“Personal relationship is really the backbone of everything”: Exploring professionals’ perceptions on the relationships of transition-age youth in foster care

Social and personal relationships are critical for transition-age youth (TAY) as they transition out of foster care to adulthood. Youth in foster care experience more challenges as they approach adulthood as a result of previous child maltreatment and lack of social support and resources compared to their peers. TAY with stable and supportive relationships exhibit improved emerging adulthood outcomes, including mental health, education, employment, and housing stability. Child welfare professionals play an important role as they facilitate this transition process through interacting with different stakeholders, including TAY, birth parents, foster parents, and service providers. This study explored the perspectives of child welfare workers and other professionals working with older youth and young adults with foster care experience. This qualitative study included 19 participants who had worked with youth in foster care aged 14 years and older and had worked in this field for over one year. Three themes were identified across the interviews: (1) navigating social and personal relationships during the transition out of foster care, (2) things did not go as hoped as TAY reconnected with family of origin, and (3) the roles of supportive relationships on TAY’s mental health. Findings from this study have several implications on cultivating and enhancing supportive relationships of TAY with foster care experience.