Results indicate that Michigan foster care alumni had similar or worse outcomes than their peers in other alumni studies, and significantly worse outcomes than their peers in the general population in the areas of mental health, substance dependence, and education.
In order to move from a deficit-based to a strength-based approach, this qualitative study focused on understanding the lived experience of transitioning to adulthood for alumni of foster care with disabilities.
This article focuses on students with disabilities in foster care to help school psychologists identify effective school-based interventions for these students.
The purpose of this literature review is to examine the practice literature and correlate the findings of what are the best practices for youth transitioning out of care that realize successful outcomes for them as adults.
This study examined youths’ experiences with the transitional planning process and the degree to which the plan mitigated homelessness after emancipation. Participants were 10 youths age 18 to 21 who emancipated from the Department of Human Services, Children and Youth in Philadelphia, PA.
A review of child welfare research finds that many former foster youth go through an alarming number of placement changes and report a high rate of placement into congregate care settings and other unplanned events. Future research should take explicit account of substitute care contexts in designing and carrying out studies examining the adult outcomes of aging out foster care…
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.
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…
A classroom-based life skills training program may not be the most optimal model to support foster youth transitioning to adulthood. Further research is needed to understand the types of support that are most useful to helping youth acquire skills needed for a successful transition to adulthood.
This study provides a better understanding of the housing trajectories of young adults who exit foster care and residential programs for homeless young adults, including emergency shelters and transitional living programs. Using administrative data to follow a cohort of young adults, this study documents which housing resources are used by youth and assesses which youth may be suited for supportive housing or other specific housing resources.