Developing the Capacity of Foster Care Youth Through Life Skills Training: A Case Study

Purpose: Outcome studies of youths who have “aged out” of foster care reveal the difficulties they frequently experience, such as homelessness, unemployment, and dependence on public assistance (Courtney and Piliavin, 1995; McMillen and Tucker, 1999; Courtney, Dworsky, Keller, Havlicek, & Bost, 2005). Independent Living Programs (ILP's), the hallmark of which is life skills training, are one strategy used to improve the outcomes of youths exiting foster care. Although limited, studies suggest that youths' participation in ILP's is associated with improved outcomes (i.e. Scannapieco, Schagrin, & Scannapieco, 1995; Baker, Olson, & Mincer, 2000; Lemon, Hines, & Merdinger, 2005). The purpose of this study was to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the life skills training component of an ILP to gain insights into how these programs might be used to develop the capacities of youth who are preparing to “age out” of foster care. Specifically, the study examined program implementation, perceived effectiveness, and the program's influence on the resilience, social support, and life skills acquisition of participants.

Method: A case study design was used to obtain a “thick description” of a life skills training program. The sample included 16 ethnically diverse youths, and 9 state ILP caseworkers. Data were collected during the seven-week training program through in-depth interviews with youth participants, surveys of ILP caseworkers, and administration of standardized measures of resilience, social support, and life skills to youth participants. Quantitative data were analyzed using Paired Sample T-Tests. Interviews were analyzed using facets of Mayring's (2000) approach to qualitative content analysis. Data were triangulated by source and cross-compared.

Results:

Youths and caseworkers agreed that the life skills program needed far more experiential activities and emphasis on intangible (“soft”) skills. Caseworkers viewed foster care youths as resilient with a strong sense of family, which was similar to youths' views of themselves and their connections to family. The change in scores from pre- to posttest on the measure of social support was statistically significant (p=.006; p<.05), while the change in scores on measures of resilience and life skills was not. Although the change in total scores on the life skills assessment was not statistically significant, the change in scores in the domain of “housing and money management” was statistically significant, and the only domain to include an experiential activity in addition to classroom teachings. Consistent with their high scores on the social support measure were youths' descriptions of family members as their greatest sources of social and emotional support. In addition, their high scores on the measure of resilience were consistent with their verbal expressions of optimism, empathy, and future aspirations, all of which are considered internal assets by the standardized measure of resilience.

Implications: Study findings offer important insights into how programs such as this might be used to develop the strengths and capacities of youth who are preparing to “age out” of foster care. This study also has important implications for development of strength-based training programs, and for use of strengths-based theories and capacity-building frameworks in independent living research and practice.