ERIC Number: EJ1061602
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-May
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1049-7315
EISSN: N/A
Foster Youth and Social Support: The First RCT of Independent Living Services
Greeson, Johanna K. P.; Garcia, Antonio R.; Kim, Minseop; Courtney, Mark E.
Research on Social Work Practice, v25 n3 p349-357 May 2015
Objective: Conduct secondary data analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of Massachusetts' Adolescent Outreach Program for Youths in Intensive Foster Care (Outreach) for increasing social support (SS) among enrolled youth. Participants: 194 youth in intensive foster care under the guardianship of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families with a goal of independent living (IL) or long-term substitute care, and born between August 1985 and December 1990 (67% female, 66% White, 27% Hispanic) participated in the study between September 2004 and March 2009. Method: We hypothesized that Outreach compared to services as usual (SAU; control group) would increase participants' SS and that there would be racial/ethnic disparities in SS as a function of the Outreach. Treatment effects were tested using mixed-effect models. Results: Outreach did not increase foster youth's SS, compared to SAU. No racial/ethnic disparities in program effect were detected. Discussion and Applications to Social Work: Providers of IL services should reconsider how best to build and strengthen SS among the foster youth they serve.
Descriptors: Foster Care, Independent Living, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Outreach Programs, Outcomes of Treatment, Racial Differences, Social Work, Intervention, Measures (Individuals), Predictor Variables, Multivariate Analysis, Interviews, Statistical Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A