Navigating Parenthood: Exploring Parenting Strategies Among Youth Aging out of Foster Care

Background: In the United States, youth transitioning out of foster care experience a rate of pregnancy and early child-rearing that is up to three times higher than among their non-foster-care-involved peers, highlighting a significant and pressing disparity. In addition to early child-rearing, youth aging out of foster care also experience many challenges transitioning into adulthood, including economic and housing insecurity, low educational attainment, unemployment, substance abuse, and mental health concerns. Parenting may be further complicated by experiences of trauma and maltreatment and a lack of positive parenting role models. As a result, approximately 20 to 40% of children born to parents who aged out of foster care are themselves involved in the child welfare system. To date, little is known about specific parenting strategies utilized by parents who have aged out of foster care, which could facilitate implementing community-level interventions tailored to young persons’ parenting strategies. To deepen our understanding of parenting strategies and needs among parents who aged out of foster care, this study aimed to explore strategies used by these parents to raise and discipline their children.

Method: The study sample was selected from a nonprofit agency dedicated to serving young people who aged out of foster care, offering a wide range of services in an east north central urban city. Seventeen young parents completed in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. The interview guide was developed to explore specific parenting strategies used in various contexts (e.g., how did you respond when your child misbehaved?; how have your childhood experiences influenced your current parenting strategies?). The interviews were recorded and transcribed. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used to understand parenting experiences and facilitate a deeper understanding of the phenomena uncovered in the interviews. To enhance rigor, we employed peer consultations, member checking, and prolonged engagement.

Results: Three distinct themes emerged from the interviews. First, despite facing life challenges and being inexperienced, the parents in our study expressed profound love for their children and a commitment to providing a different childhood than their own. Second, no participants favored spanking; they shared their personal experiences of being spanked as children, described it as ineffective, and expressed a desire to spare their children from similar experiences. Lastly, when asked about positive parenting strategies, the participants indicated that they were not well-versed in alternative, healthy parenting strategies, but expressed a keen interest in learning more about them.

Conclusions/Implications: Our study provides a unique opportunity to understand specific parenting strategies among young parents who have aged out of foster care. Moreover, our findings offer insights about such parents’ strengths that will enable the development of appropriate interventions. These interventions will support parents in evolving their strategies to better serve their children and identify the best media channels for reaching them. Additionally, the study will inform policies and practices aimed at breaking the cycle of intergenerational child welfare involvement.