This dissertation examines factors that impact the provision of services and resources for youth during their transition from foster care into adulthood, specifically the support provided through federally funded Independent Living Skills Programs (ILSPs). The population targeted by these programs numbers fewer than 400,000 current and former foster youth between the ages of 16 and 21 at any given time. The review of the ILSP evaluation literature presented here shows little evidence to suggest that ILSPs, as they have operated over the past two decades, have had a positive impact on the young adult outcomes of former foster youth.

A quantitative analysis of ILSP graduation data from one California county is used to examine how need and program access affect ILSP participation, factors not previously addressed in the literature. This case study provides evidence that youth are more likely to graduate from ILSP if they had a higher level of need for transitional supports and greater physical access to an ILSP site. Youth more likely to be referred to ILSP - either because of the nature of their care setting or because they were placed within their county of origin - are also more likely to graduate from the program.

A qualitative examination of CC25, an initiative to improve the supports available to transition-age foster youth, indicates that counties implementing strategies that more effectively engage youth and caregivers in transitional planning and support program delivery, have the potential to increase the reach and relevance of ILSP services. In addition, increased community partnership and investment can create a more comprehensive array of support programming greatly needed by transitioning youth. These findings were consistent with data on transitional outcomes reported by the initiative which showed increased participation of youth in support services, greater satisfaction with the support received and some positive impact on permanency, financial literacy, housing, and education.

The findings of this research have direct implications for the provision of ILSP services at the local level and can be used by child welfare agencies to better target eligible youth, increase the participation of youth in ILSP and develop ILSP services that more effectively address the needs of foster youth. Promising strategies include greater outreach to kinship and guardian caregivers, increased inter-agency collaboration and outreach to better engage out-of-county youth in ILSP, improved incentives to participate for youth who live further from ILSP sites, and better assessment of transition-age foster care youth to better measure their need for support.

The purpose of this study is to identify the main reasons public adoption seekers do not complete the adoption process. I conduct interviews with public adoption seekers from two California counties who dropped out of the process. I find that the most common reasons given for dropping out of the process are

-changes in personal circumstance (for reasons such as losing a job or becoming ill);

-dissatisfaction with agencies (for reasons such as poor customer service, the process being too lengthy, or perceived discrimination);

-being too busy; and

-having an insufficient income or being unable to meet the housing requirements.

In examining the relationship between the socioeconomic characteristics of prospective adoptive parents and attrition, I find that lower-income adoption seekers most often drop out because they experience instability in their personal circumstances, have insufficient income, or do not meet agency housing requirements. I find that middle- and upper-income adoption seekers most often drop out due to insufficient time to complete the steps in the process or dissatisfaction with foster care adoption agencies.

Although many reasons for dropping out may seem to be beyond the influence of agencies, I argue that if the foster care adoption process were more efficient, prospective parents would be less likely to drop out due to life-changing events or due to being too busy to complete the process. Agencies appear to have room for improvement in terms of providing better customer service, making the process more clear and efficient, and complying with federal legislation.

An executive summary aimed at California policymakers describing CalWORKs families as they approach the time limit. Analysis of findings from a telephone survey conducted between June 2004 and August 2005 of 1,797 recipients in six focus counties who were within six months of reaching the sixty-month time limit according to county administrative records. The survey explores the demographic characteristics of the recipients as well as family employment and employment history, barriers to employment, material hardship, and knowledge of the time-limit policy and the amount of time on aid still available to them.

Detailed research findings from a telephone survey conducted between June 2004 and August 2005 of 1,797 recipients in six focus counties who were within six months of reaching the sixty-month time limit according to county administrative records. The survey explores the demographic characteristics of the recipients as well as family employment and employment history, barriers to employment, material hardship, and knowledge of the time-limit policy and the amount of time on aid still available to them.

Beyond Diagnosis: The Dynamics of Disability and Disruptions in Parenting

By Christina Anne Sogar

Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare

University of California at Berkeley

Jane G. Mauldon, Chair

Drawing on 11 months of field research with 127 SSI-receiving parents, this study examined the relationship between disability, economic hardship and parenting practices as well as the likelihood of families' involvement with child welfare services. Four main research questions were examined. First, what are the pathways through which parents apply for and receive SSI benefits? Second, what are the main health, economic and caregiving needs of SSI-parent families? Next, how do disability characteristics including the type of onset, the stability of symptoms and worry about outcome influence parenting and family well-being? Finally, do families with past child welfare involvement differ from families without past child welfare involvement on health, economic or caregiving measures?

While the health limitations reported by parents who received TANF prior to SSI were similar to those who did not, the age each group began to receive SSI was different as was the rate of child welfare involvement. Parents who transitioned from TANF to SSI were older at the time they were approved and were much more likely to report past child welfare involvement than parents without prior TANF receipt. Public and private sources of support reduced some types of material hardship but had little effect on parenting. Characteristics of disability such as an acute versus gradual onset were also not found to shape parenting once other variables were accounted for. Parenting constructs, including nurturance, follow-through with discipline and organization, did not predict the likelihood of child welfare involvement.

Economic hardships and parenting limitations were found to be most pronounced among parents with poor mental health, and this finding appeared to be related to a greater degree of social isolation. The development of a peer network, where parents can share their strengths and struggles and feel supported in their parenting role, may serve to reduce the social isolation of parents with mental health problems and improve their families' well-being.