This presentation describes an ecological approach to the transition to adulthood for young adults with disabilities who experience foster care. Recommendations for practice are included.

1. THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD FOR YOUNG
ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES WHO EXPERIENCED
FOSTER CARE:
AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH
Email: robin@ lifeeducationtravel.org
Robin Harwick, PhD

2. BACKGROUND
• Approximately 65,000 youth
in out of home care in the US
are between the ages of 16
and 201
• Almost 21,000 young adults
emancipate (or “age out”) of
foster care each year in the
US2
Youth transition abruptly from being supported being
completely on their own
Negative outcomes as
adults3;
underemployment,
low educational
attainment,
homelessness,
early parenthood,
involvement with the
justice system,
and mental health issues.

3. DISABILITY AND FOSTER CARE IN THE US
• 40 - 47% of youth in foster care receive special
education4
• Even lower educational achievement & greater risk of
negative adult outcomes; than peers without
disabilities5
• Primary disability label of Emotional Disturbance6
• Only 16% graduate from High School
• 18 % percent of the youth that left school did so
because they were incarceratedLong term outcomes for youth with disabilities who
experience foster care are worse than their peers who
experience foster care and do not have a disability

4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What were the perceived
barriers during transition to
employment or post
secondary education
settings?
What services and supports
helped the most in
overcoming the barriers?

5. METHODS
• Grounded theory approach
• Semi-structured interviews (2x)
• Young adults with disabilities that
experienced foster care
• Focus Group
• Professionals serving the
population under study
“[W]hat could be truer, after
all, than a subject’s own
account of what he or she
has lived through?”
(Scott, 1991)

6. Note: Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Emotional Disturbance (ED), Mental Health
(MH), Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder (BP).
SELF-REPORTED DEMOGRAPHIC
CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPANTS

7. SELF-REPORTED DEMOGRAPHIC
CHARACTERISTICS OF FOCUS GROUP
PARTICIPANTS
Note: Community Based Organization
(CBO)

8. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
• Emergent themes could be mapped on to an
ecological model
• Barriers encountered or services/supports that
were helpful were identified in all layers of the
model
• For brevity, only major findings within the
exosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem are
outlined in this presentation
• Our model can be useful during transition
planning meetings – to create youth centered
goals and promote interagency collaboration

9. BASIC ECOLOGICAL MODEL
(BRONFENBRENNER, 1979)
The model highlights the importance of social context
and relationships in developmental processes

10. ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD FOR
YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES WHO EXPERIENCE FOSTER CARE

11. SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND LAWS
(EXOSYSTEM) : BARRIERS
“I was just going to give up
on high school, because I
was switching so much.”
~ Sandra
“I knew people paid bills, but I
didn't know how to do it... I
guess my whole like,
independent living/getting ready
for college, nobody had, like,
taught me. It was something that
everybody told me, it was
something I had to do, but
nobody really talked about how
to do it.
~ Mona• Inconsistent and inadequate
ILPs to prepare youth for
adulthood (YA)
• Inadequate service delivery
model for foster care (FG)
• Lack of national high school
graduation requirements (YA)

12. EXOSYSTEM : WHAT HELPED?
• Mental health and disability services
(YA/FG)
• Adult Disability services
• Access to mental health services/counseling
• Systems that provided a “safety net” during
transition (YA/FG)
• Foster care to age 21
• Social welfare programs for homeless
youth
• Specialized university funding for alumni of
foster care

13. MESOSYSTEM (INTERACTIONS*): BARRIERS
• Frequent placement changes (YA/FG)
• Inappropriate disability or mental
health diagnosis (YA/FG)
Somebody put me down as borderline retarded
{laughs} and I'm not, and the school ran with it and I
was like where did this come from? … And they were
like, ‘it's in your file’ and I was like, ‘oh {laughs} that's
great to know,’ because I was in sixth grade…they had
different levels so they were putting me in the lower
end of special ed. ~Mona
* Mesosystem in this model represent both the complex interactions
that occur within the microsystem and between the microsystem and
exosystem

14. MESOSYSTEM: WHAT HELPED?
• Interprofessional Collaboration (YA/FG)
• Coordinated services between and within
systems and programs (YA/FG)

15. COMMUNITY AND SERVICES
(MICROSYSTEM): BARRIERS
• Unstable and/or negative housing experiences
(YA)
• Lack of consistent, positive relationships (YA)
• Lack of highly skilled social workers, special
education teachers, and foster parents (FG)
“You will either learn the way I teach or you are not
going to learn.”
~DD (about a teacher at a new school)

16. MICROSYSTEM: WHAT HELPED?
• Stable and positive
relationships
(YA/FG)
• Participation in post
secondary support
programs for alumni
of foster care (YA)
“…you don’t have to be everything for
me, but gosh, it really helps when I
know what I can expect from you. It is
cool if I can't live with you or leave my
stuff at your place, or if you can't sign a
lease agreement for me. But if I can
come over on Friday nights and that is
our thing and that will be consistent
and maybe a long term thing, then that
is so valuable to me. But please don't
do the thing where you promise me the
world and then a month later you are
out of my life”.
~Frank, director of youth programs

17. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Youth Centered
• Help youth build their capacity
• Self determination
• Opportunities for
developmentally appropriate
risks and failures
Relatedness
Autonomy Competence

18. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Disability and Mental Health Needs
Teach youth what their diagnosis means and
how it may impact them as adults
Teach youth to self-advocate so they can
obtain necessary
accommodations/modifications
 Teach youth how to access mental health
and/or disability services

19. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Stability
 Facilitate contact with biological
parents (and help youth prepare for
this relationship as an adult)
 Prevent school/placement changes
whenever possible
Caregivers need:
 Increased knowledge about
disabilities and school/social services
available
 Appropriate compensation &
ongoing coaching and training

20. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Build a “Safety Net”
Continue providing services during the
transition to adulthood including –
Mental/physical health care, housing
assistance, and case-management
Connect youth with (or design) post-
secondary programs for alumni of foster
care
A personalized, youth centered approach to case
management is recommended for improving transition
outcomes for youth with disabilities in foster care.

21. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Multiple professionals and/or agencies can help
youth succeed, but only if they ~
DO: Work closely together and communicate
regularly
DO: Help the youth understand the roles of the
other partners
DO NOT: work at cross purposes; duplicate efforts;
or
let the youth fall through the cracks

22. RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS
Harwick, R., Lindstrom, L., & Unruh, D. (2017). In their own words:
Overcoming barriers during the transition to adulthood for youth
with disabilities who experienced foster care. Children and Youth
Services Review. 73, 338-346.
Harwick, R., Tyre, A., Beisse, K. & Thomas, C. (2015). Intervention
targets for youth with disabilities in foster care. School Psychology
Forum. (9)1, 5-20.
Harwick, R., Unruh, D., & Lindstrom, L. (2017). What helps or hinders
the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who
experienced foster care? An ecological approach. Manuscript
submitted for publication.
Sigurjónsdóttir,H., Rice, J., & Harwick, R. (2017). Balancing the
scales: custody deprivation and fostering in Iceland. Manuscript
submitted for publication.

23. REFERENCES
1, 2- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Children's Bureau. (2016). AFCARS report: Preliminary estimates for FY 2015 as of June 2016. Retrieved
from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/afcarsreport23.pdf.
3- Daining, C., & DePanfilis, D. (2007). Resilience of youth in transition from out-of-home care to
adulthood. Children and Youth Services Review, 29(9), 1158–1178.
4- Geenen, S. J., Powers, L. E., Hogansen, J., & Pittman, J. (2007). Youth with disabilities in foster care:
Developing self-determination within a context of struggle and disempowerment.
Exceptionality: A Special Education Journal, 15(1), 17–30.
5- Quest, A.D, Fullerton, A., Geenen, S., & Powers, L.& The Research Consortium to Increase the
Success of Youth in Foster Care. (2012). Voices of youth in foster care and special education
regarding their educational experiences and transition to adulthood. Children and Youth Services
Review, 34(9), 1604–1615.
6- Smithgall, C., Gladden, R. M., Yang, D. H., & Goerge, R. (2005). Behavior problems and educational
disruptions among children in out-of-home care in Chicago. Chicago: Chapin Hill.
7- Scott, J. W. (1991). The Evidence of Experience. Critical Inquiry, 17(4), 773–797