Ethan Park Sunggeun, Okpych Nathanael J, Harty Justin S, Courtney Mark E
1259University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
7712University of Connecticut School of Social Work, Hartford, CT, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2023 May;28(2):332-344. doi: 10.1177/10775595221088226. Epub 2022 Apr 21.
Extended foster care (EFC) is an important policy that supports human capital attainment for foster youth transitioning to adult independence. Previous studies have examined youth- and policy-level factors' influence on EFC participation and human capital outcomes (e.g., education, employment). Still, few studies have examined contextual factors (e.g., county characteristics). We explore how local contexts, or county-level attributes, influence youths' EFC participation and human capital outcomes (i.e., postsecondary education enrollment and earnings). We analyze two datasets from California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study: survey data with rich youth-level information ( = 529) and state child welfare administrative data with a larger sample size ( = 2392). After controlling for a wide range of youth characteristics and adjusting between-county variations, regression results find that several county characteristics predict youths' EFC participation and human capital outcomes at age 21, such as political atmosphere and worker's satisfaction with cross-system collaboration. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research and practice.
延长寄养照料（EFC）是一项重要政策，旨在支持寄养青年向成年独立过渡过程中的人力资本获得。以往研究考察了青年层面和政策层面因素对EFC参与情况及人力资本成果（如教育、就业）的影响。然而，很少有研究考察背景因素（如县的特征）。我们探讨地方背景，即县级属性，如何影响青年的EFC参与情况及人力资本成果（即高等教育入学率和收入）。我们分析了来自加利福尼亚青年向成年过渡研究的两个数据集：包含丰富青年层面信息的调查数据（n = 529）和样本量更大的州儿童福利行政数据（n = 2392）。在控制了广泛的青年特征并调整县际差异后，回归结果发现，若干县的特征能够预测21岁青年的EFC参与情况及人力资本成果，比如政治氛围和工作人员对跨系统协作的满意度。我们最后讨论了研究和实践方面的启示。
