Predicting Homelessness among Emerging Adults Aging Out of Foster Care

Abstract

This study examines risk and protective factors associated with experiencing homelessness in the year after "aging out" of foster care. Using a state-level integrated administrative database, we identified 1,202 emerging adults in Washington State who exited foster care between July 2010 and June 2012. Initial bivariate analyses were conducted to assess the association between candidate predictive factors and an indicator of homelessness in a 12-month follow-up period. After deploying a stepwise regression process, the final logistic regression model included 15 predictive factors. Youth who were parents, who had recently experienced housing instability, or who were African American had approximately twice the odds of experiencing homelessness in the year after exiting foster care. In addition, youth who had experienced disrupted adoptions, had multiple foster care placements (especially in congregate care settings), or had been involved with the juvenile justice system were more likely to become homeless. In contrast, youth were less likely to experience homelessness if they had ever been placed with a relative while in foster care or had a high cumulative grade point average relative to their peers.

Adverse childhood experiences among youth aging out of foster care: A latent class analysis

“…Homelessness stands as a salient indicator of hazards in this developmental transition that can significantly affect successful youth development as well as safety, adult role acquisition, and mental health. According to prior studies, approximately a quarter of youth aging out of foster care report being unsheltered for at least one day within the year of leaving foster care (Pecora, et al, 2005; Shah, et al, 2015), with 36% of youth having experienced homelessness at least once by age 26 (Dworsky, Napolitano, & Courtney, 2013). The results from this present study indicate that youth who have experienced more complex ACEs histories experience homelessness at a substantially higher rate than those with less complex ACEs histories.…”

Describing Trajectories of Homeless Service Use in Hawai‘i Using Latent Class Growth Analysis

“…However, in doing so, important nuances of service use within each household type may have been lost. Other studies have highlighted important specialized concerns, risk factors, and vulnerabilities faced by families experiencing homelessness (e.g., Culhane et al., ; Shah et al., ; Shinn et al., ) versus single individuals experiencing homelessness. For example, Culhane, Metraux, Byrne, Stino and Bainbridge () have presented an interesting argument indicating that the cohort of individuals born between 1954 and 1961 in the U.S. has consistently been the most vulnerable to single person homelessness across time (1990–2010 in their study).…”

“…Indeed, Shah et al. () have found that among those aging out of foster care, young adult parents were more vulnerable to episodes of homelessness than their non‐parent peers. That some of these nuances and concerns are blurred in the present study does represent a major limitation to the interpretation of these results.…”

Homelessness and aging out of foster care: A national comparison of child welfare-involved adolescents

“…In a representative sample of foster youth in California, over one-third of aged-out 19-year-olds experience homelessness and over 40% couch-surf (Courtney et al, 2016). An analysis of administrative data in Washington State finds more than one-quarter (28%) of youth experienced a homeless episode within 12 months of aging out of foster care; those who were African American, had experienced prior housing instability, or were parents faced the greatest risk (Shah et al, 2016). Similarly, a prospective study of aged-out youth from three Midwestern states (“The Midwest Study”) finds over 30% of aged-out young adults report episodes of living on the streets by age 26 (Dworsky et al, 2013).…”