Memo from CalYOUTH: Early Findings on Extended Foster Care and Legal Permanency

This memo provides an early look at the relationship between extended foster care in California and the ways that older adolescents exit care in the state. Examining trends in exits from shortly before to immediately after the implementation of extended care, we find some evidence that, in the extended care era, fewer older adolescents are exiting care before their 18th birthday than before the law was implemented. However, rather than being the result of a reduction in exits to legal permanency, this shift has more to do with an increase in the likelihood that youth will remain in care rather than emancipate prior to age 18, run away from care, or experience other unwanted exits

California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Early Findings from the Child Welfare Worker Survey

This report presents findings from the Child Welfare Worker Survey, an on-line survey of 235 California child welfare workers and their perceptions of key characteristics of the service delivery context of extended foster care, including: the availability of transitional living services; coordination between the child welfare system and other service systems such as county courts; and youth attitudes toward extended care. This report provides a valuable snapshot of how youths' caseworkers, central players in the implementation of extended foster care, perceive young people making the transition to adulthood out of care and the service context for that transition

Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Conditions of Foster Youth at Age 17

This report presents findings from the Baseline Youth Survey, providing the most comprehensive view to date of young people approaching the transition to adulthood from foster care in the wake of the federal Fostering Connections Act. Information gathered during interviews with 727 youths who were an average of 17 years old at the time, offers insight into the needs and aspirations of transition-age foster youth. Study findings can help inform efforts to improve policies and services for foster youths' transitioning to adulthood

CalYOUTH Survey of Young Adults' Child Welfare Workers

This report presents the results of the CalYOUTH Survey of Young Adults' Child Welfare Workers, a survey of case workers supervising youth in extended foster care who are participating in the CalYOUTH Youth Survey. The report shares the county child welfare workers' views on how these young people are faring with the transition to adulthood, as well as their preparedness and service needs in a wide range of areas. The report also shares workers' perceptions of the availability and helpfulness of services within their county, their perceptions of court personnel's supportiveness of extended care, their satisfaction with collaboration with other systems of potential support for youth, and their views of challenges to effective implementation of extended foster care in California. The survey results highlight areas of progress and opportunities for continued improvement as California continues its development of foster care for young adults

Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Conditions of Youth at Age 19

The "CalYOUTH Wave 2 Youth Survey", conducted when the young people participating in CalYOUTH were 19 years old, follows up on a survey of the same young people when they were approaching the age of majority in California's foster care system. More than 80 percent of the youth who took part in the baseline interviews participated in the Wave 2 survey. The report provides the most comprehensive view to date of young adults making the transition to adulthood from foster care in California, highlighting differences between young people participating in extended foster care and young people who had left care. The report provides feedback for all parties interested in improving youth's transitions from foster care to adulthood

Receipt of independent living services among older youth in foster care: An analysis of national data from the U.S.

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Fifteen years has passed since the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program was created under the Social Security Act, which marked an increased role of the U.S. federal government in supporting foster care youth to independence. It was not until the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) was launched in 2010 that all 50 states reported standard data on receipt of the 13 types of Chafee independent living services. This paper, which draws on the first two years of NYTD data, analyzes Chafee service receipt across the U.S. among youth in foster care (ages 16-21). About half of the 131,204 youth included in this analysis received at least one type of Chafee service, and considerable variation existed in the proportion of youth that received each of the 13 specific types of services. Females were more likely than males to receive all but one type of service, and African Americans were less likely to receive most of the services. An interaction effect indicated that Black youth were significantly less likely to receive services in large urban areas than other racial/ethnic groups. Young people with disabilities or medical/psychological conditions were generally more likely to receive services than youth without disabilities. Youth in large urban regions receive fewer services than youth residing in other areas, and substantial variation exists between states in proportions of service recipients. Recommendations are made for targeting services, future data collection, and research, including suggestions on ways to improve measurement of Chafee services. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The turn of the millennium marked an important shift in the U.S. government's role in supporting foster care youth. The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (FCIA) established the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP), which allocates hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year to fund a variety of independent living services. Although this program has existed for 15 years and has expended over two billion dollars, there has yet to be an assessment on a national scale of which eligible youth receive Chafee services and whether regional variation exists in service receipt. This article draws on the first two years of data collected by a national reporting system to provide estimates of Chafee service receipt. Background Summary of the Foster Care Independence Act Changes made in 1986 to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act established the Independent Living Program, which was the precursor of the Chafee program created under the FCIA over a decade later (Government Accountability Office, 1999b 1 It is worth noting that while the FCIA broadened services to prepare youth for independence, a primary goal remains establishing permanency through reunification, adoption, or guardianship. As such, the language of the FCIA prioritizes permanency but acknowledges that a nontrivial proportion of youth will not establish permanency. 2 The amount of funding that a given state received was dependent on its share of the national foster care population, and states had to provide a 20% match to the federal contribution. Funding is disbursed to all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Indian Tribes. The matching contributions could be cash or in-kind contributions such as services, equipment, or property (Government Accountability Office, 2007)

MAKE OR BREAK: COLLEGE-GOING AND COLLEGE-LEAVING AMONG FOSTER CARE YOUTH

Over the past 30 years, troubling outcomes of older youth in foster care have attracted attention from federal lawmakers, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders. Without sufficient resources, support, and skills necessary to transition to adult independence, these youth experience higher rates of incarceration, homelessness, educational underachievement, and unemployment than peers not involved in foster care. Promoting college degree attainment has become an explicit target of recent legislation. Many past studies have documented poor postsecondary education outcomes for foster youth, but few have investigated factors that drive these outcomes. The goal of this dissertation is to examine individual, college, and policy factors that impact postsecondary education outcomes of foster youth. Analysis of secondary data collected from the Midwest Study examines college entry and completion for a representative sample of over 700 foster youth from three Midwestern states. The findings show that more than nine in ten 17 year-olds in foster care aspired to go to college, but 12 years later only half had made it to college and just one in ten completed a certificate or degree. Among young people who enrolled in college, six-year completion rates were substantially lower for foster youth (17%) than for a high risk comparison group of low-income first-generation students (44%). Results from regression analyses arrived at the following conclusions. Factors pertaining to youths’ academic history and skills and behavioral problems exerted the strongest influence on their likelihood of entering college. In terms of college persistence, youth who started college younger, who had higher reading proficiency, and who had experienced fewer foster care placement changes and school moves had higher odds of persisting. The strongest influences on college completion were life circumstances after youth had entered college (e.g., economic hardships, parental responsibilities) and characteristics of the colleges they attended. The findings also indicated that aspects of youths’ foster care histories predicted their level of avoidant attachment (i.e., emotional guardedness, reluctance to depend on others) in adolescence. In turn, youth higher in avoidant attachment had lower odds of persisting in and completing college. Finally, a policy that extended the age limit of foster care from 18 to 21 increased the likelihood that youth enrolled in college by age 21, but did not influence long-term college outcomes. This study finds that about half of foster youth who enter college never make it past the first few semesters, and academic underpreparedness and financial hardships are formidable barriers to their college success. It is argued that early, targeted interventions that remain in place as other foster care supports phase out will be integral to supporting these young people through college. Recommendations for professionals, child welfare departments, colleges, and policy makers are offered in the concluding chapter

Living Situations and Social Support in the Era of Extended Foster Care: A View from the U.S.

Social support is important for promoting resiliency and decreasing the occurrence and impact of negative life events as foster youth transition to adulthood. However, the types and amount of support may vary by where youth are placed. Additionally, it is not known whether state policies that extend the foster care age limit beyond age 18 are associated with greater social support. This paper examines how types and sources of social support vary by youths’ foster care placement and foster care status at age 19. Data come from the CalYOUTH Study, a representative sample of youths in California foster care where 611 participants were interviewed at ages 17 and 19. Information was gathered on youths’ perceived adequacy of three types of social support (emotional, tangible, and advice/guidance) and their sources of support (family, peers, and professionals). Overall, a third or more of the particpants reported having inadequate support in each of the three support domains, which calls for renewed efforts to ensure that foster youth have adults they can rely on as they transition to adulthood regardless of where they happen to be living. After controlling for prior social support and other characteristics, youth in foster homes with relatives had less contact with professionals than did youth in other placements. In-care youth were more likely than out-of-care youth to have adequate advice and tangible support and to identify a professional as a support. These findings provide early support for the role of extended care in linking youth to important social resources