Independent-living services: The views of former foster youth

McMillen, J Curtis

ABSTRACT

Former consumers of independent-living programs for youth in out-of-home care present their views of the services they received. The youth found that skills classes and stipends for independent living were helpful, that instruction in managing a budget was particularly valuable, and that the services lessened the stigmatization and isolation of being in care. Foster parents and specialized independent-living workers eased the transition out of care, but regular public child welfare caseworkers were not helpful in this regard. The young people report that being in care was difficult to tolerate and that the transition out of care was often abrupt and difficult to manage.

In the past decade, public and private child welfare agencies have developed programs to help older youth move from out-of-home care to more independent living situations (Barth, 1986; DeWoody, Ceja, & Sylvester, 1993; Westat, 1986). All states now provide independentliving-skills training classes, typically consisting of training in both hard skills (money management, cooking, etc.) and soft skills (such as building a social support network). An older youth leaving care today may also have received various other services, including subsidized apartment living, mentoring programs, trust funds, college tuition programs, conferences, camps, and after-care programs. Evaluations of these efforts are now being published (e.g., Bonham & Ash, 1988; Mallon, in press; McMillan & Tucker, in press; Mech & Rycroft, 1995; Scannapieco, Schagrin, & Scannapieco, 1995; Westat, 1991). Few of these evaluations, however, attempt to identify the components of the independentliving programs that are most beneficial to those leaving care.

Determining what works and what does not work is important not only to the youth receiving these services, but to their funders as well. With current congressional and state budget constraints, funding for these programs may be streamlined. Identifying the most essential components of independent-living programs may become a necessity for every state.

The purpose of this study is to explore what former foster youth now living in the community think of the independent-living services they received while in care. In focus groups, former foster youth were asked to describe the services that were most helpful in teaching them how to live independently and to identify who was most helpful in their transition to independent living. In the following sections, the focus groups and the themes that emerged from them are described and the practice implications of these results are discussed.

Methods

Qualitative focus groups (e.g., Krueger, 1988; Morgan, 1988, 1993), long a part of the evaluation of programs and services in the forprofit world, have gained popularity in evaluation research in the social service sector in the past several years (Patton, 1990). Focus groups enable social service organizations to receive extensive consumer feedback on specific questions of interest. Qualitative methods are particularly appropriate for the evaluation of independent-living programs because traditional program-evaluation methods of these services face severe limitations. Experimental designs are not feasible because of the varied nature of the interventions available and the difficulties involved in forming adequate comparison groups. It is unethical to withhold services thought to be valuable, which rules out no-treatment comparison groups. Delayedtreatment comparison groups are ineffective because the outcomes of interest occur several years later, when youth are living on their own. Finally, representative followup surveys of former foster youth have proven costly and have yielded low return rates (see Westat, 1991). Youth who leave care are exceptionally mobile (Barth, 1990; Festinger, 1983; Stein & Carey, 1986; Triseliotis, 1978; Westat, 1991), and it is very difficult to locate them.

Focus groups also offer some advantages over qualitative interviews with individuals. First, the format allows for group interaction and discussion. Members can and will openly disagree, offer alternative views, and make suggestions regarding why the views are different. Thus the group yields information that researchers' planned questions may not elicit from an individual (Morgan, 1988). Second, focus groups are relatively inexpensive to conduct. Focus group interviewing and transcription time is less than the time needed for individual qualitative interviewing and transcribing. Focus groups have two disadvantages: Some groups may limit the expression of alternative views, and the small sample size makes it difficult to recruit groups that are representative of the population of interest.

The focus groups in this study were led by the first and fourth authors. The fourth author did not participate in one of the groups because she had been involved in providing services to some of the participants when they were in out-of-home care. A questioning route was developed with the following emphases:

* What services helped you learn to live on your own? * What did you find helpful in the programs?

* Who helped you learn how to live on your own? Some impressions formed from earlier groups were checked with the later groups. All of the sessions lasted 90 minutes, were audiotaped, and transcribed with identifying information removed.

Themes were identified through careful reading of the transcripts. The first three authors read the transcripts and independently identified themes that emerged from them. They then met to discuss the themes. Only those themes that were agreed upon by all three readers were included.

Participants

Participants were young adults who had participated in independent-living-skills classes offered by the Missouri Division of Family services (DFS) while living in outof-home care, had left out-of-home care, and had been released from DFS's custody. Participants were recruited by DFS employees in charge of independent-living services for their geographic areas. Participants were paid $10 plus travel mileage and were served a dinner for participating. Twenty-five young adults participated in a total of four focus groups, each held in a different geographical area of the state. Because Missouri encompasses both large urban and rural areas, two of the groups were held in urban areas (St. Louis and Kansas City) and two were held in smaller towns. Twenty-four of the participants were female, 16 White, 4 African American, 1 Hispanic, and 4 mixed race. Age range of participants was 18-23 years, with a mean age of 20.79 (SD = 1.45). The respondents had been out of care for a mean of 2.11 years (SD = 1.61).

All participants attended weekly independent-living-skills classes for at least six months while in care. The content of the classes differed slightly by geographic location. All geographic areas presented content in 23 required areas. However, the specific curriculum and the methods used to teach it differed by areas of the state and by instructor. The classes were run by independent-living specialists who were full-time state employees and by workers under contract to provide the services. In addition to the skills classes, various other services were available to the youth, depending on the region of the state from which they received care. Other independent-living services included subsidized independent-living arrangements (in dormitories or apartments), wilderness ropes courses, teen conferences, seminars on specific topics, youth advisory boards, after-care groups, and paid opportunities to help teach independent-living skills to other youth in care.

The sample was biased in many ways. First, young men obviously were underrepresented. Second, the recruitment method was such that those who had fostered relationships with the independentliving specialists were most likely to be recruited. Workers knew how to contact only those young people who had stayed in touch with them. It does not appear that the sample was "creamed," as the participants were experiencing a wide variety of living situations at the time of the interviews. These were young people, however, who thought highly of their independent-living service specialists. Third, the lack of representativeness of the sample limits the generalizability of results. Readers should be especially cautious in generalizing results to other programs in other states.

Results

Nine themes emerged from the focus groups (see Table 1). The themes and some relevant comments from focus-group members are presented below. Themes related to the helpful aspects of independent-living programming, sources of help in the transition out of care, and views of the incare experience.

Helpful Aspects of Independent-LMng Programming

Several aspects of independentliving programming were identified as helpful. Overall, the skills groups were seen as helpful. Financial-skills training was deemed important, as were stipends for independent living. Perhaps the most dominant theme throughout the groups was the value the consumers found in meeting others like them.

Reduces stigma and isolation. A prominent theme, discussed independently in each of the four groups, was the importance of meeting other young people in similar situations. The youth felt that the skills classes and other activities reduced the isolation and stigma of being in alternative care. The seminars, camps, conferences, and reunions were noted to be particularly helpful in this regard.

I don't know how to explain it. When you first go into foster care, you feel so alone. And the more seminars and the more groups camps seminars, the more people you meet, the stronger you feeL But there are more people out there like you. And that makes you feel better knowing that you're not in it alone. And so the more people you meet I think the better. For me, it made me feel better, knowing that there's even more people out there. [Pause I never would have gotten any of this before. Without the program. If the program didn't exist, none of the seminars or camps...

Things like that are very, very very very important because growing up in foster care, like we were talking about earlier, you feel isolated, like you're the only different kid, you know. And when you get a bunch of kids together from the same, I mean not exactly the same, they grew up in homes, I grew up in a foster care, but, and group homes but you ... we are all away from our families for one reason or another. And they may not be (forl the same reasons we may not have went to the same place, or the same kind of place even, but there was a bond there that we.Just can't get from most other people.

Instruction in financial matters was valued. Each focus group discussed the importance of instruction in finances and credit and consumer skills. The financial skills that were mentioned as valuable included how to budget, use a checkbook, comparison shop, use unit pricing, save money, and use and build credit.

You know, in the long run it helps me 'cause I budget my money very well. My bills is paid on time.

The writing the checks and doing the checkbook balance and stuff that was helpful. That was a godsend Comparison shopping was important. I have a husband and a child, and comparison shopping is very helpful for us.

Everyone had to call a few different stores and ask prices on a stick of gum and mac and cheese stuff like that. And we just compared prices and that was very helpful, because I am married and if it would not have been for that class, I would not have known how to grocery shop at all.

Although the young people acknowledged that issues such as credit and the need for savings were discussed in the skills classes, they expressed a need for more teaching in this area.

We need to do all we can to teach more about credit cards. How they do interest, what happens if you miss a payment how easy it is to get in trouble for it My husband and I are responsible people and we got in trouble with our credit card.

There are a lot of things coming out nowadays like leases and stuff like that and you don't know how to deal with them and it gets you In trouble

I know that the car 1 just got.... I have to pay $300 every month for three years and at the end of these years the car still isn't mine. if If / want it, I have to pay $8, 000 to keep it or I can turn it in and get a new one and keep making car payments. if / pay it all out it is going to end up costing me $20,000.

(The skills classes need] more of an emphasis on you have to save. It's not optional. You have to have something to fall back on.

Overall, skills classes were seen as helpful. Overall, the focus-group participants thought the skills classes were helpful. In addition to the financial skills mentioned earlier, several other topics were endorsed as helpful. They included apartment hunting, birth control, cooking, changing tires, building relationships, and finding community resources. The following quotation illustrates one participant's experience in learning useful skills.

Until I went into foster care, when I was 14, 1 did not know how to cook how to do laundry. I had never washed dishes. had never done anything for myself at all [My foster parents) thought it would be a good idea if I joined this program. So I did. I learned how to cook. I learned how to clean. I learned how to deal with my emotions and how to deal with other people on a oneto-one basis. My speech-delivery skills got 700% better Before I went into the independent-living program, I could not even talk to a group of people like this. I learned how to change a tire on a car. I didn't know anything about that. Before I went into the independentliving program, I really didn't know anything about birth control, STDs, and in that group I learned everything I needed to live on my own. And even though when I moved on my own it was a big shock I had these skills to fall back on, and if it wasn't for them I honesty believe I would have fallen on my face. We were required to go out and look for an apartment for ourselves. I mean, not to rent it but just to go and look write down comments about every one we looked at everything we liked didn't like ... how much it was all that stuff They told us what to look for. Gave us little checklists, something along those lines. I'm getting ready to move to [a new town] and we got a book of apartments yesterday and there's so many things I am going to have to look for, so I am kind of glad I know what to look for

Birth control information was real helpful My foster parents never would have talked to me about birth control Independent-living stipend was viewed as helpful. Some participants noted that it was helpful to have lived in an apartment of their own while having some expenses subsidized by DFS. Some youth experienced this subsidized independent living through what DFS calls an independent-living arrangement. Others experienced this through group-home-based programs. Both programs are designed to be part of a gradual transition out of care.

The money really does help. It helps a lot especially when you are just getting started and you don't know what's going on and, but then you have to also realize when that money's gone, you have to learn to budget your money out of what you make.

I was a full-time student and I wanted to concentrate on school. I didn't want to have to worry about having to get a part-time job to pay for certain things. And have to concentrate on getting good grades in school So it helped to have that money coming in because then you could concentrate fully on schooL It's a cushion for when you first go out on your own. It really does help.

Reservations with regard to receiving the stipend tended to be about the obligations the young people had to meet in order to be able to keep receiving the stipend. Some viewed it as intrusive or excessive. The young woman in the following quotation is talking about a group-home-based transitional-living program. In order to get that money . I had to have a social worker at my house at a certain allotted time like once a week. And I had to go to three out of four groups. There were like four things I had to do to be able to get that check and I actually found that with me working and going to school and trying to get everything together and keep everything going for myself, I had to get out of that program and go to what is called the independent-living arrangement where I actually got less money a month but I didn't have the restrictions placed on me, the requirements that I had the first time.

Who Was VYewed as Helpful?

The young people were also asked to address the topic of who was helpful to them in their transition out of care. In general, they reported that their independent-living specialists were helpful, but their DFS caseworkers were not. Respondents indicated that foster parents were able to provide the most assistance.

Foster parents were seen as helpful. When a healthy, supportive foster family was involved with the young person, the transition to independent living was much smoother. The families provided both material and emotional support during the transition and after youth left care. They may also have provided a platform for learning important values. For some, their foster families provided the most natural environment for learning the skills they needed to live independently.

See, If eel lucky, 'cause I had a foster family. When I went into the independent-living program, I came from a foster home, so I kind of leamed some of the things. When / first got Into this class I was like, "Oh I know this. I know this. I know this. I already know this.' A lot of the things it was kind of like I knew it from watching and listening to my foster parents and my family worked together on things like, No you can't get this cause money's kind of tight and we need money for this. "Just normal family conversation, and then going into the class kind ofine tuned what I vaguely knew.

Well, they didn't help much financially, but as far as emotional relationships ... they really helped. Finding a husband, you know. Knowing what qualities I should look for in a husband. You know, emotional qualities, not just physical qualities.

She was really good to me, and when I was getting ready to graduate from high school and move out on my own, she helped me find a place. The Christmas before that she didn't give me anything but pots and pans and spoons and dishes and glasses. I was ready. When I was ready to move out, I didn't have to buy anything except for rock and roll posters for my walls and toilet paper. Well, actually, she let me borrow my first roll.

The helpful aspect of foster families most often mentioned was their willingness to provide emotional support after the young people left care.

I was released not too long ago. I was in there about a year and a half and I still have problems. I was at my dad's the other night and I called my foster mom. I actually cried to her. She is the kind of person who would support me in my decisions whether she doesn't think they are right or wrong; she will stand behind me, help me.

She was open. She was always there for me no matter what. Even when I had the baby, she was the only one, the father didn't even come.... She came up there, and I was still drugged up and stuff and I woke up and there she was. She was right there with all this baby stuff and she was like, Hello, you flnally woke, huh?' And I couldn't do nothing but cry and hug her and hold her cause she was like the mother that should have been mine in the beginning, you know. It was like the state placed me with the right person.

When emotional support was lacking from foster families, it was sorely missed.

I don't have a close relationship with my foster parents anymore. It seems that since I got out of foster care and went into college, the ties have kind of slipped away. I guess they felt like they got me to where I am and they don't need to help me any farther. And I'm really hurt by that because I lived with them for five years of my life and I thought you know, I'm like their own child But I don't feel that way anymore It's more like my in-laws are helping me now than anyone else. I'm really hurt by it.

DFS caseworkers were not seen as helpful. Although exceptions were noted, the former clients did not find their DFS caseworkers to be helpful in their transitions out of care. When asked if their caseworkers were helpful, the most common reply was a simple "no."

They're supposed to come every month to see. And I had been in foster care . .. for five years and that was the first one. And after five years she maybe came to see me once. Well, I had, I was in the system from '89-'95. I had seven workers during that time. Last one I had the only time I saw her is if I went down to the office 'cause I had to be down there for something else. She never came to see me. She never came to see my baby, nothing. You know, I'm in foster care and I have a child and usually in that situation.... She went and checked on my sisters once a month. Now I'm the one in the system and I have a child and there's lot of things I didn't know that she never tried to help me. So I had to depend on other workers to help me to find out things that I needed to know for my baby. You know, I didn't know how to get my baby covered under Medicare or any thing. I had to go to other people Those who found their caseworkers to be helpful most often mentioned the provision of emotional support: "She was my best friend. I would always call her and she would come talk to me, whatever. She was always there for me."

Independent-living specialists were seen as very helpful. The youth reported uniformly positive views of the independent-living specialists. They were perceived as helpful while youth were in care, during the transition out of care, and after youth left care. Participants reported that the independent-living specialists provided emotional support, information, and access to goods and services.

They did a lot of stuff they didn't have to do. Like... they had some .. sort of ... garage sale kind of thing... but it was just for the people in the program and you can buy an item for like two dollars, you know, and things when you live on your own, you know, you need things, small things and they did, some things that they did of their own free will

I was really lost when I went to that shelter and If ell down and all I could remember was the independent-living group and I called [the independent-living specialist] and [the contract independent-living trainer] and I was like, "Listen you know, I don't want to bother you. ... " That's the first thing I said, '1 don't want to bother you," and then I just break out in tears and I start talking to them. And even though I was out they catched me and even though I was out completely with the group and everything, [they] found me, told me how to do this, that and that how to go about getting the apartment how to go about keeping it, rent paying, how to go about not getting... behind in] bills and they just showed me. Even though I had $234 la month in AFDC] and even though it wasn't much, it got me three years in this apartment. O.K now, to tell you how the independent-living program is I'm off welfare right now, I've been on my job for a year and I have two kids and I'm in a big house and that's where the independent-living program got me and I'm happy

The following interaction took place in one group. The first speaker was talking about having a baby after she left care.

Participant A: Which is when I needed somebody the most. I had to call [the independent-living speciallst]. "Who should 1 call? Where do I get baby st. And she's like, "Well, you should call these numbers.- I mean she had every single.... I don't know where she got her information from, but she had every....

Participant B: She comes up with some stuff doesn't she?

Participant C: I mean normal people do not know these things.

Participant B: She's got hotlines for everything.

The groups also noted that their independent-living specialists treated them differently from the way others in the system treated them.

They don't do things for you. They tell you how to get them done... right exactly ... cause a lot of people in the system they will go and do it for you. 'The independent-living will be the first one to tell you, 'I will not do anything for you. I will let you know any way you can get it done but I will not do it for you.'

Views on Being in and Leaving Out-of-Home Care

Two themes emerged that were not related directly to the questioning route. These themes focused on the overall experience of being in and leaving care. Alternative care was seen as intrusive. Group participants discussed how difficult it was to remain in care as an older youth. Some young adults viewed the system as intruding into their lives. Others talked about the number of people involved in making decisions about their lives.

The only thing you're on your own is you're living by yourself and you pay your own bills, but as far as your li,te Is concerned they're completely around your life 100 percent they need to know everybody you're living with, everybody you know, everything you do, and that's when I got out because, I mean, I was 19 years old. I didn't want it. You still had to go to the, to the PPRs [periodic review], you still had to go to court you still had to deal with all the DFS.

Leaving care was a tough transition. In each group, the members began talking about the transition from alternative care to living on their own. Group participants agreed uniformly that it was difficult and often abrupt. I ended up failing quite miserably after about a year on my own. ! had to move back with my mom or become homeless.

When they released me into my own custody at 16, you know, I had a ... I mean I ... fell. I hit the ground hard. I went to a homeless shelter and slept in cars with my baby.

After, you know, growing up in a home where there's a noose around you and then you go into a group home environment where there's a noose around you and then you're just thrown out one weekend and said, Here's the rest of your life. ' I mean that was a little too much of a shock for me. I think if / had gotten a night a weekend, out and then like a weeknight out and then another weekend you know, had it like so that I could and stay in my new environment If orl a weekend and then a week or something, you know, something not so drastic After I was released from foster care, I had my own apartment and everything... and I am not sure exactly what went wrong, but everything went wrong. I ended up moving back in with my mom and dad, and the reason I was in foster care in the first place Is because the way they treated me.

It's really unrealistic and all of a sudden you're 18 and say, 'O.K, bye. And we have no resources to go back to. We have nothing to fall back on at all because they said that you're a grown-up now and we can't take care of you or we don't want to and I count that to be the most difficult thing for me.

I was doing very well, wanted to go to school I wanted to do this I wanted to do that but they wanted to say, -You're out of here.- But I still needed support.

Discussion

Two functions of independentliving efforts stand out from the results of this study: the ability of the independent-living programs to reduce the stigma and isolation of living in out-of-home care and the importance of learning financial skills while in care.

Focus-group participants reported that financial skills were the most important skills taught in the independent-living program. The importance of financial skills training is consistent with the results from Westat's follow-up study of former youth (Cook, 1994; Westat, 1991). In that study, researchers found no differences between those who received some independent-living-skills training and those who did not receive such training. But those who had received training in five core areas (money, credit, consumer, education, and employment skills were more likely to maintain a job for at least a year, not to be a cost to the community, and to be more satisfied with life than those who had not received training in these core areas. It is useful to learn that youth value the financial-skills training after they leave care. Some of these skills are difficult to teach in an engaging manner and are not always received enthusiastically at the time of training. It may also benefit youth currently in care to hear that those who have left care consider the information to be important.

The results also clearly point out the "destigmatizing" function of meeting and getting to know others in out-of-home care. Although all youth may benefit from contact with others in out-of-home care, this may be particularly important for those living in foster family homes. States and local child welfare agencies may want to consider developing low-cost means for youth in out-of-home care to meet one another prior to their participation in independentliving-skills training. Mellor and Storer (1995) and Palmer (1990) described short-term therapeutic groups for foster youth. Rice and McFadden (1988) described groups for foster youth at fosterparent continuing-education events. Other possibilities include conferences for younger teens, groups for younger teens new to out-of-home care, and regular foster-parent and foster-children events such as picnics.

Foster parents and independent-living specialists were reported to be helpful during the transition out of care, whereas DFS caseworkers were not helpful. The youth reported that foster parents were helpful in teaching skills and providing informational and emotional support as they made the transition out of care. The view that foster parents are important in this transition is consistent with the independent-living literature. Professionals have previously advocated for the rights of youth moving toward emancipation "to have a place of stability, preferably located in a family," from which they leave according to their own need and timing (Aldgate, Maluccio, & Reeves, 1988, p. 22). And compared with those in group care, youth in foster families score higher on measures of preparedness for independent living (Mech, Ludy-Dobson, & Hulseman, 1994).

Youth also found their independent-living specialists to be helpful in their transition out of care. This finding is likely influenced to a degree by recruitment method. All youth had some relationship with their former independent-living specialist in order for them to be contacted and invited into the focus groups. Nonetheless, the stories the youth told about the independent-living specialists indicate that these workers provide important personal assistance at crucial times, at least for some youth. The young people also appreciated the interpersonal styles of the independent-living specialists. Participants noted that the specialists tended to be nonjudgmental and to allow the youth to make decisions about their lives.

In contrast, youth did not find their caseworkers helpful. This is consistent with qualitative comments from older youth in out-ofhome care about their caseworkers found elsewhere in the literature (Rice & McFadden, 1988). Caseload size may be the most glaring impediment to the improvement of relationships between youth in care and their caseworkers. Caseworkers' roles are also different from the roles of those who provide the independent-living classes. Caseworkers, with the power to change placements and with access to parents, care providers, and judges, are more likely to be perceived as authority figures. In addition, caseworkers may be less accustomed to dealing with teenagers and thus may be less likely to develop an interpersonal style that works effectively. It is also possible that the recruitment method may have biased results against caseworkers. Youth with positive relationships with caseworkers may have been less likely to develop relationships with independent-living specialists and thus may have been less likely to have been recruited for this study. Nonetheless, it appears imperative that youth in care and caseworkers develop positive relationships. As Iglehart (1992) noted,

The worker is the direct link to the entity that has primary control over the client's life. While the agency steps in as parent in reality the worker fulfills agency mandates and embodies the agency to the youth. The worker role is of paramount importance in the delivery of effective services to the foster adolescent Permanency plans treatment plans and ... independent-living programs require in-depth knowledge of the youth's case and individual characteristics. (p. 308) Despite the provision of independent-living services, young people continue to find the transition out of care to be harsh. This underscores the need for youth to build helpful connections before leaving care and for programs to accent a gradual transition out of care and the availability of aftercare services.

Many of the qualities that the group participants valued about the independent-living programs ideally would be a part of regular service provision to youth in outof-home care. All youth in care need important relationships with similar peers and nonjudgmental adults. The financial support provided by federal independent-living initiatives may allow these youth to receive a level of personal attention and service that conveys that they are important people. Finally, this study underscores the worth of qualitative evaluations for social service programs.

Such evaluations provide consumer feedback about specific aspects of social service programs to the people who design and operate them. Feedback about the importance of meeting similar others and the provision of financial-skill information would have been masked in a quantitative evaluation. In addition, compared with other forms of research, focus groups are relatively inexpensive, flexible, and simple to conduct. Human service administrators may be wise to include qualitative consumer feedback in future evaluation efforts.

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J. Curtis McMillen is assistant professor, George Warren Brown School of Social Work Washington University, St Louis, Missouri. Gregory B. Rideout Is social worker, Youth in Need, St Charles, Missouri. Rachel H. Fisher is research assistant George Warren Brown School of Social Work Jayne Tucker Is program development spedalist Division of Famlly Services, Jefferson Clty, Missouri.

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