The state of Washington’s program — in which young adults ages 18-21 can continue to receive some support — could help even more people by expanding participation, providing greater flexibility in eligibility criteria, and extending benefits, according to a recent report from the 91̽��.

Commissioned by the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, the was completed by , which researches and advocates for policy and practice reforms in the child welfare system. The study was led by faculty in the 91̽��School of Social Work and conducted with guidance from an advisory group of young people with lived expertise in Extended Foster Care. Along with interviews and data collected by the state, the 91̽��team reviewed the literature on foster care programs nationwide and on the challenges this population of young adults faces.

The report has been submitted to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office for the 2024 legislative session, where that would implement recommendations from the report.

“Extended Foster Care can be very helpful, and the state should try to enroll everyone who is 18 and exiting foster care,” said , associate professor of social work at the 91̽��and executive director of Partners for Our Children, “Not everyone is aware of it and not everyone who is eligible for it is using it. There are issues with how it’s being implemented, but overall, it’s a program that works, and it’s needed now more than ever.”

The state Legislature in 2022 approved the systems assessment of services and benefits for young adults in Extended Foster Care. Legislators were interested in how to address any service gaps to better prepare participants for the transition to adulthood.

Washington state established its Extended Foster Care program in 2012 to provide additional services to young people who would typically “age out” of foster care but need some support to successfully transition to adult life. Among the services and benefits offered are placement supports and stipends for Supervised Independent Living (SIL) settings, health insurance and continued case management. With the help of federal funding, nearly every state offers a version of the program; as of June 2022, 858 young adults were enrolled in Washington.

To qualify for Washington’s Extended Foster Care, a person must, as of age 18, request continued placement in foster care or a Supervised Independent Living site. They must be enrolled in an educational, vocational or employment program, be working half or full time, or unable to engage in any of these activities due to a documented medical condition.

These can be significant obstacles for young people who have spent time in foster care, the report notes. , as researchers term it, is often described as a time of identify formation, exploration, and being in-between. It is  a critical developmental period in which inequalities across education, income and social support accumulate as advantages or disadvantages with lifelong consequences. But it’s also a time of continued brain growth: Impulse control, reasoning and organizational skills can develop well into a person’s 20s.

“Emerging adulthood is such a critical time in someone’s life, and often the first time people are paying bills, living on their own, and trying to find their place in the world. Without support from our social network and resources from local, state and federal institutions, none of us are able to build the relationships and skills necessary to transition from dependent adolescents into interdependent and self-sufficient members of society,” said , an assistant professor of social work at the 91̽��and a co-author of the report.

Many have suffered trauma, abuse and discrimination. Some have been incarcerated. According to in the report, roughly one-third of young adults enrolled in or eligible for foster care are parents. , co-designed with young people with lived experience in Extended Foster Care, of 63 current or past participants in the program, nearly half were experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

The 91̽��report also identified specific subgroups of participants who may be especially marginalized, and whose needs can go unmet. In addition to those who are pregnant or parenting, these groups include BIPOC young people, who are overrepresented in the foster care system; LGBTQ+ young people; and individuals with disabilities.

That’s why expanded services are needed, the report finds. According to a longitudinal study based on California’s extended foster care system, called California Youth Transitions, each additional year of services increased the probabilities young people would complete high school and enroll in college. Each extra year also decreased the odds they’d be arrested or experience homelessness.

Based on such research and on interviews with community partners and social workers around Washington, the assessment team outlined key recommendations for the program:

• Extend participation to all young adults in foster care
• Expand eligibility criteria
• Focus preventive supports on groups such as young parents
• Allocate more funding and resources to long-term housing supports
• Add more peer support networks and services
• Prepare adolescents for Extended Foster Care before age 18

Increase DCYF staff throughout the state, potentially with units devoted only to Extended Foster Care, and add trainings in developmentally tailored and culturally responsive practice

“This report demonstrates that youth who enroll in Extended Foster Care in Washington have better outcomes than those who do not. But we still have work to do,” Ross Hunter, secretary of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, wrote in a statement accompanying the report. “Beyond the recommendations in the systems assessment, we need to leverage existing resources to help youth access mental and behavioral health services, prevention services, and early childhood supports when they are pregnant or parenting. We must develop strategies that support them to complete high school, get postsecondary degrees and get on a path to a career.”

For more information, contact Tajima at etajima@uw.edu.

For children in foster care, having regular visits, or “family time” with their biological parents is considered critical for maintaining bonds and building toward a time when they may once again live together as a family.

The best visits are focused on the child, experts say, when parents ask questions, play or otherwise engage in activities that the child is interested in and which support the parent-child bond.

That’s not easy to do over video chat. But with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Washington began requiring remote, rather than in-person, family time, which can make meaningful visits a challenge.

It was something that , an associate professor in the 91̽�� School of Social Work and executive director of Partners for Our Children, knew her team could help with. The research and policy center collaborates with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families on practice and policy reform to improve outcomes for children and families.

The Partners for Our Children team quickly developed a curriculum called Supportive Virtual Family Time to train those who supervise virtual visits between children and parents, until in-person visits can be safely resumed.

And through an ongoing collaborative effort of the 91̽��School of Social Work called Project Connect, additional research components of the virtual family time program have been developed. Project Connect supports 15 different endeavors, all oriented specifically around community needs during COVID-19.

“When the pandemic struck, and the stay-at-home and social distancing orders were given, they had an immediate impact not only on the university, but also on the populations that social work exists to serve,” said School of Social Work Dean , who came up with Project Connect in late winter, as the 91̽��was shifting to online instruction, and local restrictions were being enacted. “Project Connect is a reflection of the range of social issues and populations that we care for, that we have a commitment and capacity to serve.”

The research activities under the Project Connect umbrella, each led by a 91̽��faculty member, involve at least one student and often a community organization or agency. They represent another form of fieldwork, a required component of both the undergraduate and graduate-level social work programs and the on-the-ground learning of how to gauge needs, make decisions and provide services.

Early in the pandemic, Uehara saw the urgent needs and social justice issues that were arising. With the help of faculty and their research centers and agency partners, she quickly organized a series of opportunities for students to sign up and get involved. Most projects will last through summer quarter and include:

• Four efforts focused on communication with and services to Native communities;
• Two projects that adapt parent-coaching resources for families with children in the foster care system;
• Refining an educational program on safe firearm storage and suicide prevention;
• Researching telehealth and other interventions for elders in marginalized communities;
• Addressing the needs of people who are incarcerated, and their families, during COVID-19

, faculty emerita and the school’s director of community engagement, leads Project Connect. Thanks to partnerships with agencies and organizations around the state, the school continues to learn of other needs, Spearmon said.

“We’ve had a very long history of collaborating with the community. There’s an openness to seeing how different minds can approach problem solving, and how we can promote equity and social justice. The more people you bring to the table from various disciplines and sectors to look at different situations, the richer and more creative the outcome,” she said.

The projects led by social work faculty at the collaborate with Native agencies, youth leaders and other community members. One, POP (Protect Our Population) Art, has begun working with Washington tribes to develop community-appropriate, preventive health messages, using poster art to spread the word.

Native Americans suffer of hypertension, diabetes and other conditions, putting them at greater risk of fatality related to the coronavirus. Here in Washington, Native Americans represent about 1% of COVID-19 . Native Americans’ history with disease since contact with white settlers has been devastating, said social work professor , co-director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and faculty lead on the POP Art project. And the 1918 flu affected Natives of the general population. But just as communities have survived before, they will survive again, she said.

“Art is a vehicle to share prevention messages and a quick tool for public service,” said Walters, noting the legacy of various forms of art – drama, music, oral storytelling – in Native communities.

The messaging through POP Art will use Native humor and, likely, graffiti art to address themes that resonate, such as respect for elders, taking care of family, and the responsibility of all for the surrounding community. Researchers plan to work with Native artists to produce the posters.

While that project addresses one level of social work practice – community, other activities focus on the individual or family level, like Partners for Our Children’s .

or “out-of-home” care in Washington, awaiting reunification with their biological families. Regular family time sessions with parents are part of the arrangement, typically in a neutral location and supervised by a representative of a child welfare agency or private nonprofit.

But with Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order effective March 26, “we realized pretty quickly that there was a need for a program to train those individuals who would be supervising visits,” Tajima said. “What can a parent do to maintain bonds when they can’t hold the child or give them a hug?”

So Tajima’s team developed a free training curriculum and guide for Supportive Virtual Family Time, which includes videos and tips for every step of the process, such as helping parents cope with stress leading up to the family time, and establishing some online hello/goodbye rituals with their children. The curriculum is piloting another strategy, too: a remote meeting, monitored by the family time navigator, between the parent and foster caregiver. It represents a shift in the approach to child welfare, Tajima explained, making it more about supporting the family rather than “saving” the child.

Two students joined the research component of Supportive Virtual Family Time: an undergraduate, who compiled a variety of activity ideas for parents and children to participate in during remote family time; and a graduate student, who designed a survey for navigators who have completed the new training and have tried the strategies when monitoring subsequent virtual family time.

The Supportive Virtual Family Time project, like many of the Project Connect efforts, is expected to continue beyond its immediate tasks and goals, the product of a rapid deployment of resources to meet a social challenge, said , the school’s assistant dean for field education.

“We’ve always been very active and committed, as a school, to community needs, but the convergence of the suffering and social injustices uncovered by the pandemic, and the continuing violence in society, will mobilize us to respond in even more innovative ways,” she said.

For more information, contact Spearmon at spearmon@uw.edu.