The Role of Perceived Trust in Establishing Positive Relationships Between Foster Care Youth and Child Welfare Caseworkers

Background and Purpose: Each year approximately 25,000 youth exit foster care due to age restrictions.  It is well established in the literature that foster youth are at high risk for negative outcomes during the transition to adulthood including homelessness, unemployment, health and mental health issues, pregnancy and criminal involvement.  Federal legislation provides a legal framework for assisting youth in developing permanent relationships with non-parental adults.  Empirical research demonstrates that supportive relationships with adults may serve as a protective factor for youth leading to improved psychosocial outcomes as they transition out of foster care. Multiple studies have examined the nature and quality of foster care youths’ relationships with various types of non-parental adults however to our knowlege no studies focus specifically on transitioning foster youths’ perceptions of their relationships with child welfare caseworkers. The present study fills an important gap in the literature by answering the research questions: 1) What characteristics do older foster care youth perceive as important in establishing positive relationships with caseworkers, and 2) What forms of support do older foster care youth seek surrounding decision making focused on permanency and transitional planning.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 18 youth, aged 18-21, residing in foster care in New York City.  All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim.  Interview transcripts were entered into Hyper-Research, qualitative software that allows data to be organized, searched and coded.  Data was analyzed using thematic analysis, including a cursory review of the data, developing initial codes, applying initial codes to additional data, expanding upon the codes, collating the codes into potential themes, and building a thematic map. Data analysis focused on gaining a deeper understanding of foster youths’ perceptions of the nature and quality of relationships with child welfare staff. 

Results: Foster care youths’ perceptions of their relationship with child welfare caseworkers depended on the level of support they received, moving from no support, to formal support (i.e. information, advice, tangible aid, resources), to a combination of formal and emotional support (i.e. empathy, trust, caring). Youth in the study reported perceived trust as a key characteristic in establishing supportive relationships with agency staff.  When youth perceived their relationship with agency staff to be characterized by trust, they reported being more open to sharing information, soliciting advice, information and/or guidance when making important decisions.  When relationships were perceived to lack trust, youth reported being reluctant opening up to staff and receiving support around decision-making. Three interconnected subthemes of perceived trust included: case continuity, non-judgmental listening, and transcending roles.

Implications: Child welfare caseworkers are in a unique position to provide foster care youth with multiple forms of support. Although youth in the study valued caseworkers who provided instrumental support such as information and resources, they placed greater emphasis on caseworkers who provided emotional support, including trust, listening, empathizing and understanding their views.  Implications for social work policy and practice will focus on building the capacity of the child welfare workforce through enhancing the supervision, training and professional development of casework staff.