The California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH), the most comprehensive longitudinal study of TAY in foster care, evaluated implementation of California's foster care extension. The CalYOUTH study interviewed TAY in foster care at ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, surveyed caseworkers, and analyzed government administrative records on youths' maltreatment and foster care histories, education, earnings, and public aid. Baseline interviews were conducted in 2013 with a stratified statewide sample of 727 youth aged 16.75-17.75 with at least six months in care (95% response rate). Follow-up interviews were conducted with 84% (n=611) in 2015, 85% (n=616) in 2017, and 86% (n=622) in 2019-2020 of baseline sample. The CalYOUTH study concluded data collection in 2022, but ongoing data analysis continues to yield valuable insights on the experiences and outcomes of TAY in foster care. These findings inform policy and practice improvements to better support this vulnerable population.
Building on these achievements while housed at the University of Chicago, the CalYOUTH study has transitioned to the Transition-Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub) within the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at UC Berkeley, bolstering California's capacity to generate and analyze data on TAY in care. The TAY-Hub successfully launched a publicly available data portal on outcomes of TAY in California, which enables access to vital descriptive and outcome data about TAY currently or previously in foster care. The TAY-Hub specializes in research related to policies and practices affecting transition-age youth by monitoring outcomes and through applied research. This work is grounded in engagement with members of the child welfare services community, including those with lived experience of foster care. Current and planned work includes additional targeted research using California child welfare data and matching to administrative data related to key outcomes in education, employment, births, and public benefits.
This symposium features presentations addressing longstanding gaps in policy and practice, as identified by communities of interest, including: the development of independent living plans, factors associated with placement mobility, identification of subgroups with distinct profiles, mitigating the likelihood of incarceration, and trends in outcomes for parenting youth. Findings have implications for implementation of the Fostering Connections Act and for targeting services to transition-age youth with experience in foster care.