Empowering Youth in Foster Care: Making a Difference in their Lives

Overview: Youth in foster care have expressed the importance of having their voices heard and being a impacting their futures. In partnerships with youth, the BraveLife Intervention (BLI) was developed to support youth in care. This longitudinal study examines the impact of the BLI on youth perceived empowerment.Proposal text: Youth in foster care have expressed the importance of having their voices heard and being a major force for change in their own lives. They have also communicated the need to be given “voice and choice” in their future. Youth have identified the struggles to develop trust with the foster care system, as well as building trust and support in relationships with other adults and caregivers (Heyman et al., 2020). A study by Blakeslee and Best (2019) found that more than half of the youth in care in their sample described difficulties in “opening up, sharing their story, or connecting with new people” (p. 223). Being able to build trust is critical and can help empower youth. Supports for youth can also play a vital role in their educational pursuits (Kelly et. al., 2021). Furthermore, Batista, Johnson, Friedman (2018) stressed that empowering youth can positively impact their lives.

This presentation will discuss the BraveLife Intervention (BLI), which was developed to support youth in foster care and youth who are aging out of care. The BLI is a youth-centered, strength-based initiative that uses Peer-2-Peer (P2P) Navigators to support youth in achieving their goals. The navigators are employed and trained young adults with lived experience in the foster care system. This is a longitudinal study that was conducted in a suburban county in the northeast. There were 153 youth screened for participation in the BLI. Youth scoring three or higher on the 15-item screen were considered at high risk for homelessness, and therefore eligible to participate in the BLI. Of the 153 youth screened, 134 youth were considered at risk for homelessness, and 82 youth entered the program and completed the baseline survey. This presentation reports on youth that were followed from baseline, three months, and six months.

To assess perceived efficacy/empowerment, this study utilized a subscale of the Youth Self-Efficacy Scale/Mental Health (Walker & Powers, 2007). The perceived empowerment scale theoretical scores could range from 6 to 30, with higher scores representing higher levels of empowerment. The researchers examined if there were statistically significant differences at baseline for perceived empowerment by demographic variables. There were no differences with respect to age or race, however, males had higher perceived empowerment scores at baseline compared to females.
Used a paired sample t-test, between baseline and three months, scores on perceived efficacy/empowerment increased from 23.7 to 25.0, which is statistically significant [t(68)=-2.32, p=.023]. Additional data were examined for participants who stayed in the BLI from baseline to 6 months. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine the experiences of these youth. Average scores for these youth increased from 24.7 at baseline, to 25.9 at three months, and then to 26.3 at six months, a statistically significant increase [F(2,82) = 3.16, p=.048]. The results show that the effects of time are different for males compared to females, with females having significant differences.

The impact of the BLI Intervention will be discussed. Practices and policies for future implementations are also explored.