ERIC Number: EJ871497
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1062-1024
EISSN: N/A
The Departure Status of Youth from Residential Group Care: Implications for Aftercare
Trout, Alexandra L.; Chmelka, M. Beth; Thompson, Ronald W.; Epstein, Michael H.; Tyler, Patrick; Pick, Robert
Journal of Child and Family Studies, v19 n1 p67-78 Feb 2010
Youth departing from out-of-home care settings face numerous challenges as they adapt to new settings or return to placements that have been unsuccessful in the past. Although several thousand youth face this transition annually, little is known about their specific needs and risks at departure. To better identify needs and risks, we evaluated the discharge data of 640 youth served in a residential group care setting by addressing the following questions: (a) to what settings do youth depart following a stay in residential group care, (b) what are the demographic, family, educational, behavioral, and departure characteristics of youth at departure, and (c) do these characteristics differ for youth departing to different levels of restrictiveness? Results indicate significant differences on youth characteristics based on levels of restrictiveness at departure placement. As one might expect, youth departing to more restrictive placements presented a broad host of challenges across domains, while those departing to less restrictive settings demonstrated fewer needs and departed with greater educational and behavioral gains. Results provide support for the development and planning of targeted aftercare programs designed to promote the short and long term functioning of youth served in out-of-home care.
Descriptors: Child Welfare, Risk, Individual Characteristics, Children, Adolescents, At Risk Persons, Correlation, Residential Institutions, Residential Programs, Group Homes, Social Services, Childhood Needs, Participant Characteristics, Family Characteristics
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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
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A