Voices of youth in foster care and special education regarding their educational experiences and transition to adulthood

Very little in-depth information is available on the educational and transition experiences, perceptions, and actions of youth in foster care who are receiving special education services. This paper describes a qualitative study that followed seven youth in foster care receiving special education se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChildren and youth services review Vol. 34; no. 9; pp. 1604 - 1615
Main Authors Quest, A. Del, Fullerton, Ann, Geenen, Sarah, Powers, Laurie
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2012
Subjects
Adolescent
Aging out
Certainty
Child welfare
Decisions
Foster Care
Knowledge
Life Stage Transitions
Service provision
Skills
Special Education
Transition
Youth
Transition
Child welfare
Aging out
Foster care
Service provision
Adolescent
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Summary:Very little in-depth information is available on the educational and transition experiences, perceptions, and actions of youth in foster care who are receiving special education services. This paper describes a qualitative study that followed seven youth in foster care receiving special education services, ages 15 to 18, for six to nine months. The youth were interviewed an average of seven times and they were invited to take photographs and make journal entries depicting their lives. The findings documented the complex challenges that youth experience, including educational struggles, difficulty in clarifying their relationships with biological family, and having to make major decisions in the context of uncertainty and inadequate and sometimes restrictive supports and services. Having consistent and committed adult support, knowledge of options and services, and opportunities, skills, and confidence to take positive action toward goals emerged as important themes in the youth's success. ► We conduct multiple interviews over several months with each participant. ► We examine participants' perceptions of services provided to youth in foster care. ► Youth in foster care suggest ways to improve provision of transition services. ► Youth in foster care face challenges in achieving educational success. ► Ties to biological family members are of great importance to youth in foster care.
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ISSN:0190-7409
1873-7765
DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.04.018