The Effects of Youth Empowerment Programs on the Psychological Empowerment of Young People Aging Out of Foster Care

Abstract

This study examines the effects of youth empowerment programs (YEPs) on the psychological empowerment of young people aging out of foster care. Method: We used a two-group, cross-sectional survey to examine the effect of YEP participation on the psychological empowerment of youths aging out of Florida's foster care system. The study sample consisted of 193 young adults (99 YEP participants and 94 non-YEP participants), ages 18-24. Four dependent variables represented the 4 dimensions of psychological empowerment: perceived control, motivation to influence, sociopolitical skills, and participatory behavior. Results: YEP participants experienced significantly higher perceived control, motivation to influence their environments, self-efficacy, and participatory behavior than non-YEP participants even when controlling for age at program entry, gender, race, time in foster care, number of placements, and geographic location. Conclusions: Findings suggest that youth empowerment is possible in child welfare systems and may be beneficial to young people aging out of foster care. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Evaluating Youth Empowerment: The Construction and Validation of an Inventory of Dimensions and Indicators

“…These same authors point out that empirical studies based on Zimmerman's conceptualization have focused on one or two components. Some have developed scales for measuring specific dimensions of empowerment, including: the Sociopolitical Control Scale (Zimmerman & Zahniser, 1991) (Maloney, 2015), the Youth Development and Empowerment Program Model (Batista et al, 2018;Bulanda & Johnson, 2016), the Transactional Partnering Model (Kim, et al 1998), Critical Youth Empowerment (Jennings, et al 2006) andEmpowerment Education Model (Mohajer &Earnest, 2009) based on Freire, among others. Such diversity poses a challenge for evaluation (Bulanda & Johnson, 2016).…”

“…Finally, tTo give one more example, the study conducted by Batista et al (2018) into the effects of a Youth Empowerment Program on young people in the foster care system evidenced an improvement in psychological empowerment. This study was based on the use of survey methods and a comparison group, and revealed how the young participants on the program increased their levels of perceived control, motivation to influence, sociopolitical skills, and participatory behavior.…”

Educators as agents of hope

“…These might include school projects focused on important problems — such as school violence, student misconduct, property damage and vandalism, and parental involvement — or community projects targeting critical local issues — including food shortages for seniors, homelessness, child welfare, foster care, and adult literacy. Growing evidence indicates these programs not only increase students’ sense of control, self-efficacy, and pro-social behavior, but also positively affect their school performance (e.g., grades, effort, academic confidence, graduation rates; Batista, Johnson, & Friedmann, 2018; Zimmerman et al, 2018).…”

"Voy a salir de aquí y ya tengo que sobrevivir por las mías" Vivencias de ex residentes de programas residenciales en su transición hacia la vida independiente

“…Respecto a la problemática del egreso abrupto, para poder favorecer una transición gradual a la independencia, se recomienda que en la cotidianidad de las residencias se haga hincapié en el desarrollo de habilidades, la responsabilidad, autocuidado y cuidado mutuo a través del incentivo de intereses mediante talleres, clases o capacitaciones, otorgando información sobre sus oportunidades en ámbitos laborales y académicos. La preparación debe comenzar desde antes, contar con un acompañamiento emocional con personal capacitado y considerar un seguimiento luego de dejar la residencia (Day et al, 2012;Batista et al, 2018).…”