Download or read book Exploring the Correlates of Adult Outcomes Amongst Aging Out Foster Youth A Policy Analysis of the Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2008 written by Rori Elizabeth Austin and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About half a million children live in foster care (Petit& Curtis, 1997; Risley-Curtiss, 1997; Stoner, 1999as cited by Geogiades, 2005b). Adolescents are a significant portion of the foster care population and at any given moment there are approximately 20,000 youth exiting foster care each year as a result of reaching 18 years of age (Scannapieco, Connell-Carrick, & Painter, 2007; Geenen & Powers, 2007). Historically, youth aging out of foster care will experience negative adult outcomes in the areas of employment and educational attainment. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the objective, values, theoretical goals, outcomes and implications of The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FCSIA). FCSIA was designed to aid foster youth aging out of foster care by extending services and care until the age 21.

Download or read book Outcomes of Older Foster Youth written by Evelyn Rogel and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foster youth who are in the system often have experienced a type of abuse, neglect or other experiences that can impact their health and overall well-being; these challenges can negatively impact their education, mental health, and employment status as they grow older into adults and attempt to transition to independent living (California Department of Social Services, n.d.). One of the most significant changes that occurred in the child welfare system in California was the implementation of a policy to extend the age for foster youth from 18 to 21 allowing them to stay in the system and receive foster care services as they transition to independent living. This policy is known as the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, also known as Assembly Bill (AB) 12 (AB12, 2010). Under the AB 12 policy, the implementation of the Extended Foster Care (EFC) Program allowed foster youth to participate in support services that would allow them to stay until the age of 21 (California Department of Social Services, n.d.). The purpose of this graduate project was to conduct a policy analysis on the California Assembly Bill 12 (Extended Foster Care, 2021) to determine if the provisions of the policy have helped older foster youth to have a successful and resourceful transition into adulthood. Using the Critical Race Theory framework, the analysis will determine if the overall outcomes for older foster youth exiting the foster care system differs based on age, gender, race. Findings from the project will help to determine how policy AB 12 has benefited older foster youth exiting the system.

Download or read book AB12 written by Evie Christensen and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the Children's Law Center of California (2015), there are over 33,000 children in foster care in Los Angeles County. Foster youth that left foster care at age 18 encountered barriers, which put them at higher risk for homelessness and lower academic achievement, which contributes to the poor outcomes of this population (Jones, 2019). To help improve outcomes of these foster youth, the State of California signed into law Assembly Bill 12 (AB12), Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB12; 2010). The Fostering Connections to Success Act allows current and former foster youth to extend foster care services voluntarily and remain in foster care until the age of twenty-one years, as non-minor dependents (NMD). The focus of Extended Foster Care is to increase favorable outcomes for NMDs by preparing them for their transition into self-sufficient adults. This policy analysis explores whether the Extended Foster Care provisions included in AB12 have achieved the intended goals of supporting transitional age foster youth, utilizing the Jimenez Theory Framework (Jimenez, Chambers, Pasztor, & Fujii, 2015).

Download or read book Policy Analysis Using a Critical Race Framework written by Emma Reyes Calles and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Youth exiting foster care and those who have been emancipated are vulnerable to negative outcomes and may ultimately return to the care of the state as adults through the public welfare, criminal justice or other systems (Fernandes-Alcantara, 2019). The purpose of this graduate project was to conduct a policy analysis of California Fostering Connections to Success Act also known as Assembly Bill 12 (AB12). AB12 allows foster youth in California who turn 18 to choose to stay in extended foster care until their 21st birthday and to receive extensions of services. Using a critical race theory framework designed by Delgado and Stefancic (2010), this graduate project will analyze AB12 specifically to examine the impact of the bill on foster youth who received extended care services as compared to youth who did not receive extended foster care services. Findings from this policy analysis will offer information on the impact of extended care services and help to create more equitable and safe transitions for youth as they leave the foster care system. Key words: AB12, transitional aged youth, foster care, non-minor dependents, transition from foster care to adulthood, aging out of foster care, California's Fostering Connections to Success Act.

Download or read book Policy Analysis of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 written by Florence I. Obasi and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze a United States federal child welfare policy: the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. The researcher analyzed the legislation using a modified version of David Gil's model and methodology for social policy analysis. Findings indicated that youth aging out of foster care are among the country's most vulnerable population and state continued support is needed for successful transition into adulthood. The policy's intention is to allow states option of extending care to youth up to age 21, and with the amendment of Title IV-E states get reimbursed for making provisions for extension of services. The intention of the policy is to strengthen the programs for youth in transition, get youth permanently connected, put less restrictive eligibility criteria on youth, and improve existing systems of care for children. The implications of social work practice, research and policy were discussed.

Download or read book Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Policy Analysis of the California Fostering Connections to Success Act written by Mercy Zamani and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This study is a policy analysis of the California Fostering Connections to Success Act (2012). The policy was intended to address the negative outcomes associated with the over 4,000 youth leaving foster care yearly in California. Findings from this analysis indicated that former foster youth were found to struggle with homelessness, unemployment, low education attainment, poverty, incarceration and dependence on government assistance to a greater extent than their peers. States that extended foster care past age 18 demonstrated benefits that were not necessarily sustained on a long term basis in comparison to states that ended care at age 18. This study concluded that while extending foster care to youth offers temporary support, common practice should involve early interventions like teaching discipline, goal setting, independence and accountability as well as fostering nurturing connections and relationships with significant individuals in the child's life. Permanent adult connections were found to play significant roles in youth's attaining self-sufficiency.

Download or read book Aged Out the Perceptions and Experiences of Marginalized Foster Care Youth Transitioning to Independence written by Jodie Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Every day several young adults turn 18 and age out of the foster care system, beginning their journey to independence. While federal policies such as the Fostering Connections to Success Act have been created to help minimize the challenges experienced by foster youth as they transition out of foster care, many reported still having challenges during and after their transition in the areas of unemployment, homelessness, lower educational attainment, and limited social connections. Thus, resulting in questions regarding the sufficiency of these resources and programs that are meant to generate successful outcomes for former foster youth during their transition. Additionally, existing research does not adequately account for the additional stressors that Black and Latinx foster youth encounter while transitioning out of foster care. This study addressed these gaps through the following research questions: 1) What are the experiences of marginalized foster youth who are aging out of foster care? 2) How does this group of transition age foster youth conceptualize what a successful transition means? 3) According to this group of transition age foster youth, what are the barriers and facilitative factors associated with a successful transition. This study utilized grounded theory to analyze data gathered from participant interviews. Findings revealed that all the participants experienced racial discrimination while in foster care, participants identified extended foster care programs and social supports as most helpful for a successful transition and reported still having unmet needs after aging out despite the resources they received. Study limitations, as well as implications for research and advocacy are discussed. Keywords: marginalized youth, transition age foster youth, aging out, foster care, vulnerable population, foster care alum" -- Abstract

Download or read book Fostering Connections to Success Act written by Diana Namuco Alcantara and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This study utilized David Gil's framework to politically analyze the California Fostering Connections to Success Act of 2010. The unfavorable outcomes for the youth were evident since the passing of Independent Living Initiative in 1986 and the Foster Care Independence Act in 1999. After 25 years, history continues to reflect the harsh reality, challenges, and poor outcomes in various domains such as education, socioeconomic status, housing, criminal involvement, and utilization of public aid as youth transitioned to self sufficiency. The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act became a law in 2008 and revolutionized the child welfare policies and programs with the goal of enhancing the outcomes of the welfare of the children and by extending the foster care services for the young adults in foster care ages 18 to 21. This important piece of legislation is optional for each state and California elected to participate by passing the California Fostering to Success Act also known as Assembly Bill 12 in October 2010. This study delved into the problems and challenges youth often experienced during transition from the child welfare system, the relevant legislations promoting better outcomes for our former foster youth, the significance of A.B. 12, the anticipated outcomes for the young adults in foster care, the impact and implications on social work practice, and lastly, the importance of future research.

Download or read book California s Fostering Connections to Success Act AB 12 written by Cassandra Jara and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Foster youth leaving the child welfare system have been shown to have poorer outcomes in educational attainment, employment, and housing when compared to adults in the general population. To address the needs of youth exiting foster care, California passed The Fostering Connections to Success Act in 2010, AB 12. This legislation sought to address the unmet needs of foster youth, by extending foster care services until the age of 21. The author utilized David Gil's (1992) policy framework to analyze the purpose and objectives of this policy, review the intended and unintended effects of this legislation, and provide implications for future research, policy and practice.

Download or read book Employment Outcomes for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Characterizing Communication Between Transition aged Foster Youth and Their Social Workers written by Sabrina Marion Richardson and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New policy efforts to support transition-aged foster youth (TAY) were implemented through the 2008 Federal Fostering Connections to Success Act in response to studies showing a) that foster youth who exit the child welfare system at 18 struggle in multiple domains during the transition to adulthood, and b) extended foster care supports through age 21 are associated with improved adaptation. However, there remains a need to clarify factors that influence policy uptake by TAY. Youths' and workers' satisfaction with the foster care service provision process may influence youths' decision making regarding whether or not to opt out of extended care and the quality of social workers' service provision, respectively. This study examined communication characteristics between TAY and their social workers as related to youth- and worker-reported satisfaction and relationship quality. Youth-worker dyads (N = 51; M=18.69 years, SD = .44; 56.9% female) were audio-recorded during a routine monthly meeting. Instrumental and affective communication features were rated in 5-minute samples of full speech, verbal content (i.e., transcripts), and non-verbal tone (i.e., content filtered speech). Principle Component Analyses (PCA) identified primary communication factors of TAY and social workers. Bivariate analyses revealed significant correlations among communication factors within and across channels, as well as with youths' and workers' reported satisfaction and perceived relationship quality. Youth expressed their true feelings about their workers and foster care in their full speech, and, relatedly, workers were most attuned to features of youth communication present in full speech. In contrast, workers expressed their true feelings about the youth in the content of their speech, and relatedly, youth were most attuned to features of worker communication present in the transcribed content of workers' speech. At the dyadic level, planned contrasts evaluated the importance of communicative congruence between workers and youth. Workers were responsive to congruence in positivity, whereas youth were more responsive to congruence in negativity. These findings highlight the relevance of communication-based research and training for applied efforts to support TAY in and beyond the child welfare system.

Download or read book It s Personal written by Chris Lee and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Close to 20,000 youth age out of foster care into early adulthood every year, hard pressed to achieve independence at an accelerated pace. Most current state policies require youth to leave foster care between ages 18 to 21, leading to considerably more compressed transition periods than what is typically found among the general population. Though not true of all youth who age out of care, low levels of educational attainment, great economic and housing instability, and generally poor adjustment is well documented among former foster youth in adulthood. In response, legislative efforts have targeted the needs of older youth in foster care for over three decades, primarily focused on teaching youth practical skills for independent living. However, the efficacy of existing independent living skills programs is unclear, resulting in a lack of clarity regarding "what works" in supporting youth during their transition to adulthood. "Soft" resources and skills, such as adult identity and level of personal agency, are also often missing from living skills programs and may be just as important in facilitating stable transitions and nurturing readiness to take on the challenges of adulthood. This study investigated transitions to adulthood among youth who aged out of foster care in California. The study sought to move beyond previous research by exploring the utility of a theoretical framework, Côté's identity capital model, for explaining differential pathways to adulthood among youth aging out of care. The first study question examined housing pathways taken by youth after aging out of care, following commonly used models in demographic analyses of pathways in transitions to adulthood. The three remaining research questions focused more specifically on the identity capital model, and explored constructs of adult identity and agency in relation to youth functioning after exiting the foster care system. Similar to patterns found among youth in the general population, more than a few youth in the study sample relied on supportive relatives or non-related adults for housing during their transition to adulthood. Many youth in the sample also lived in their own place, and in fact, this was the most common housing status observed among the study sample, by far. Furthermore, very few youth left and returned to a relative home or transitional housing, suggesting youth accessed these housing safety nets on a limited basis. Cronbach's alpha estimates and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) indicated that previously validated scales used to measure adult identity and agency had low reliability and validity in use with the current study sample. Similarly, CFA goodness-of-fit tests indicated a poor fit of model constructs and indicators to data of the current study sample.

Download or read book Strengthening Social Networks of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care written by Rachel Rosenberg and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the transition to adulthood, youth often rely on the people in their life for support. However, for transition-aged foster youth, these supports may not be available or may look different than supports available to youth in the general population. Relationships with supportive adults have been found to help former foster youth transition to adulthood, but little is known about the adults youth have in their network. Foster youth who report increased levels of social capital have been shown to experience higher levels of success in young adulthood. However, as former foster youth transition to adulthood, a lack of in-depth understanding of supportive adults and social networks creates difficulties identifying--and addressing--potential gaps in their social network. This study aims to gain a better understanding of how social networks influence social support and access to and mobilization of social capital as youth leave the foster care system. A social network assessment based on two existing measures was created to attain a better understanding of the social networks of transition-aged foster youth. The new social network tool was piloted with a group of young adults prior to use in this study. This social network tool allowed for an in-depth understanding of social networks, social support, and social capital as three distinct constructs. The social network characteristics included: on whom the youth relies for support, how the relationship developed, and the closeness of the relationship. Social support included: questions on the type of support available to youth (resources, emotional, advice, or constructive criticism), as well as the social support domains (housing, education, employment, relationships, and transportation). Social capital was examined based on questions about network members' occupation(s) and frequency of communication between the youth and each network member. Univariate, Bivariate, and Multivariate analyses were utilized to examine social network characteristics, foster care history, social support, and social capital. The mean network size of sample participants was 7.1 and the range was 0--36. A relationship between placement type and social network members was found; indicating that youth in congregate care were more likely to have formal (social service related) networks than youth not in congregate care. A relationship between having more informal network members and housing stability was found; indicating that different network members may help youth with different young adult outcomes. A relationship between both access to, and mobilization of, social capital was found based on the type of social network members (formal, informal, familial-biological, familial-foster). Based on the findings of the current study, research and practice implications are discussed. These include the utility of social network analysis with transition-aged foster youth, future lines of inquiry, and suggested practice/policy shifts.

Download or read book Life after Foster Care written by Loring Paul Jones and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-08-17 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book apprises readers of the present conditions of former and emancipated foster youth, provides evidence-based best practices regarding their experiences, and proposes new policies for ensuring better outcomes for these children upon discharge from foster care. For most American youth, the transition to adulthood is gradual and aided by support from parents and others. In contrast, foster youth are expected to arrive at self-sufficiency abruptly and without the same level of support. Such an expectation may be due in part to what Loring Paul Jones has found in his research: that many of the studies conducted thus far have been fragmented and incomplete, often focusing on a particular state or agency that may follow policies not applicable nationwide. This book connects the dots between these disparate studies to provide child welfare practitioners, policy makers, and students with a broader picture of the state of American youth following discharge from foster care. It examines not only child welfare policies but also related policies in areas such as housing and education that may contribute to the success or failure of foster youth in society. It additionally draws lessons from successful programs to provide readers with the tools needed to develop foster and after-care systems that more closely mirror the support afforded to youth in the general population.

Download or read book Achieving Permanence for Older Children and Youth in Foster Care written by Benjamin Kerman and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-18 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a novel integration of child welfare data, policy analysis, and evidence-informed youth permanency practice, the essays in this volume show how to achieve and sustain family permanence for older children and youth in foster care. Researchers examine what is known about permanency outcomes for youth in foster care, how the existing knowledge base can be applied to improve these outcomes, and the directions that future research should take to strengthen youth permanence practice and policy. Part 1 examines child welfare data concerning reunification, adoption, and relative custody and guardianship and the implications for practice and policy. Part 2 addresses law, regulation, court reform, and resource allocation as vital components in achieving and sustaining family permanence. Contributors examine the impact of policy change created by court reform and propose new federal and state policy directions. Part 3 outlines a range of practices designed to achieve family permanence for youth in foster care: preserving families through community-based services, reunification, adoption, and custody and guardianship arrangements with relatives. As growing numbers of youth continue to "age out" of foster care without permanent families, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have increasingly focused on developing evidence-informed policies, practices, services and supports to improve outcomes for youth. Edited by leading professionals in the field, this text recommends the most relevant and effective methods for improving family permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care.

Download or read book Fostering Employment An Evaluation of AB 12 and Its Effectiveness in Improving the Employment Outcomes of Foster Youth Exiting Care written by Katherine Brianna Farina and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transition to adulthood can be daunting, particularly for youth exiting the foster care system. Foster youth face unique challenges in this transition and have been found to experience negative outcomes across a variety of domains, especially employment. A key piece of legislation in California, the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, also known as AB 12 or Extended Foster Care (EFC), was enacted to improve the outcomes of foster youth by extending foster care until age 21. The current study evaluated AB 12's effectiveness in improving employment outcomes for foster youth exiting care in California. This study conducted a policy analysis of the AB 12 legislation and examined data from the California Child Welfare Indicators Project (CCWIP) regarding employment outcomes. The study investigated trends in employment rates of foster youth exiting care. The results indicated that employment rates of foster youth exiting care have increased, particularly following the enactment of AB 12. However, youth exiting foster care at a younger age (18 or 19) had lower employment rates. Also, the receipt of Independent Living Program (ILP) services was associated with higher rates of employment for foster youth exiting care. The important conclusion of this study was that AB 12 had a favorable impact on the employment rates of foster youth exiting care.