Foster Awareness: Scholarly Information

Affronti, M., Rittner, B., & Jones, A. M. (2014). Functional adaptation to foster care: Foster care alumni speak out. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 9(1), 1-21. doi:10.1080/15548732.2014.978930

Amechi, M. H. (2016). "There's no autonomy": Narratives of self-authorship from black male foster care alumni in higher education. Journal of African American Males in Education, 7(2), 18-35. 

This qualitative study explores the college pathways and experiences of four Black male foster care alumni. Through in-depth interviews, the author identifies how challenging experiences and adverse environmental conditions in the foster care system shaped their self-defined college goals. This study confirms how dissonant experiences, or developmental crises that challenged students' current ways of knowing and conceptions of self, enhanced self-authorship development and ultimately their success in college. 

Barnow, B. S., Buck, A., O'Brien, K., Pecora, P., Ellis, M. L., & Steiner, E. (2015). Effective services for improving education and employment outcomes for children and alumni of foster care service: Correlates and educational and employment outcomes. Child & Family Social Work, 20(2), 159-170. doi:10.1111/cfs.12063

The education and employment outcomes of youth and alumni of foster care served by transition programs located in five major US cities were examined. It was found that the longer the youth were enrolled, the more education and employment outcomes they achieved. 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.

Geiger, J. M., & Johnson, R. M. (Eds.). (2023). Foster Care and Higher Education [Special issue]. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 40(2). 

Eleven articles (some explicitly cited here) focused on various issues, programs, supports of college students who had experienced foster care. 

Lietz, C. A., & Cheung, J. R. (2023). Meeting the Mental Health Needs of College Students with a Background in Foster Care. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 40(2), 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-022-00905-w

“ASuPIRE” is a program designed specifically for college students who have been in foster care; it’s meant to be free counseling for students who need it. This article also shows how campuses can implement this program onto their campus. 

Lynch, S. (2011). Challenging stereotypes of foster children: A study of relational resilience. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 5(1), 23-44. doi:10.1080/15548732.2010.526903

This article challenges stereotypes of troubled foster children by examining their relational resilience despite psychopathological risks. The study examined 150 foster care children for depression, placement stability, and caregiver type, controlling for race/ethnicity and gender, predicted relational resilience in long-term foster care children.

McCauley, E. J. (2022). How do academic and career services affect employment, education, and disability benefit receipt in the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who have aged out of foster care? Journal of Public Child Welfare.  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2022.2118932

This study investigates the receipt of benefits, the supports, and the mitigation of risks for youth with disabilities who are aging out of foster care The author advocates for academic and post-secondary services, provision of financial assistance, and provision of career services for such youth.

Mccormick, A., Schmidt, K., & Terrazas, S. (2016). LGBTQ youth in the child welfare system: An overview of research, practice, and policy. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 11(1), 27-39. doi:10.1080/15548732.2016.1221368

Moussavi, Y., Wergeland, G. J., Bøe, T., Haugland, B. S. M., Larsen, M., & Lehmann, S. (2022). Internalizing Symptoms Among Youth in Foster Care: Prevalence and Associations with Exposure to Maltreatment. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 53(2), 375–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01118-x

A study of the association of maltreatment to symptions of anxiety and depression, among foster youth compared to general population youth. Girls had higher rates of internatized symptoms boys did. Average number of symptoms were higher among foster youth than general population youth, though the average remained at a subclinical level. Sexual abuse had the strongest association of internalized symptoms, and increased incidences of maltreatment were associated with increased numbers of internalized symptoms. The authors emphasize the importance in broad screening for maltreatment within the foster care system.

Salazar, A. M., Lopez, J. M., Spiers, S. S., Gutschmidt, S., & Monahan, K. C. (2021). Building financial capability in youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood. Child & Family Social Work, 26(3), 442–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12827

This study examines the financial capability of foster youth and the association between supports and core financial competencies. A similar 2007 study serves as a comparitor to this current study. The purpose of this study is to ensure that more policies and enhancements are put in place to help fully prepare youth for adulthood.

Skobba, K., Moorman, D., Meyers, D., White, K., & Tiller, L. (2023). Nowhere to go: Housing pathways of college students with foster care and homelessness experience. Child & Family Social Work, 28(1), 96–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12944.

This study compares and contrasts how three housing experiences during high school--family homelessness, unaccompanied youth, and foster care--affects housing stability during college years. The purpose of this continued study was to contribute toward housing programs and policy the for these vulnerable college students. 

Villagrana, M. (2016). Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Service Use for Older Foster Youth and Foster Care Alumni. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. doi:10.1007/s10560-016-0479-8

​Studies have shown that foster care alumni have disproportionally high rates of poor mental health outcomes compared to the general population. Ths study examined differences in mental health service use for Latino, African American, and White youth while in foster care and upon exit from the foster care system. 

Longoria, F. D. (2016). College-going experiences of male foster youth alumni who have stopped-out of college (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Courtney, M., Dworsky, A., et al. Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth (The Midwest study). Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. 

A longitudinal study that followed a sample of young people from Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois during transition out of foster care into adulthood. Baseline survey data were collected in 2002-03 from 732 study participants when they were 17 or 18 years old;  participants were re-interviewed at ages 19 , 21, 23 or 24, and 26. Reports on each wave of data collections compare this sample of former foster youth to their peers in the general population on domains such as living arrangements, relationships, education, economic issues, and physical and mental well-being.