Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

Fall 8-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Social Work

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Dr. Kyeonghee Jang, MSW

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Dr. Wayne Paris, LCSW

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Anissa Willie, BSW

Abstract

Foster youth aging out of care encounter many struggles upon transitioning into adulthood, resulting in an increased risk of homelessness and adverse social, health, and financial outcomes. This study aimed to determine if various factors (environmental factors: education, mental health service, social support and personal factors: incarceration, substance abuse referral, and unplanned parenthood) were associated with indicators of economic self-sufficiency (full-time and part-time employment, housing stability, and use of financial, food, and housing assistance). Multiple logistic regressions were conducted to explore risk and predictive factors of each indicator of economic self-sufficiency with a sample of 265 19 year old foster youth in the state of Texas. Findings suggest that no factors were significant for employment while some factors were associated with housing stability, including education (p = .014), substance abuse referral (p = .014), incarceration (p = .002), and social support (p = .001). A few associations were found on use of services and resources: substance abuse referral on financial assistance (p = .02), uplanned parenthood on food assistance (p = .001) and no factors on housing assistance. The findings from this study supported only some associations between identified factors and economic self-sufficiency at this point of foster youths’ lives. Further investigations are needed for more definitive answers about the determinants of economic self-sufficiency of this population.

Included in

Social Work Commons

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