Using the behavior analytic model, this dissertation explores the challenging and supportive situations former foster youth experience with mental health services while transitioning to adulthood. Qualitative interviews and focus groups inform the development of a quantitative instrument in a mixed methods, sequential exploratory research design. The resulting instrument identifies the most intense and frequently encountered situations former foster youth experience, related to their mental health and transitions to adulthood.
Results indicate the most challenging situations foster youth experience during the transition are related to overwhelming expectations, receiving mixed messages from professionals, feelings of isolation, and a lack of voice and choice with regard to mental health services. Young adults in this study also emphasized the importance of responsive engagement, self-efficacy, and consistency in relationships both formally and informally.
This research provides important implications for social work practice, policy, and education. Acknowledging the voice of foster youth gives them a choice in services and allows for realistic transition planning. Developing problem-solving skills and a support network beyond foster care are necessary strategies of preparation to age out. Finally, practitioners should recognize the impact of trauma and other contextual factors when conducting assessment and treatment, to promote positive outcomes.
“Bridging Success: Reviewing Effectiveness and Implementing Additional Programming” focuses on partnering with Arizona State University’s Bridging Success program to evaluate effective program components and propose additional programming for the upcoming Bridging Success Early Start (BSES) program. To effectively evaluate Bridging Success, this thesis is broken down into several sections: methods, literary analysis, landscaping, presentation of results, discussion of results, recommendations, and conclusions to ultimately address our central research questions: How is Bridging Success Early Start valued by previous program members, and does the program contribute to a successful transition to college for students who were formerly in foster care?