Positive Youth Development & Resilience among Youth with Disabilities in Foster Care during their Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

This study utilizes Positive Youth Development (PYD) and resilience frameworks as a lens to examine the transition experiences for youth with disabilities who experience and exit foster care through secondary analysis of data collected from a statewide needs assessment, Fostering Positive Outcomes: Assessing transition needs and supports for youth with disabilities in foster care (FPO Project). Secondary analysis of data from the multi-mixed methods approach of the FPO project (group concept mapping, surveys, focus group and interview data) was conducted with application of Lerner et al (2015) Five C Model + Contribution (i.e., Six Cs) indicators of PYD – competence, confidence, character, connection, caring, and contribution. Utilizing a bioecological perspective, this study centers the voices of youth with lived experience to examine resiliency and positive development to answer the following research questions: 1) How are the Six Cs of positive youth development expressed in describing the foster care transition experiences of youth with disabilities? 2) How do multiple systems of support affect the Six Cs of positive youth development for youth with disabilities transitioning from foster care? Findings from this study highlight the complexities, challenges and opportunities for disabled youth experiencing foster care to thrive in adulthood. Each of the PYD indicators, the Six Cs, were described as primarily absent in this population’s transition experiences and may appear in different ways for this specific population. Potential new pathways for PYD were identified that encompass the unique experiences and developmental processes among youth with disabilities in foster care. Findings were translated to propose an adapted Six C model with expanded definitions to make each indicator more applicable and inclusive of this population, as well as help guide the development of interventions specific to this population for positive adaptation. One of the most notable findings based on interactions across the Six Cs is the emergence of self-determination as a major theme which may be a unique indicator of “thriving” among youth with disabilities in foster care. Moreover, youth at this intersection engage with multiple systems of support related to child welfare, disability, education, vocation, and health. Findings indicate gatekeeping, stigma and biases, and staffing and provider issues associated with policies and practices of these systems pose significant barriers to PYD. This study’s findings give rise to implications for the PYD model and resilience, and further scholarship needed in this area, as well as implications for practice and policy with recommendations for interventions through a multi-pronged ecological approach to improve outcomes for youth with disabilities who experience foster care. This study helps to address the gap in the scholarship regarding youth with disabilities who experience foster care and the explicit use of relational developmental frameworks through innovative methods with an under studied, marginalized, and hard to reach population.