Young Adults from Foster Care: A Comparative Analysis

Young adults who aged out of foster care are among the nation's most vulnerable populations. Research has indicated that this population is at risk for a host of adverse outcomes. However, little is known about aspects of foster care itself that have an impact on emotional and social well-being in young adulthood and on specific risky behaviors such as substance abuse and unsafe sexual behaviors. Furthermore, studies have not explored whether young adults from foster care who participate in research are similar to those who do not participate in terms of key foster care variables, although this has implications for research with this population. This paper will present preliminary results from a study which aims to explore the effect placement stability while in foster care has on emotional and social well-being, on risky behaviors in young adulthood, and whether or not emotional and social well-being mediates the relationship between placement stability and risky behaviors. The primary focus of this presentation will be: 1) to describe the study participants' emotional and social well-being and risky behaviors, and 2) to compare the foster care variables of those in the study sample to randomly selected groups of young adults from foster care who did not participate in the study.

Recruitment packets were mailed to 1285 young adults identified by the state's public child welfare agency. Interviewees participated in one hour interviews which asked about: educational attainment, employment, housing, preparation for independent living, substance use, sexual behaviors, and their foster care placements. Three standardized instruments were administered to assess emotional and social well-being. Three foster care variables were abstracted from the state's administrative data: length of time in care, placement stability, and placement type at age 18. These variables for 100 young adults who participated in the interview were compared to 100 randomly selected young adults who did not participate in the interview and were receiving voluntary services from the state agency, and to 100 randomly selected young adults who did not participate in the interview but were not receiving voluntary services using ANOVA analysis.

The descriptive statistics for the major variables in the interview will be presented along with a discussion of the prevalence of substance use, condom use and contraceptives among the study sample. Additionally the results of the ANOVAs will be presented along with a discussion of whether or not the study sample is reflective of all young adults who age out of care in terms of their foster care experiences.

The results of this research will be used to better understand how factors in foster care can affect the emotional and social well-being and high risk behaviors of young adults who have aged out of care. Furthermore, having an understanding of whether or not those who participated in the study are similar to those who did not in terms of their foster care experiences provides a clearer picture of those whose experiences are not reflected in research and has implications for the generalizability of research findings with this population.