Abstract: I Have Not Gotten a Break Since COVID Hit: A Multi-Method Qualitative Study Exploring Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Parenting Foster Youth (Society for Social Work and Research 26th Annual Conference - Social Work Science for Racial, Social, and Political Justice)

Schedule:

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Marquis BR Salon 12, ML 2 (Marriott Marquis Washington, DC)

* noted as presenting author

Elizabeth Aparicio, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD

Svetlana Shpiegel, PhD, Associate Professor, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Genevieve Martinez-Garcia, PhD, Director of Innovation and Research, Healthy Teen Network, Baltimore, MD

Marissa Ventola, MSW, Graduate Research Assistant, Montclair State University, NY

Michelle Jasczynski, MEd, PhD Candidate, University of Maryland at College Park, MD

Amara Channell Doig, MPH, PhD Student, University of Maryland at College Park, MD

Alexander Sanchez, Community-Based Research Assistant, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD

Sheila VanWert, Community-Based Research Assistant, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD

Rhoda Smith, PhD, Assistant Professor, Springfield College, MA

Background and Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has inequitably affected parents with young children, exacerbating an already stressful time in families’ lives. The current study examined the experiences of the pandemic among a particularly vulnerable group of young parents, currently in or recently aged out of the foster care system.

Methods: This multi-method qualitative study included in-depth individual interviews, focus group interviews, and a PhotoVoice project with 26 parenting foster youth and foster system alumni aged 18-26 years to gain a detailed understanding of how the pandemic was affecting them and their young families. Youth were majority Black, Latinx, and non-Latinx White. Four young fathers and 22 young mothers participated. They were each parenting between one and four children. All interview sessions were transcribed verbatim. Our team analyzed each transcript using a structured thematic analysis approach, beginning with immersion into each transcript, line by line coding, developing a thematic structure, and checking the structure against the dataset before naming the themes. Youth took and captioned the PhotoVoice photographs, which we analyzed alongside the transcripts of the PhotoVoice sessions. The research team, including university professors, graduate students, community partners, and parenting former foster youth, practiced reflexivity and weekly peer debriefing throughout data collection and analysis.

Results: Young parents in and transitioning from foster care expressed many highly significant impacts of COVID-19 on their lives across domains, including mental health, education, and employment. Despite economic support being available (e.g., via federal stimulus packages), youth struggled to access services designed to help them because of eligibility and paperwork challenges. Youth described trying to use the increased time at home to be with their children and learn new skills, though acknowledged feeling a great deal of stress and isolation. When asked their opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine, youth were uncertain about whether or not they would take it themselves or, once it had been fully tested and approved, vaccinate their children. Youth expressed a desire to see what happened during the general population vaccine roll-out before making a decision.

Conclusions and Implications: The first known study of experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic among parenting foster youth and system alumni has implications for the U.S. COVID-19 mitigation plan, particularly with regard to mental health, education, economic, and vaccination supports for young adults from marginalized backgrounds. Ensuring youth are able to use stimulus-related benefits requires both outreach to young people and application support as they complete any necessary paperwork, navigating potential barriers to receipt. Addressing young adults’ concerns about the efficacy evidence COVID-19 vaccination will involve science communication via additional channels, featuring voices with racial, gender, and age diversity. Youth, particularly those who have been in foster care, need opportunities to raise their questions without judgment and to be involved in health communications regarding vaccination of their age group. As we have seen across the U.S., availability is a necessary but incomplete solution to address inequitable uptake of the vaccine as well as other COVID-19 mitigation measures across groups.