Title: Foster Care Alumni: A Phenomenological Examination of the Journey from Emancipation to Middle Adulthood

Purpose: Middle adulthood is considered the last frontier of developmental research, often overlooked in favor of understanding other developmental periods. Middle adulthood is essential to the cohesiveness of the life span and is highly malleable. Such malleability has proven to be of vital importance in healthy aging for marginalized groups, including foster care alumni. Understanding needs and experiences during this time provides insight into what services, programs, and supports are needed to successfully emancipate youth from care. Presently, little is known about the functioning of foster care alumni during middle adulthood. As such this study has two aims 1) Understand the current functioning of adults between the ages of 30-59 who aged out of foster care and; 2) gain insight into the journey of each participant from the moment they exited care as a young adult into middle adulthood.

Methods: This qualitative inquiry employed an interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA) to understand the narratives of middle-aged adults who aged out of foster care. In order to be eligible for the study participants must have emancipated from foster care in the United States and presently be between the ages of 30-59. Recruitment was done solely through social media platforms (Facebook, Reddit, Twitter) as a means to appear before a vast audience. The sample consisted of 22 adults ranging in age from 30-54. Participants were interviewed using a loosely structured interview guide, whereby they were asked to walk through their life from the time they emancipated care until the present day. Additionally, the Quality of Life Inventory was administered to all participants in order to triangulate their reported current functioning and overall quality of life and increase rigor. Interviews were then transcribed verbatim and coded using an IPA framework.

Findings:   Participants in this study presented their stories from the time they aged out of foster care ending with the present day. The period between the ages of 18 and 30 years old was one that was highly chaotic. By 30 years old, these participants became virtually indistinguishable from adults without a history of foster care and had achieved levels of educational attainment, financial stability, and quality of life that mirrored national trends for individuals in middle adulthood. Participants credited relationships with non-traditional supports (boyfriend’s family, employers, and educational personnel) and educational attainment as key factors in their stability at midlife. However, stigma associated with foster care also substantially influenced participants. Compelling quotes and a discussion of the journey from emancipation to middle adulthood will be shared in the full presentation.

Conclusions and Implications:  These findings illuminate important levers for practitioners working both with youth presently emancipating from care and adults who emancipated many years ago. Namely, the need to facilitate relationships with non-traditional supports, reduce barriers to educational attainment, and provide interventions to reduce the stigma associated with the foster care experience. Focusing on midlife and its immense plasticity, findings and implications address the dual grand challenges of ensuring healthy development for all youth and the ability to advance long and productive lives.