Exploring the Relationship between Foster Care Experiences and Social Network Engagement Among a Sample of Homeless Former Foster Youth

Background: Reports estimate nearly 2 million unaccompanied homeless youth aged 13-24 in the United States each year. Nearly 40% of these youth were formerly a part of the foster care system. Because social networks have been shown to impact behavioral health outcomes for both homeless youth and former foster youth and little research has been conducted on the networks of homeless former foster youth, there is a need to better understand the network characteristics of homeless young adults with a history of foster care to impact outcomes for this at-risk population. Based on the current knowledge on behavioral health outcomes and the importance of network engagement for former foster youth, this analysis seeks to better understand network characteristics of homeless former foster youth and the relationship between foster care experiences and social network engagement.

Methods: A sample of 184 homeless former foster youth living in Los Angeles participated in surveys exploring their foster care experiences and social network experiences. Egocentric network variables were taken from the network survey answered by the youth regarding their social networks. Measures of alter centrality, network density, and average total ties were created from the egocentric network data to provide context to the larger social network. Two types of network-based variables were used for this analysis. First, variables regarding the types of ties present in individuals’ networks were used. Second, variables regarding the behaviors of individuals’ ties were used. Logistic regressions were run to determine the relationship between foster care experiences and social network engagement.

Results: Results indicated that youths whose alters did have a history of foster care had more alters engaging in drug use behaviors, including methamphetamines and injection drug use. Further analyses indicated that foster care experiences such as time spent in foster care, number of foster care placements, and homelessness experiences before transitioning out of foster care were significantly associated with the type of alter reported in the youths’ networks.

Discussion: These results suggest that certain foster care experiences and risk factors within foster care negatively impact the types of alters with which youths engage. Frequent network disruptions may be associated in some way with engagement with risky alters. From the current study, experiences of foster care impacted the types of potentially positive interactions the youths had with socializing agents, such as alters from home or alters they consider friends, while putting youth at risk for negative interactions with socializing agents who engage in risky sex and drug behaviors. Additionally, because network behaviors impact an individual’s behaviors, these analyses have far-reaching implications for the behavioral health of homeless former foster youth. These results can be broadly applied to a number of health and behavioral health interventions. Thus far, research has focused on the use of social networks to target health outcomes among homeless youth but has not considered those experiences unique to youth with a foster care history.