.

A Clean Slate for Texas Foster Youth

This Article will compare how Texas and other states implement this federal law differently and then discuss how Texas can improve its flawed system to better protect children negatively affected by identity theft. Section II of this Article will introduce and explain M.D. v. Abbott and the changes in Texas foster care on the horizon as a result of this case. Section III will introduce and delve into the issue of identity theft in foster youth as a whole, and it will tell the story of one foster youth who faced the results of identity theft. Finally, the Section breaks down how identity theft occurs and what the lasting effects are. Section III will discuss the federal legislation created as a response. Section III also includes a case study on California’s pilot project response that was initiated prior to the federal legislation, and looks into how Texas applies federal legislation and partners it with state legislation. This Section looks at both the strengths and weaknesses of state and federal responses to child identity theft. Section IV will introduce four state-level policy recommendations to assist Texas in resolving identity theft issues for youth in foster care. By implementing a holistic, multi-step approach beginning when the child initially enters foster care, particularly in light of the major foster care reform posed by M.D. v. Abbott, Texas will lead the country and serve as an example to other states in resolving this pressing issue. Section V will include conclusions from the content discussed in this Article.

Challenges in the Transition to Higher Education for Foster Care Youth

AbstractThis chapter acknowledges the contextual considerations in preparation and success in higher education and establishes a foundation of knowledge for researchers, educators, and practitioners to support foster youth in community college settings.

Sibling Relationship in Foster Care: Foster Parent Perspective

The sibling relationships of youth in foster care has garnered increased attention over the past few years indicating the potential protective role these relationships can have. Despite this growth, very little is known about how foster parents perceive the sibling relationships of youth in foster care and ways to promote these relationships. Thematic analysis was used to analyze semistructured interviews of 15 foster parents. Three major areas emerged as a result of the analysis: (a) the experience of sibling relationships in foster care, (b) how sibling relationships should be treated in foster care, and (c) ways to promote sibling relationships. All of the foster parents in this study discussed the importance of sibling relationships for the youth in their care and offer ways to promote these relationships through collaboration and education. Implications for foster parent training and child welfare practice are discussed.

Health care quality measures for children and adolescents in Foster Care: feasibility testing in electronic records

BackgroundPreventive quality measures for the foster care population are largely untested.The objective of the study is to identify healthcare quality measures for young children and adolescents in foster care and to test whether the data required to calculate these measures can be feasibly extracted and interpreted within an electronic health records or within the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System.MethodsThe AAP Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care served as the guideline for determining quality measures. Quality measures related to well child visits, developmental screenings, immunizations, trauma-related care, BMI measurements, sexually transmitted infections and depression were defined. Retrospective chart reviews were performed on a cohort of children in foster care from a single large pediatric institution and related county. Data available in the Ohio Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System was compared to the same population studied in the electronic health record review. Quality measures were calculated as observed (received) to expected (recommended) ratios (O/E ratios) to describe the actual quantity of recommended health care that was received by individual children.ResultsElectronic health records and the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System data frequently lacked important information on foster care youth essential for calculating the measures. Although electronic health records were rich in encounter specific clinical data, they often lacked custodial information such as the dates of entry into and exit from foster care. In contrast, Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System included robust data on custodial arrangements, but lacked detailed medical information. Despite these limitations, several quality measures were devised that attempted to accommodate these limitations.ConclusionsIn this feasibility testing, neither the electronic health records at a single institution nor the county level Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System was able to independently serve as a reliable source of data for health care quality measures for foster care youth. However, the ability to leverage both sources by matching them at an individual level may provide the complement of data necessary to assess the quality of healthcare.

Examination of Child Placement, Emotional, Behavioral and Attachment Problems Among Children with Caregiver-Perpetrated Trauma Histories.

Caregiver-perpetrated trauma (CPT) is associated with adverse consequences for youth, including out-of-home placement. Although promotion of kinship care placement has recently increased, effects on youth remain unclear. Psychosocial functioning of 1107 CPT-exposed youth ages 2 to 18 was compared across placement types using generalized mixed models. Youth remaining at home had increased Somatization symptoms compared to kinship (OR = .25, CI = 0.07-.88) and foster care (OR = .32, CI = 0.11-.98) youth. Both out-of-home placement types had higher odds of Attachment Problems (OR = 3.61, CI = 2.22-5.87 and 4.41, CI = 2.71-7.18 respectively). PTSD symptoms varied, youth in kinship care had increased self-reported re-experiencing symptoms (OR = 2.66, CI = 1.04-6.8), while youth in foster care had elevated clinician-rated PTSD (OR = 2.07, CI = 1.1.3-3.80). Given the limited differences between kinship and foster care, studies should continue to delineate the impact of child placement type to inform child welfare policy.

Defining and achieving permanency among older youth in foster care

Permanency is a key child welfare system goal for the children they serve. This study addresses three key research questions: (1) How do older youth in foster care define their personal permanency goals? (2) How much progress have these youth made in achieving their personal permanency goals and other aspects of relational permanency, and how does this vary by gender, race, and age? and (3) What transition-related outcomes are associated with relational permanency achievement? Surveys were conducted with 97 youth between the ages of 14 and 20 currently in care. Over three-fourths of participants had an informal/relational permanency goal; however, only 6.7% had achieved their goal. Of eight additional conceptualizations of relational permanency assessed, the one associated with achievement of the highest number of key transition outcomes was Sense of Family Belonging. The transition outcomes with the most associations with permanency achievement were physical health and mental health. Relational permanency is a highly personal part of the transition process for youth in care, warranting personalized supports to ensure individual youths' goals are being addressed in transition planning. Permanency achievement may also provide a foundation for supporting youth in achieving other key transition outcomes.

Measuring collaboration and communication to increase implementation of evidence-based practices: the cultural exchange inventory

The Cultural Exchange Inventory (CEI) is a 15-item instrument designed to measure the process (7 items) and outcomes (8 items) of exchanges of knowledge, attitudes and practices between members of different organisations collaborating in implementing evidence-based practice. We conducted principal axis factor analyses and parallel analyses of data describing exchanges with intermediary organisations, treatment developers, other agencies in the same county, and agencies in other counties of 105 leaders of county youth-serving systems in California and Ohio participating in a randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of community development teams in scaling up the use of an evidence-based practice for treatment of youth in foster care. The CEI scale demonstrates strong internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity, and shows potential in understanding the role of cultural exchanges in evidence-based practice implementation.

Perspectives of youth in foster care on essential ingredients for promoting self-determination and successful transition to adult life: My life model

Research clearly documents the serious challenges and poor outcomes experienced by many young people exiting foster care, as well as compounded disparities for the high percentage of youth in care who are identified with disabilities and/or mental health challenges. However, very little research has been conducted to specify or validate effective models for improving the transition trajectories of youth exiting care. Evidence suggests the My Life self-determination enhancement model offers a promising approach for supporting youths' self-determined and positive transition to adulthood. The model includes youth-directed, experientially oriented coaching in the application of self-determination skills to achieve youth-identified transition goals, coupled with peer mentoring workshops that provide opportunities for learning, networking and fun. This in depth qualitative study of 10 youth who completed the My Life intervention focused on investigating coaching and mentoring elements and processes that youth participants identify as most important to their success, with the intention of informing the further development of youth-directed approaches to supporting young people who are transitioning to adulthood. Themes emerged around the centrality of youth self-direction, important processes in the coaching relationship, the essential value of experiential activities and self-determination skill development, and peer mentoring experiences that youth identified as fostering their success. Implications are discussed for research and practice in supporting youth exiting foster care.

Visualizing and Describing Foster Care Placement Pathways

ABSTRACTThis paper introduces a flowchart-based methodology for describing the movement of foster youth in and out of placements of differing types and durations. This longitudinal methodology is designed to be sufficiently simple to appeal to policymakers and administrators seeking to chart the movement of groups of youth over time and the sequencing of their placements, and sufficiently descriptive to be of use to researchers seeking to predict the placement trajectories of subgroups of foster youth. The paper provides an example of the use of the method drawing upon state administrative data from a large study of preadolescent and adolescent youth in foster care situated in Oregon. Implications for the application of the methodology to different issues of interest to researchers, policymakers, and administrators are discussed.

Beyond Expectations: From Foster Children to Foster Parents

Little research exists on long-term outcomes for adults who have been in foster care as children, with even less research on former foster children who become foster parents themselves. Foster care and maltreatment exert significant independent and interdependent impacts on youth outcomes. While traditional research often focuses on predicting and mitigating negative outcomes, new studies indicate success using a positive youth development approach that is strengths-based targeting positive outcomes, such as strong empathy skills. These outcomes align with the demonstrated skills that lead to successful foster parenting. The current review examines the possible transition from foster child to foster parent through the lenses of parenting styles, attachment, and family systems theories, as well as positive youth development and social justice youth development theories. The authors propose utilizing theory and proven interventions to address foster youths’ attachment and emotional development needs, recognize positive outcomes for youth in foster care, and employ evidence-based training programs in place for at-risk parent groups to help break the cycle that leads to displacement. The need for more research to assist foster children, parents, case workers, and systems to promote healthy youth development is discussed.

School-related experiences of adolescents in foster care: A comparison with their high-school peers.

Although adolescents in foster care are known to be more at risk for school-related academic challenges, there is a paucity of research on their school-related experiences, such as victimization and relationships with teachers, compared with their same-age peers not in care. The aim of this article is to compare foster-care adolescents and their schoolmates on data that was drawn from the statewide representative California Healthy Kids survey and includes 165,815 nonfoster youth and 706 foster youth in 9th and 11th grades. Findings indicate a consistent pattern: After controlling for age, gender and race, adolescents in foster care have lower (self-reported) academic achievements and experiences that are more negative in school compared with their peers. However, hierarchical regression equations indicate that after controlling for background and school experiences, there were no significant differences in academic achievements between foster care youth and their high school peers. This finding may reflect that in-school experiences are responsible for many of the more negative academic outcomes experienced by foster youth. (PsycINFO Database Record

Family First or the Kindness of Strangers? Foster Care Placements and Adult Outcomes

Foster care youth are a large population that have reliably been shown to be at high risk of poor adult outcomes that are costly to both former foster youth and the public. We evaluate the effects of placing foster children with extended family, rather than unrelated caregivers, using individual-level panel data. Our analysis utilizes an instrumental variable identification strategy that uses monthly compensation rates to mimic randomization in placement type to estimate the effects of placement in kinship foster care relative to traditional foster care. We find kinship care conveys significant benefits in the form of improved life outcomes at age 21. Former foster youth that were placed with kin are more likely to be employed or enrolled in formal education, and less likely to participate in public assistance programs, suffer from homelessness, or be incarcerated. Our findings are highly significant from both a practical and a statistical perspective and hold across a wide range of specifications. We posit that kinship care may better maintain ties between youth and family members that are vital in the transition to successful adulthood.

Psychotropic Medications for Youth in Child Welfare: Developing and Pilot-Testing A Field Guide for Team Decision-Making

ABSTRACTHigh rates of children involved with the child welfare system are prescribed psychotropics. In response, federal legislation has mandated state child welfare agencies to develop policies to improve the coordination and oversight around the use of psychotropics. This project aimed to support such policies by developing and pilot-testing a field guide for team discussions and decision-making related to the use of psychotropics among youth in child welfare. We used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework to engage a team of local stakeholders, including former youth in foster care and parents, in the research. We developed a field guide to facilitate team discussions and decisions around the individual needs and preferences of youth and families, and we pilot-tested the field guide with child welfare staff, parents, and care team members in seven team meetings. Parents and care team members, in particular, highly valued the guide and found it useful to increase knowledge and improve practices such as side effect monitoring and information sharing. Child welfare responses were more mixed, and some reported feeling burdened by the additional tasks. More work is needed to integrate the guide into routine child welfare practice and reduce burden on staff.

Ethical Considerations for the Treatment of Youth in Foster Care

Mental health clinicians treating youth in foster care face several ethical challenges, such as competence for treating youth in foster care, understanding who can provide informed consent, and confidentiality. However, few articles have addressed these ethical concerns or provided recommendations for clinicians on how to navigate these issues. This article presents a brief summary of the foster care system, an overview of the major ethical challenges clinicians may encounter when treating youth in foster care, areas of the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code, Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers, and American Counseling Association Code of Ethics most germane to the treatment of youth in foster care, and general recommendations for clinicians treating this population.

Who Goes to College? Social Capital and Other Predictors of College Enrollment for Foster-Care Youth

AbstractObjective: This study investigated social capital, risk factors, and protective factors associated with the likelihood that youth in foster care will enroll in college. We tested three hypotheses: (a) having a greater number of institutional agents promotes college enrollment, (b) encouragement from school personnel to pursue postsecondary education promotes college enrollment, and (c) the number of institutional agents and amount of school encouragement will interact to promote college enrollment. Method: We used a representative sample of adolescents (N = 712), ages 16.75–17.75, in California foster care in 2012 (response rate = 95%) and obtained college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse. We used logistic regression to predict college enrollment. Results: The number of institutional agents who participants nominated, as well as encouragement from school personnel, significantly increased the likelihood of college enrollment. Findings were mediated by the amount of help yout...