Fostering Communication

The period of transition for foster youth into independent adulthood is an important life stage, and one that has yet to be explored in HCI circles. We studied an online community centered on the experiences of former foster youth through the first year of its existence to better understand how online spaces are being used by this population. Our mixed-method study included the coding of all posts from the first year of the online community and offers a mix of quantitative and qualitative findings. These findings include alignments and gaps in an established descriptive framework from the field of social work as it relates to the online communication of former foster youth. It also includes how the domains from the framework co-occur, and some potential implications of these co-occurrences. Future research on this subject is warranted, particularly related to why former foster youth seek online platforms to engage in conversations on these topics and how effective community members perceive the platform to be in safely and securely facilitating their needs.

The educational journey of former foster youth: A dream deferred

Summary This qualitative study explored the educational needs and experiences of 27 adults who were between the ages of 30 and 50 but emancipated from foster care as youth. This study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach to understanding the narratives of the participants to gain deeper insight into the supports and barriers in obtaining a post-secondary education. Findings Key findings from this study are that the majority of emancipated youth desire to obtain a post-secondary education but developmental difficulties such as an incomplete transition into emerging adulthood, lack of knowledge about post-secondary education, and lack of financial resources prevent matriculation into higher education. However, later in life, many emancipated youths are able to return to a post-secondary institution and graduate with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The primary supportive factor is a positive relationship and additional developmental maturity afforded by time. Applications Implications of these findings are that those serving emancipating youth need to employ a developmental biopsychosocial perspective in assisting these youth. Both ensuring their healthy development and maturation but also helping to remove logistical barriers to ensure the ability of these youth to obtain a post-secondary education.

Aging out of foster care: The experiences of former foster youth who successfully navigated this transition

Foster youth face high risks and poor outcomes after aging out of care resulting in great economic and human costs to society. The purpose of the study was to describe life experiences of children aging out of the foster care system from the perspectives of adults who have successfully navigated this transition. Their life experiences during this period provided meaningful information for this study which helped to identify themes. Their perceptions of the periods during and after their transitions were explored to investigate supportive relationships, education, and workplace stability. Phenomenology was used to describe the experiences of nine young adults who had aged out of foster care. Participant ages ranged from 20 to 25 years old. Audiotaped semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. Data analysis was ongoing throughout data collection. Four themes were identified: (1) “Facing a transition”; (2) “Depending on adults for help”; (3) “Making a difference for others”; and (4) “Moving forward with my life.” These four themes highlighted the participants’ experiences as they aged out of foster care. This study contributes to our understanding of the life experiences of former foster youth who are successful after the transition out of foster care. Recommendations for practice and research are identified.

Betrayal Trauma and Resilience in Former Foster Youth

Resilience is often operationalized as the presence of positive behaviors and the absence of negative behaviors without considering external factors (e.g., racial discrimination), potentially limiting one’s ability to control their outcomes. In a sample of 20 former foster youth, this study investigated internal and interpersonal resilience and betrayal trauma. A mixed-methods approach addressed two questions: (a) How resilient are former foster youth? and (b) Which factors examined correlate with resilience? I hypothesized that (1) resilience would positively correlate with emotion regulation and self-esteem and (2) negatively correlate with perceived stress, betrayal trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that (3) betrayal trauma would positively correlate with PTSD and (4) negatively correlate with emotion regulation. Results demonstrated no correlation between resilience and emotion regulation or self-esteem; negative correlations between resilience and perceived stress, betrayal trauma, and PTSD; and insignificant correlations between betrayal trauma and PTSD and emotion regulation.