Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

The transition to adulthood has become an increasingly ambiguous, complex, and less uniform period (Furstenberg, Rumbaut, and Settersten, 2005), with young people gradually moving toward independence, exploring educational and occupational options, and forming intimate relationships, while still relying on the support and guidance of families and formal institutions. The many challenges facing foster youth making the transition to adulthood are well documented (see Courtney and Hughes, 2005). They enter the transition with low levels of education and few will make gains during the transition (Courtney, Piliavin, Grogan-Kaylor, & Nesmith, 2001). In addition, these vulnerable young people face the challenge of avoiding involvement in the criminal justice system. Although debated due to methodological issues, studies generally show a positive association between maltreatment and crime (McCord, 1983; Widom, 1989; Smith and Thornberry, 1995; Maxfield and Widom, 1996), thus young people placed in out-of-home care for reasons of abuse or neglect may be at risk for offending. It follows then, that individuals placed in out-of-home care typically have higher rates of criminal justice system involvement than their peers (see McCord et al., 1960; Barth, 1990; Courtney et al., 2001; Cusick and Courtney, 2007).

In spite of increased risk, not all young people aging out of care get in trouble with the law. Many follow pathways into adulthood marked by more success than failure. In this paper, we examine which factors put young people aging out of care at increased risk for arrest as they transition to adulthood. Specifically, we look at the importance of connections to families, educational and employment settings, and the child welfare system in reducing the risk of arrest during the early transition period.

Methods

We utilize event history analyses to examine the effect of such connections on time to arrest among a sample of young people aging out of the child welfare systems across three Midwestern states. Respondents were first interviewed at ages 17-18 and official arrest records were evaluated over the following four years.

Results

Results of a Cox proportional hazard model indicate that the time to first arrest after the interview was significantly shorter among youth who were male, African American, had a prior arrest, and had a substance abuse diagnosis. We also found that some support for the hypothesis that young people who approach the transition to adulthood with connections to education and employment had lower risk for arrest during the early transition to adulthood. In particular, young people with plans to attend college and who were employed had a lower risk for arrest.

Conclusions

Results of this paper suggest that young people aging out of foster care can benefit from connections to employment and education. Although they face many challenges as they begin the transition to adulthood, opportunities and encouragement for involvement in school and work may help to put youth aging out of care on a positive pathway into adulthood. Implications for helping young people prepare for the transition to adulthood are discussed.