Trends in social support during the transition to adulthood for youths who spent time in congregate care in California - 2025

Authors: Keunhye Park; Nathanael J. Okpych; Mark E. Courtney

Extensive research has linked having a strong social support network to positive outcomes during young adulthood, particularly for young people with foster care experience. Although there has been growing concern about the wellbeing of youth living in congregate care settings (such as group home care or residential treatment settings) there is limited research about the social support networks of youth transitioning to adulthood from congregate care. This book chapter uses data from the CalYOUTH study, a longitudinal study of youth leaving foster care in California, in which 727 young people participated in an interview survey at age 17, and in follow-up interviews at ages 19, 21, and 23. Youth were asked about: 1) their perceived adequacy of three types of social support—emotional support, tangible support, and advice/guidance—and 2) the number of individuals they could identify in their support network among three groups: relatives, peers, and institutional agents (i.e., professionals such as caseworkers, teachers, or therapists). Findings indicated that the nature and size of young people’s support networks changed significantly over time as they entered adulthood (e.g., their perceptions of having adequate support as well as the size of their support networks generally decreased as they grew older), and that the support systems of those with congregate care experience differed in important ways from those without such experience (e.g., they tended to rely less on relatives and peers, and more on institutional agents as they grew older). Implications for policymakers and practitioners to foster stronger social support networks for young people leaving care, particularly those with congregate care backgrounds, are provided.