Journal Articles

Residential Mobility for Young Adults in Extended Foster Care

Ivy Hammond, Keunhye Park, Andrea Lane Eastman, Mark E. Courtney, Astha Agarwal

Significance: Research has consistently shown that placement stability is crucial for the well-being of children and adolescents in foster care, because frequent moves can disrupt developmental processes. This study is the first to examine factors influencing residential mobility among young adults in California’s extended foster care system.

Method: Using administrative data from 10,517 young people who turned 21 between 2019 and 2021 we examined relative housing stability.

Findings: More than half remained in extended foster care for at least 2.6 years, with a median of only one move during that time. However, significant differences in mobility emerged. Young adults in supervised independent living placements and out-of-county placements had higher mobility rates. Additionally, youth with a history of group home placements or suspected commercial sexual exploitation victimization or risk were more likely to experience increased mobility. The implications of variation in mobility for policy and practice are discussed.

Effectiveness of public-nonprofit collaboration: Transitional housing placements for foster youth in California foster care

Sunggeun Park, Nathanael J. Okpych, Mark E. Courtney, Astha Agarwal

Significance: California’s county child welfare departments increasingly rely on nonprofit organizations to administer specialized extended foster care services to TAY. In 2020, over 2,000 TAYs in California were being served by a Transitional Housing Placement (THP) administered by one of more than 60 licensed nonprofit providers. Despite significant public investments toward youth placed in THP, few studies have assessed the outcomes of TAY placed in THP and evaluated the effectiveness of nonprofit providers in producing positive outcomes for TAYs placed in their THPs.

Method: We used administrative data and survey data to examine the postsecondary education and employment outcomes of TAY served by THP between 2016 and 2018 and their experience of undesirable discharge.

Findings: Findings indicated significant differences between THP providers for each outcome after controlling for youth-, county-, and provider-level characteristics. Certain provider-level attributes—including the extent of their reliance on state government funding—were associated with young people’s outcomes. Implications for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to improve public-nonprofit collaboration and TAY outcomes are discussed.

Characteristics of Transition-Age Youth Engaging in Suicidal Behavior

Colleen C. Katz, Nathanael J. Okpych, Eden Wall, Jama Shelton, Mark E. Courtney, Anthony Gómez

Significance: Young people with child welfare experience are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers in the general population. Still, little is known about the characteristics associated with suicidal behavior among Transition-Age Youth (TAY).

Method: Using data from the CalYOUTH Study this paper examines demographic, experiential, and behavioral health characteristics associated with suicidal behavior in TAY.

Findings: Findings show that, by age 17, 40% of TAY had considered suicide, while one in four had attempted suicide. Specific subgroups, including youth who identify as female, identify as sexual minorities, have histories of maltreatment (specifically, neglect while in care), and have comorbid mental health and substance use disorders, show especially high rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. Implications for research, policy, and practice to prevent and address suicidal behaviors are discussed.

Food Insecurity among Transition-Age Youth Exiting Foster Care

Park, Sunggeun, Melanie Nadon, Nathanael J. Okpych, Justin S. Harty, Mark E. Courtney, Ivy Hammond

Significance: One in ten U.S. households experience food insecurity, which is linked to adverse health, behavioral, and social outcomes. Few studies have examined food insecurity among TAY over time and in relation to public aid (e.g., CalFresh, CalWORKS).

Study Methods: This study relied on CalYOUTH survey data and administrative records. CalYOUTH followed a sample of 727 young people over seven years as they exited foster care. Measures of CalYOUTH participants’ food insecurity status at ages 19, 21, and 23 were created using the survey data. Administrative data sources used documented food insecurity, foster care history, and youths’ earnings. Statistical models were used to investigate associations between these predictors and the probability of being food insecure.

Findings: About 30% of study participants were food insecure at ages 19, 21, and 23, despite increases in youths’ income. At the same time, results suggest that staying in extended foster care and receiving greater amounts of public benefits reduced the risk of food insecurity during the transition into adulthood.

Conclusions: Results suggest that accessibility of public benefit programs and income support represents a promising policy lever for reducing the prevalence of food insecurity among TAY. Further, given that the predictors of food insecurity change throughout the transition into adulthood, TAY’s resource and service needs may differ depending on how far along they are in their transition to adulthood.

Behavioral Health And Legal System Involvement Among Transition-age Youth In Foster Care: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Youth In California

Keunhye Park, Michelle R. Munson, Mark E. Courtney, Kierra Blair, Andrea Lane Eastman

Significance: Unmet behavioral health needs may increase the likelihood of incarceration for young people with histories of foster care, potentially leading to lasting effects into adulthood. Involvement with the legal system can complicate the transition to adulthood, impeding employment opportunities, social relationships, and the formation of identity. This study used longitudinal survey data from young people in foster care at age 17 to examine the relationships between 10 distinct behavioral health conditions and their involvement with the legal system during early adulthood.

Method: The current study involved prevalence and regression analyses using data from a longitudinal study of transition-age youth in the California foster care system—the CalYOUTH Study. Participants included young people at the onset of the transition to adulthood (ages 16.75–17.75) and who had been in the foster care. Behavioral health disorders were measured at age17 and legal system involvement was measured at follow-up interviews ages 19 and 21.

Results: More than half of the young people screened positive for a mental health or substance use disorder at age 17. Among those who later experienced legal system involvement, the most common behavioral health conditions were drug use disorders (40.2%), depression (23.8%), and alcohol use disorders (22.6%). Rates of nearly all behavioral health disorders were higher for young people who later reported legal system involvement than for those who did not. Time spent in extended care after age 18 reduced the odds of later legal system involvement.

Conclusions: This study contributes to existing research highlighting the connection between specific behavioral health conditions and legal system involvement among transition-age youth in care. The findings underscore the need for increased attention to drug use disorders among older adolescents in foster care. Our findings add to the body of the knowledge showing that foster care services provided beyond age 18 may buffer against legal system involvement.

The Role of Enduring Relationships on Youth Outcomes

Nathanael J. Okpych, Sunggeun (Ethan) Park, Jenna Powers, Justin S. Harty, Mark E. Courtney, Astha Agarwal

Significance: Child welfare policies for transition-age youth (TAY) are the subject of two significant critiques. The first is that policies strongly emphasize helping TAY build skills for independent living, even though research has found interdependent living to be healthy and normative in emerging adulthood. Second, child welfare policies prioritize legal permanence even though many legally “permanent” relationships do not last, and youth tend to define permanence in terms of the love, care, and dependability of a relationship, rather than in biological or legal terms.

Method: This study analyzes data collected by the CalYOUTH Study, which included a representative sample of over 700 TAY in California foster care at age 17 who were interview multiple times as they transitioned to adulthood. When youth were interviewed at ages 17 and 21, they were asked to name specific people they could turn to for emotional support, tangible support, and advice. In this study we identified “enduring relationships”, that is, individuals TAY named as a support person at both age 17 and age 21. Importantly, these individuals were present in TAYs’ lives as they made the transition out of foster care.

Findings: About half of study participants (48%) had an enduring relationship. Enduring relationships tended to be with biological family members, foster and adoptive parents, and individuals they described as family-like. Having an enduring relationship protected TAY from several hardships. Enduring relationships with specific types of people sometimes had specific effects on their outcomes.

Keywords: foster youth; child welfare; enduring relationships; poverty; transition-age youth